Just so we can get it out of the way and deny any of you lefties an opening.
1. Yes.
2. No.
3. Yes
4. Yes
If you actually need the questions, go here and here. I’ve answered them before and don’t feel like repeating myself. Question #2, if too obscure, is “Don’t you think Ann Coulter is typical of all conservatives?” Since every single conservative blogger I have seen this morning has roundly condemned her as well as most going so far as to believe she should never be invited to a respectable political gathering again, any broad brush painting done by liberals can easily be dismissed for what it is; rank stupidity.
Instead of repeating what everyone agrees about Coulter, let us take a moment to marvel at the Pavlovian response that Coulter not only expected but intended with her untoward remark about John Edwards. She is a “controversy slut” as my good friend Jay so succinctly put it. Why in God’s name the left falls for it and why the right then feels the need to respond is absolutely nuts! This is what she wants. She is playing us like a violin – right and left. And the fact that this despicable woman then gets to sit at home and laugh at all of us makes my blood boil.
Well, she’s our problem and it’s time for conservatives to solve it once and for all. If liberals want to help us with her emasculation, fine. Otherwise, shut the F**k up and stop ginning up the outrage over what anyone with half a brain can see is a deliberate attempt by Coulter to garner cheap headlines and publicity. If you want to be stupid enough to play into her hands and jump through the hoops she sets up for you, don’t expect conservatives to follow.
I urge everyone – right and left – to take the following actions:
1. Never write another blog post about Ann Coulter no matter how outrageous, cruel, or bigoted her language.
2. Immediately write the Presidents of Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN demanding that they refuse to schedule Coulter on any show for any reason on their networks.
3. Write the editor of Human Events and demand that they drop her column.
4. If her column appears in your local newspaper, write a letter to the editor demanding that they drop her column.
5. If you see her writings in any on line or print publication, write the editor and demand that they stop carrying her columns.
6. Any upcoming forum in which she is scheduled as a speaker or panel participant, write a letter to the organizers and make it clear that the reason you are not attending is due to Coulter’s presence.
The goal is to starve the witch of the attention she craves. I’ll have more on this later today, including an on-line petition we can sign and send to the cable nets and a report on my progress.
Enough is enough. I am sick to death of this woman leading people to believe that she speaks for conservatives. She doesn’t speak for me. And if you believe that she speaks for you, or if you were one of those mouth breathers who applauded when she used that disgusting epithet deliberately to hurt other people (not just John Edwards), then you are hopelessly beyond the pale yourself and would do well to examine exactly what you believe a conservative is and what is acceptable political discourse.
Anyone who reads this site knows I am not a wallflower when it comes to lashing out at my political foes. But there are limits. And Coulter regularly crosses them – not because she doesn’t know any better but because she deliberately uses hate language to get a rise out of the left and get the rest of us talking about her.
I will no longer be a willing cog in her publicity machine. And if we conservatives really care about our movement and the people who represent it, then we will do everything in our power to limit the exposure of this ghastly person who sells hate like Frosted Flakes and laughs at all of us while carrying her loot all the way to the bank.
UPDATE
Ha! Mark Coffey writes what many of us are thinking:
Jeez, Ann, thanks; predictably, the lefty blogs are all a-twitter, as if something newsworthy had actually happened here (can a massive Glenn Greenwald denunciation of the right be far behind?).
Indeed, I can just see Lambchop hunched over his computer, his stern visage growing darker as he pounds the keyboard relentlessly. No doubt, His Puppetress will tell us all what it really means and that no matter how loudly Coulter is denounced by conservatives, we all secretly want to sleep with her and make little conservative babies.
What a humorless twit.
Our crazy Uncle Andy writes something I tried to say yesterday about conservatives:
It’s a party that wants nothing to do with someone like me. All I heard and saw was loathing: loathing of Muslims, of “illegals,” of gays, of liberals, of McCain. The most painful thing for me was the sight of so many young people growing up believing that this is conservatism. I feel like an old-style Democrat in 1968.
I wouldn’t go quite that far (‘68 Democrat? More like a ‘64 Democrat with LBJ and The Happy Warrior) but it is disconcerting to see these college kids with about as much empathy as a Three Toed Sloth.
UPDATE II
I have just sent the following email to Jonathan Klein, President of CNN. I plan on sending similar emails to the Presidents of MSNBC and Fox News:
To: Jonathan Klein, President, CNN
Sir:
I am writing to respectfully request that you no longer feature Ann Coulter as a commentator on any programs shown on your network.
Miss Coulter has, on more than one occassion, demonstrated a lack of restraint in her characterizations of her political opponents. Just yesterday at a gathering of conservative activists in Washington, D.C., she referred to Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards as a “faggot.”
It is not the first time that Miss Coulter has used hateful, spiteful, and inappropriate language when alluding to her political opponents. Last year at the same forum – the CPAC Conference – she referred to Arabs as “ragheads.” She has also made allusions to killing Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and others.
As a conservative, I resent the fact that she is trotted out before the cameras on CNN and other networks and identified as a “conservative commentator.” She is not, by any light of decency a conservative.
She is, in fact, a clown. And her outrageous statements, designed solely to garner headlines and publicity, should not be given the imprimatur of respectability by CNN or any other respectable news outlet.
By booking her to appear on any of your shows, you unwittingly play the fool by giving her exposure and allow her to make ever more hateful and hurtful statements – thus giving her a platform to generate more publicity and more headlines.
I appreciate your careful and serious consideration of this matter. Will CNN contribute to a more respectful political discourse in America? Or will you continue to feature Miss Coulter on your shows and continue the politics of hate that have the effect of dividing this country in one of our most perilous hours?
The choice is yours.
Sincerely,
Rick Moran
Algonquin, IL
http://www.rightwingnuthouse.com
9:52 am
Ann Coulter – Wish Her Into the Cornfield
9:53 am
Unfortunately, this is as likely to work as the “forget Herostratus” plan.
And your argument about conservative bloggers condemning her doesn’t stand. The problem is not whether conservative bloggers agree with what she says. She probably doesn’t believe what she says herself. The problem is in cynicism—both her own and of calculating politicians like Romney who are eager to use her influence with types of conservatives that do exist.
10:02 am
I frankly don’t give a shit what you think of my arguments. Talk about standing, you have absolutely none here. Coulter does not represent conservatives period. You can try to attatch her to Romney (who had no idea what she was going to say) but such a blatantly stupid tactic will only work on idiot liberals who don’t know any better.
The problem isn’t cynicism. The problem is people like you rising to her bait – and not caring when she laughs at you.
That makes you pretty dense.
10:03 am
[...] And Rick Moran has an idea I’m fully on board with: I urge everyone – right and left – to take the following actions: [...]
10:07 am
You nailed it Rick. The only thing worse than Ann’s intentional foul is the mock outrage coming from other Right wingnuts practicing institutional hate against other groups—as Crazy Uncle Andy points out. Between Viguerie’s “mission from God” and Tancredo’s Vegas routine, plus speeches from fraudsters Chris Simcox and William Greene, the CPAC lunatic fringe has destroyed the “conservative” brand. In a way I’m actually glad Ann C took her predictable nose dive. It helps to seal my own observations and decisions reached over the last two years.
Recently I heard Michael Medved make an interesting remark on the radio… he is very concerned about the state of the conservative movement, as embodied by loudmouth jerks with microphones… he said: ‘this next all-important election may come down to which party can best control its lunatic fringe.’ I think that is sadly true.
10:12 am
Good post Rick and good advice. I might note however that the reason Coulter has risen so far is that the conservatives didn’t exactly condemn her for previous hatemongering such as “joking” about poisoning SCOTUS justices and leveling the NYT. I’m glad to see acknowledgment that she hurts the conservative cause as much as she offends civil society.
And I’m encouraged to see concrete action like this suggested. I hope your compatriots in Rightopia follow through despite the fact they would have to appear to “agree” with the left to do it.
10:21 am
Sally:
Plenty of fake outrage on the left too. And if its not fake, they’re idiots to allow themselves to be used as unwitting stage props in Coulter’s show.
IM:
Responsible conservatives have been condemning her for at least two years – many longer. It was around the time she appeared on the cover of Time Mag that she really began to lose it in my opinion. That cover elevated her from fringe columnist (where she usually made her points humorously and not hurtfully to the point that many liberals laughed along with her) to star polemecist. And the problem, as I have pointed out before, is that once started down that road, you have to get more and more outrageous just to maintain your position at the top of the heap.
Hence, her brutally funny and witty characterizations of liberals have now morphed into simple, hateful name calling. All because her rabid fans now demand that she HURT people and not just make fun of them.
10:36 am
Nutroots double standards strike again: Responses to Coulter versus responses to Stark
and Marcottegatedon’t add upJules Crittenden, among other bloggers, writes today about the latest Ann Coulter outrage, this time for calling John Edwards the “F” word (Sean Hackbarth has the audio here).
My feelings on Ann Coulter are well known among my readers, so k…
10:50 am
She doesn’t represent conservative thought? Was she booed? She certainly represents the folks at CPAC!
How much do you want to bet that she’s not speaking at CPAC again next year?
And what does the C stand for?
10:57 am
Nice one Rick!
I’ve said for years, that the embracing of Ann Coulter, by such people as Hannity and others, would eventually come back to haunt the Conservative movement.
She’s a smart lady; just one who loves the taste of her own shoe-leather, and she knows what she is saying, I agree she does it to shock, and get attention!
Time to ban her from “real” conservative movement events!
11:01 am
MM:
You really have to try to be that stupid and shallow. I mean, it requires a herculean effort to be such an idiot.
To give you a parallel example, you must believe that the Sunni terrorists who blow up little children are the “moral equivalent of the Minutemen” as Michael Moore said.
Right? I mean let’s use your illogic,’kay? Moore is a liberal. You are a liberal. Hence, you believe that Sunni terrorists are like the Minutemen just like Moore, right?
What a moron.
11:06 am
Well, that’s very nice of you, although kind of unexpected given that you praised “excellent analysis” of the comment that essentially agreed with my point about “Iranian nuclear holocaust” question.
No, she doesn’t. I didn’t say she does. She merely represents Freerepublic wing of conservatives, at least significant part of it. You can just read their threads on this incident.
The boycott idea is good in theory, but given Ann’s nature she will probably will only get more publicity from this.
You mean he didn’t expect her to say something vile and stupid? I called him cynical (a widely-accepted fact about Romney), you call him stupid (which is actually worse in a presidential candidate).
11:13 am
Coulter is political pornography, plain and simple.
11:26 am
Coulter’s Incessant Mouthing Off
I decided to do a little digging this morning to see how the conservative blogs were responding to Ann Coulter’s latest… I don’t even know how to phrase what it was. “Gaffe” makes it sound accidental, “transgression” gives it an…
11:32 am
Coulter’s Incessant Mouthing Off
I decided to do a little digging this morning to see how the conservative blogs were responding to Ann Coulter’s latest… I don’t even know how to phrase what it was. “Gaffe” makes it sound accidental, “transgression&...
12:29 pm
Rick: I am a little saddened to read your anti-Coulter rant. Aside from denying her a 1st amendment right to her opinions albeit her reasons for those opinions, don’t you think someone has to express conservative ideas in a more enphatic way. I’m sick to death as well; I’m sick to death of Rep. Murtha and his liberal nonsense, I’m sick to death of border guards sentenced to jail for doing the job for which they were hired. I’m sick to death of gay’s hollering about their civil rights as I am sick to death of blacks whining about their rights and that goes for the women’t right to privacy crap and the rights of terrorists and the rights of felons etc, etc, etc. I think of all the times I have backed a so-called conservative candidate only to listen as he moved to the center, that is he moves to the center while the likes of Hillary also moves to the center. Consequently the center has become the leftist haven. They have so totally occupied the center that when a conservative tries to occupy the same space, his rants are so similar to that of the left that there is only one credible source of what reality is. So Ann Coulter in her attempt to show by hyperbole what that reality is, has to suffer not only liberal wrath but the wrath of some very liberal conservatives as well.
Now don’t get me too at odds with you, you are still a good essayist, even though if I had some of your writings in my composition class, you would flunk just because of your poor grammar and sentence structure.
The simple truth is that far left liberalism has taken over the college campuses is America. The have been spewing leftist hate America propaganda for years without a modicum of upbradeing. If I were a foreign despot and wanted to defeat the Super Power American democracy, all it would take is a gradual left indoctrination and a little patience. Then just sit back and watch American as they start to eat their young. The Coulter-Horowitz agenda is to stop the PC left from totally indoctrinating our youth. They have been at it for years, and believe me Horowitz knows the left. So how then can you rail against the only voice of reason in the conservative party? Why didn’t you rant when John Edwards was talking to babies in the womb insisting to a jury of idiots that they were calling to him for justice? I won’t the millions he made from his garbage. When John Murtha was calling for troop withdrawal from the combat zone? The left, in a joint effort with the “NYT has a free “get out of jail card” when it comes to their protests, no one conservative voice in unison calls them to task, I look around and just shake my head and “Tsk, Tsk”, but when one conservative dares to exceed the Brahmin code of decency, let her be anathema.
No sir, this time I will not be swayed from my defense of Ms Coulter, if shock is the only way to get someone’s attention then so-be-it. If the college campus is the only way to rally the students and exaggeration and hyperbole are the tools with which to reach them, again so-be-it. When they (the conservative students association) dared to run a “Find the Immigrant” game, where were you protesting their right to peacefully assemble??
It pains me to see the conservatives erode when one of their own dares to step across an imaginary line of descency. It pains me when the only intrepid voice within the movement is castigated by the very movement she has tried to uphold.
I shall not end this post with a threat as liberal wont to do. No I shall continue to read your postings when they make sense, and I shall continue to write when I think you are wrong. Further, I would like you to take the time to re-read your 6 points of anti-American attempt at silencing Ms Coulter and then think about the denying of her Constitutional Rights and your position as a conservative, think for a moment, isn’t that just what the left would do?
12:54 pm
Moran-I would assume that anyone who applauded Moore’s comments agreed with him, yes. I didn’t applaud.
If, as you claim, Ann Coulter does not represent conservative thought, why was she applauded by the audience?
And make a prediction on your blog right now:
Will Coulter speak at the 2008 CPAC?
1:14 pm
Point well taken Rick but not all right wing bloggers have acted responsibly when it comes to denouncing Coulter as one their own and she is still being treated as a serious political commentator by the media.
However, I think you make a good point in that the left holds some responsibility in elevating her by responding to her insane remarks. I’m embracing your idea to ignore her and demand the media do so as well. For what it’s worth, which isn’t much, as of this moment, The Impolitic at least is a Coulter-free zone.
1:25 pm
Rick:
Relax, she could have used the N-word to describe Barack Obama. Sadly, many of the young College Republicans would have cheered and clapped just as wildly because most young political activists – left and right – can’t fathom that hateful speach is stupid rather than insightful and funny.
I can imagine Howard Dean thinking to himself, “I have a dream … that
Ann Coulter will be an invited speaker at the next Republican National Convention … ”
1:44 pm
Dale:
Thanks. Where you been?
2:24 pm
If she were a democrat, she’d have her own TV show by now, just like Bill Maher!
2:31 pm
Has Coulter jumped one too many sharks?
Right Wing Nut House thinks so….
2:46 pm
[...] This one really pains me but, Right Wing Nut House [...]
2:52 pm
2008 Election Clown Circus
It is time to stop the insanity. Ann Coulter was out of bounds for her nonsensical raving. I don’t follow her commentary much, and will only occasionally read her stuff online – usually when she steps in it. She’s an attention magnet when she says co…
3:58 pm
I am sick to death of this woman leading people to believe that she speaks for conservatives.
Well, she’s hardly doing it by herself.
The reason we think she speaks for conservatives is that she regularly speaks to conservatives, at their invitation and to their approval.
She was not only a an invited speaker at the Conservative Political Action Committee, she was enthusiastically applauded for her “faggot” line, and the attendees then stood in line for over two hours to buy her book and get it autographed. And CPAC may not have know she was going to use “the f-word”, but they had to have known she was going to do something crazy, hateful, and offensive – it’s all she ever does. They invited and paid her for that reason.
So, I’ll believe that, in her hate-filled and irrational spew, she does not “speak for conservatives” when you stop paying her to say those things in public in your presence. And by “you” I don’t just mean a small handful of relatively sophisticated bloggers, but the CPAC attendees (not exactly marginal figures in conservatism themselves) who applauded her, and the dittoheads who buy her books and repeat her jibes. It’s unmistakably clear that there is a huge conservative audience who like what she says just fine (if not, you wouldn’t have to petition to keep them from hearing her). And even if you do succeed in your crusade to de-Coulterize the right, you will only have removed a visible embarrassment, not the root cause of the problem. All those people who applauded her and bought her books will still be part of your movement – just a little less visibly embarrassing to you.
Conservatism will be respectable when it is not inspired by vengefulness and hatred, not when it simply shushes the vengeful and hateful in its front ranks. Of course, then it will be liberalism.!
4:09 pm
Mr. Moran: A very good and balanced piece I think. I wrote about this mess but was more in disgust with Ann Coulter, period. Whether I’m a liberal/conservative or whatever, I in no way interpret this person’s conduct as representing TRUE conservatives, any more than Michel Moore represents true liberals.
One of of commenters quoted a law professor as saying that when the law is on your side; pound the law. When truth is on your side; pound the truth. When neither is on your side; pound the table.
Our political discourse has to deserve more than table-pounding whether from left or right.
4:15 pm
Are you seriously trying to tell me that you can’t tell the difference between what was reported as “scattered laughter and applause” by a group of college kids who are rabid fans and the 40 million conservatives who vote in elections?
Yes CPAC keeps inviting the witch as do Brent Bozell’s group and a few others. But her meat and potatoes is college gigs – like any fringe figure on the left like Cindy Sheehan or Ward Churchill.
Her influence in conservative ranks is nil – absolutely nil. No one takes her seriously. She is a clown and that’s it.
Conservatism is inspired by our love and respect for our nation’s past and hope for her future not by ” vengefulness and hatred” – something you would know if you aware that Coulter is not in the “front ranks” of anything except liberal gunsights.
4:35 pm
Having commented on Coulter and the substance of conservative beliefs, let me change tack and offer and dissenting opinion on the boycott you propose.
I appreciate and admire your inclination to roust Coulter from conservative ranks (though, as I said, I think she is only the tip of the iceberg). But I am uncomfortable with boycotts and protests.
I have just been in a heated debate over the right-wing gun enthusiasts’ mob action against Jim Zumbo. (Briefly: two weeks ago Zumbo, a prominent hunting writer, made an ill-considered blog post, on a Friday night while on a hunting trip, to the effect that assault-weapon-type rifles should be banned from hunting. Within a day, angry gun nuts had generated a blog swarm that flooded his sponsors and employers with threats of secondary boycotts, and before he even got home that weekend he had lost most of his sponsorships; by the end of the week he had lost the editorial position he had held for almost 30 years, his popular TV show was canceled, the NRA denounced him, all his remaining sponsors fired him, and he was unemployed, incomeless, and had received threats. Similar protests were suggested against the few who had merely spoken in his defense without endorsing his post.) I think it is perfectly appropriate to shun or boycott the products (books, speeches, etc.) of someone whose ideas you disagree with. I am uncomfortable with secondary boycotts – threats against those who merely do business with the offender – and demands for others to shun such a person. If the right of free speech includes the right to say hateful things – which it does, even for Ann Coulter – then it must include the right, not to be heard or agreed-with, but to say them without fear of harassment or retribution other than the disapprobation that the ideas themselves justify.
In the case of people whose product is speech – i.e., writers and speechmakers – the question is a little trickier, because to shun their products is to shun their speech, and to request that publications find better writers, simply because you want to read better ideas, is essentially to request that they fire offensive writers because you don’t like the ideas they promote. It’s hard here to draw a line between rejecting a professional writer’s ideas and seeking financial retribution for their having spoken them. But I think that line at least includes not organizing a mass protest to demand that they be fired.
Certainly no decent person should read or listen to Ann Coulter. Reasonably enough, people can indicate to publishers or program directors that they want better ideas to be presented. But I think there is a difference between saying you won’t read a publication because of the content it carries and demanding that they fire one of their contributors because you don’t like that person’s ideas. (It’s understood that in most cases an opinion writer’s ideas are not endorsed by the publication itself. That distinction does carry some weight, and should offer the publisher some protection.) That distinction, between an expression of opinion and a demand for appeasement, exists even if the end result – the publication will lose a reader if they continue to carry a certain author – is the same. And threatening boycotts of publications or programs because of just one person they carry is a means of using the economic leverage of a large corporation to give your personal grievance a heft it does not deserve.
Although these distinctions may be small, I would suggest that, while I enorse your point #1 above, points #s 3, 4, and 5 should be reworded from “demand that they drop” to “indicate you will no longer read them as long as they carry” the offending writer. Point #2, I think, is similar: the point to be made is that there are better guests to schedule, that you want to see them, and that you will stop watching the show if it does not improve; putting it in the language of “demand” simply makes it sound like you are being intolerant of them for tolerating Coulter’s intolerance, which rather muddies the moral issue.
Point #6 is complex: I don’t know if it’s really a good idea to boycott programs at which hateful people appear. There may still be many other good people on the program, and why cut yourself off from them? To the extent that attendance implies approval of a particular speaker, that is a problem, but one that it seems to me should be worked out case-by-case. But the idea of punishing entire institutions or programs because you disagree with certain speakers is a dangerous one – it smacks of the refusal by the Eisenhower administration to allow Columbia University to hire Bertrand Russell, or the threats today to defund public colleges because they invite controversial speakers. If it’s true that the right wing hardly needs more hateful crazies, it’s also true that they hardly need more McCarthyism.
4:38 pm
Rick: “every single conservative blogger I have seen this morning has roundly condemned her”
Power Line, Time’s 2004 Blog of the Year, is silent on the subject, today. And they have defended her on many occasions. Example: “I love Ann Coulter.” Another example: “I had always viewed ridiculing Coulter as the left’s province, and I don’t understand why this is something that conservatives would want to do.”
“Her influence in conservative ranks is nil – absolutely nil. No one takes her seriously”
The Power Line folk apparently do take her seriously.
4:52 pm
Are you seriously trying to tell me that you can’t tell the difference between what was reported as “scattered laughter and applause†by a group of college kids who are rabid fans and the 40 million conservatives who vote in elections?
Of course not every conservative applauded her – there weren’t 40 million people in the room. But the people who were in the room were conservatives and they applauded her. The fact that she has a rabid fan base speaks volumes by itself.
You seem to be working yourself into the argument that conservatives aren’t responsible for creating the environment in which Coulter can flourish because anyone who approves of her isn’t a “real” conservative. CPAC are not real conservatives because . . . they’re young? Bozell’s show isn’t really conservative. The interview shows on Fox aren’t really conservative. All those people driving her books up the best-seller lists time after time aren’t really conservatives . . .
Look: she says it, people lap it up, those people vote and almost certainly they vote for the kinds of candidates she endorses and not the ones she trashes (not because she tells them to, necessarily – they’ve got Rush Limbaugh for that – but because their beliefs track with hers), and it goes on and on. That can’t all be coincidence. Lots of people are buying her books and reading her column, and I would be they’re almost exclusively drawn from within the ranks of those 40 million voters, or at least agree with them.
She’s not a marginal character – she speaks to, and is lauded by, run-of-the-mill conservatives across the country.
5:29 pm
Rick: Hi, thanks for asking; I’ve been reading periodically; but I’ve had a host of personal problems, still dealing with: health issues with my wife, all 3 of my daughters, my niece, and now my Mom & Dad; takes a lot out of a person, and between that, and trying to earn a living, I just couldn’t put the energy into reading/posting here, AJ Strata’s, Captn Quarter’s, Bill Roggio’s, Macsmind, JOM, Seixon’s, etc.!!
So, I just went passive for a long while, and tried to concentrate on getting everyone better!
My dad (87 this year!!) is still struggling a bit, but everyone else is coming around…..hopefully…
Anyway, re: Ann; I’m just pissed that some on the “Right” are fobbing this off as a “Free Speech” issue!
Okay, sure, Ann’s “free” to say whatever she wants, we all are!
How constructive is that?
If she has a serious message to get out, not very….
I don’t care what the “other side” says!
They’re worse, with Robert Byrd, and the hate/racism etc., that they’re allowed to get away with!
Doesn’t mean we have to lower ourselves and be like them!
The other excuse being used is that she’s a “pundit”, and not a “politician”, and can thus what she likes!
Okay, but our society no longer works like that; that idiot from Kramer, and the Actor from St. Elsewhere, and the pro-NBA guy from the All-Star game, are NOT “politicians” nor “pundits”, and their comments were also rightly condemmend!
The thing that’s really bad about Colter, who by the way, I consider to be incedibly intelligence, and insightful, and sometimes devastatingly witty, when she’s not trying to purposefully be mean, is that she says this stuff at the CPAC, on purpose I guess, so that she can get attention, and thereby tainting it, and everyone associated with it, in the eyes of the “enemy” MSM, and the Left, which is what we do not need!
Anyway, I’m tired of her schtick, and I’d love to see FNS ban her; that may get her attention…
5:38 pm
Rick, you said “her influence in conservative ranks is nil – absolutely nil … no one takes her seriously.” Here are some more signs your statement is false.
From Power Line: “COULTER BOOK DEAL RUMORED … Matt Drudge reports that Ann Coulter is about to sign a $3 million deal for her next book, the most ever for a conservative writer.”
From Mark Steyn: “Ann Coulter’s new book Godless: The Church of Liberalism is a rollicking read very tightly reasoned and hard to argue with … hooray for Miss Coulter.”
By the way, Coulter’s book currently has an Amazon sales-rank of 1,158. That indicates sales far above “absolutely nil.”
More Power Line praise for Coulter: “I enjoyed the posts about Ann Coulter. I’ve never met her, but two close friends of mine know her well and think the world of her. What strikes me is how much better she is on television than when she started out. To be sure, a New York Times best seller (don’t you love it?) will add luster to anyone. But even before that, she had transformed herself from just another talking head into a skillful and powerful polemicist. She deserves enormous credit for that.”
And there’ this gem, which they quoted approvingly: “I can’t help but wonder if five to ten years from now, some Iraqi soldier will be teaching himself to read English with the words of Ann Coulter or Bill Bennett.”
(Minor typo in my prior post: I meant to type “folks,” not “folk.”)
5:47 pm
Conservatives Denounce and Shun Ann Coulter For Edwards Remark
There’s far more. With quotes like these it isn’t even necessary to look at the liberals who are denouncing here. The conservatives are doing a fine job of it.
...
5:52 pm
How is calling Ann Coulter a witch different from her using the term ‘rag head’? Two wrongs do not make a right. I certainly don’t believe stereotype slurs support any argument; though all writers do carve out a niche to differentiate themselves form the hoard. Why, Ms. Coulter chose this style as her ‘gimmick’, when she is quite a capable writer and commentator, I do not know.
Maureen Dowd is caustic in the extreme, but does maintain some decorum. Reading Ms. Coulter’s material, while ignoring her ‘gimmick’, one does find points that do merit logical, rational discussion. And her style does influence readers of limited grace to ascribe to conservative values. But do the ends justify the means? In politics, maybe so. That said I think she is capable of communicating her position to everyone without being offensive in order to attract the reader’s attention. I believe telling her so serves open debate more than silencing her voice.
If the collective ‘we’ succeed in forcing Ms. Coulter off of the ‘air’ and from print media we would be deigning her, her right to speak. Who would ‘we’ ban next, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, or the Kent State professor who promotes Wahhabism in his classroom?
BTW: We have already ostracized the ‘Nazi’s, White Supremacists, KKK and others from that part of the political spectrum. Um, how many from the far right portion of the spectrum have we drummed out of Dodge?
6:49 pm
[...] The easiest way to explain is to quote an exchange from another blog where I commented on this. Right-Wing Nuthouse comes down hard on Coulter (from the “avoid embarrassment” perspective, that is), and offers the following suggestions for dealing with her: I urge everyone – right and left – to take the following actions: [...]
6:55 pm
Good letter Rick but they will continue to have her on as long as they think it’s a plus for the bottom line. It would be much more effective is you threatened to start contacting sponsers.
7:14 pm
what coulter said was funny.
and it was accurate – on two fronts: edwards is a freakin prissy pretty boy; and everyone has gotten way to PC over too many freakin words.
you anti-coulter-types want to send her to rehab for using the word faggot. just like she said!
edwards is so prissy makes the wind-surfing kerry look like a picture of manhhod.
edwards is so prissy he had a beauty mark removed from his upper lip – to look even prettier.
hillary could beat edwards in an arm wrestle.
most people sense these prissy things about edwards. ann voices these feelings in a pointed way. she always has.
if you don;t like it, then don;t buy her books, or watch her on TV.
Her comments about the prissy gore and the prissy edwards are far less dangerous and far less provocative than the bushitler crap and the crap that bill maher-types spew when they call for cheney’s assassination.
when pelosi and dean and hillary and teddy and kerry condemn the mahers and the kossacks for their crap, then i’ll criticize ann for hers.
8:44 pm
I can’t believe you are so upset over this word. Liberals have used much worse over the years(wishing Bush and Cheney dead … many times and many other could be given) and this is one word. It may be offensive but that doesn’t mean everything else she says is wrong or should be ignored. That is silly reasoning and it is a shame that other conservatives react by suggesting she should not have a forum to speak on TV.
If you don’t won’t to listen or read, then don’t do so. Just don’t try to make this the worse action that could ever be committed by a conservative. This is much ado about nothing.
8:49 pm
GOP, Blogs Condemn Ann Coulter
The Log Cabin Republicans have condemned Ann Coulter.
John McCain has denounced her. So has Rudy Giuliani. And Mitt Romney. (h/t Hot Air)
More reaction from conservative blogs (Robbie linked to a few others):
Powerline: "Deplora…
9:55 pm
[...] The very serious bloggers of the conservative blogosphere are climbing over each other to get as far away from Ann Coulter as possible. As they do so, they are forced to climb over the very serious members of the leftardosphere rushing towards her, yelling, “look at all the hate!” [...]
11:32 pm
So does this mean you’ll also be writing letters to Sean Hannity and Roger Ailes? I mean, Hannity considers her a friend and Fox regularly gives her plenty of ventilation time which reaches a wider audience considering Fox’s higher ratings compared to CNN.
11:38 pm
Three GOP Frontrunners All Denounce Coulter’s Slur Of John Edwards
Oh, dear, what have we here? I was assured by Glenn Greenwald that every major political figure on the right was a craven coward who would never take on Ann Coulter, that intellectual powerhouse who epitomizes the modern conservative movement:
The pe…
11:45 pm
Holy cow…it looks like your suggesting the same thing I offered last night:
Political Banishment:
http://chenzhen.wordpress.com/2007/03/02/for-the-love-ofjust-ignore-ann-coulter/
11:48 pm
[...] And oh my goodness…… gracious, Right Wing Nut House makes basically the same suggestion: COULTER FATIGUE [...]
11:52 pm
I credit you for writing that letter.
Sadly, too many claim that “She doesn’t represent conservatives” while waiting in line to get her signature.
12:16 am
RM: “Plenty of fake outrage on the left too. And if its not fake, they’re idiots to allow themselves to be used as unwitting stage props in Coulter’s show.”
True, outrage against Coulter is stupid and merely feeds her propaganda machine.
OTOH, I understand why they get upset at the fact that left-idiots like Ward Churchill often get far more negative media attention than the equally contemptible members of the right. WC was an unknown 2-bit pseudo-academic who the “right”, not the “left”, made a household name and he would still be unknown by 99% of the “left” if the “right” hadn’t used manufactured outrage to make him famous. Unlike WC, however, Coulter wasn’t made famous by her enemies – she was made famous by her supporters who agree with her and buy her books like hotcakes. WC was never a regular guest on National TV, but Coulter still is to this day.
As a younger brother who got in trouble for the same things my older brother got away with, I understand the frustration.
12:35 am
[...] Ann Coulter Sucks Filed under: Politics — Robert @ 1:35 am Longer version here. H/T Insty. [...]
12:47 am
[...] Shrill and unpleasant person realizing that the schtick ain’t working so good. [...]
1:00 am
This is an interesting and useful discussion.
Regardless of Ann Coulter’s personal vices or virtues, regardless of her intelligence or lack thereof, nobody would even know her name if she were not being ceaselessly promoted by the major TV and radio networks.
Why do they so love to feature particularly divisive people like Coulter? Radio and TV outlets are constantly putting on these clown shows, which alternately stir up anger and defensiveness on both sides. What is their motive for doing so?
And why do we permit them to control our entire public discourse so completely?
1:01 am
I’ll come clean and say upfront I am not a conservative. I’m not really a liberal either. I just like things that work. Now that I got that out of the way, I have many friends who endlessly complain about Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, et al. I personally don’t get it. Getting upset about Ann Coulter is about the same as getting upset when Lex Luther is f’ing with Superman. She’s a friggin’ cartoon character. All the aforementioned ‘pundits’ (and also liberal mouth-pieces like Al Franken and Michael Moore) are playing characters. They’re actors trying to make money by feeding the masses red meat. For me the most disturbing thing about the Coulter ‘faggot’ comment, was not the fact that she made the comment (par for course), it’s the reaction from the audience. Besides writing letters to the editor, the best advice would be “If you’re in the audience when Ann Coulter says something stupid like this, DON’T CHEER.”
1:08 am
Moran, if you are thaat anal retentive, I suggest Exlax. Coulter is funny.
1:20 am
I Love Ann Coulter
Rick Moran at Right Wing Nut House is pretty riled at Ann Coulter. Instead of repeating what everyone agrees about Coulter, let us take a moment to marvel at the Pavlovian response that Coulter not only expected but intended with…
1:49 am
I think I could m uster up some outrage if it wasn’t for this incident…..
‘Grey’s’ star in counseling for gay slur
http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/59979
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24 (UPI)—Actor Isaiah Washington has entered a treatment program as part of an effort to atone for a gay slur against a “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star in Hollywood.
“With the support of my family and friends, I have begun counseling,” the actor said in a statement Wednesday. “I regard this as a necessary step toward understanding why I did what I did and making sure it never happens again.”
Washington reportedly agreed to undergo a psychological assessment following discussions with ABC executives about his denial at the Golden Globe awards that he had called co-star T.R. Knight a “faggot,” Eonline.com said.
“Grey’s” creator Shonda Rhimes said in a statement that Washington’s use of “such a disturbing word” insulted gays and lesbians and “anyone who has ever struggled for respect in a world that is not always accepting of difference.”
Washington publicly apologized, saying he could he could no longer deny that he had issues he needed to face.
His decision to enter treatment may directly relate to his future on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Eonline.com said. The Walt Disney Co., ABC’s parent company, has a corporate nondiscrimination policy that could provide for dismissing the actor from the show, Eonline.com said.
Personaly I find this more disturbing then some stupid joke. Imagine…going into rehab for Thoughtcrime. And his career depends on it. That’s the real outrage…not some stupid joke about it.
2:41 am
Outrage is such a waste of time. Both sides know what Ann does. Both sides know that Ann expects outrage from both the Left and Right and both sides indulge her with outrage time after time after time.
And I feel very strange (honestly) that I feel a cold detachment here rather than outrage and don’t think the solution is to shut her up. Though I have no solution to offer myself.
Perhaps I just believe it’s a lot of hot air over nothing very significant in the long run.
Left: Look how evil the right is (Yawn. Do they ever say anything else?)
Right: She doesn’t speak for me! (Yawn. The Left isn’t listening anyway.)
This will last a couple of news cycles and part some lefties from their Coulter Cash.
Then hopefully things will quiet down until the next time.
2:42 am
As a liberal who cares not a whit for Michael Moore, I am pleased to see conservatives speaking out and saying “enough!” Thank you.
I never imagined this person spoke for all conservatives, but I have to admit to bewilderment that she has spewed her bile with such impunity for so long…even so far as being invited back to CPAC as an honored speaker a year after cracking jokes about “ragheads.”
I was afraid the columnists would be sticking with their “ohmygods” over nasty posts put up by anonymous nuts at Huffington.post and would give Coulter a pass. Glad to see the bloggers have forced the issue.
Good for you.
Here’s to real discussion of important issues.
3:19 am
Rick: I’m not an American and I’m not a conservative, but I hope you won’t mind me posting here just to say, Good for you.
Two years ago Coulter was criticizing Canada for not being a friend of America, and all the while our soldiers were dying in Afghanistan. Her comments weren’t exactly appreciated up here. Happy to see she’s being disowned.
All the best,
T
4:06 am
You guys don’t take satire very well.
Last week a story appeared about an actor on Grey’s Anatomy who was forced into rehab for making such a remark in order to keep his job. The story about Isaiah Washington was widly circulated. The thing that made it a story is the ridiculousness of having to enter rehab over an outburst. This story is easily searched.
Excuse me while I laugh all over again.
Back. Rehab fixes everything. Crash your car whilst drunk—rehab. Slap a cop—rehab. Shave your head—reahab. Rehab as job salvager.
Ann was asked about Edwards and she referred to this by using the language highlighted in that current event, speciffically the word that landed Washington in rehab. You were expected to make that connection, to “get” her satire of the “off-to-rehab” pattern that is so ridiculous, and not to get your nickers all in a bunch about her remarks misrepresenting you. You actually are too PC when you when you rush off to censure satire for its sensitive language and not once mentioning the reference.
7:32 am
I have to disagree with Bruce C. While he is correct that the left has said many things just as bad about Bush and Cheney, he misses the point about Ann. It isn’t that “everything she says is wrong or should be ignored…” When she sticks to the knitting and writes political commentary, she is very articulate. But she sold out to an entertainment driven culture, and has purposely assumed a persona that is hateful and vulgar. While many on the right engage in thoughtful (and spirited) criticism of the left, she has become the circus entertainer. And then, when she crosses the line, she lamely tries to explain her way out, each and every time by saying “It was a joke.” It’s not a joke anymore. She is a one trick pony and the trick has gotten very old. She demeans the conservative movement and she cheapens the level of public discourse in this country. But none of this will keep Hannity and the rest of Fox News from trotting her out ne4xt week to stoke the controversy (and their ratings) some more. After all, Anna Nicole Smith is buried now, so Hannity is High and Dry without anything to say.
7:48 am
I agree in principle with most of what’s been posted here. Except, I think Coulter is a hoot. I’d line up to go see her anytime. Her most serious challenge is that her outrageous presentation often buries her lede. But the pub she receives outweighs the misdirection. By the way, she did not call Edwards a faggot. She only implied that the word faggot would be featured in her comments. Her point was that the darlings of Hollywood can say just about anything they want. If they happen to cross the line and offend, all they have to do is feign the need for corrective therapy and they are almost always immediately given a pass. In our society it takes a sledge against these cinder blocks of hypocrisy to smash through them. Give’m hell Ann – keep selling those books. Lefties and righties, pontificate away.
8:42 am
Rick, great letter. It won’t do any good though. I’ve sent FoxNews many similar letters about repeatedly featuring people like Coulter, Malkin (whom the network has now rewarded with a co-show), Simcox the MinutePerson, that Mad Mother against Illegals, Tony Perkins, et al. The main point I always make is how much it grieves and upsets me that these “conservatives” claim to speak for me. Which they most certainly do NOT. Fox has never one time responded to me.
This is what I mean when I say the conservative brand has been ruined… on the Left, the CNNs and alphabet nets LOVE to feature our shrieking freaks for obvious reasons. On the right, Fox has apparently decided to make common cause with the loudest, most “controversial” wingnuts—all the media-whoring demagogues who are usually selling books and pimping for donations.
So moderate, sane, rational people have very little representation on the airwaves. Talk radio is nearly shot too, in case you haven’t tuned in recently.
As for your previous comment about the Left’s fake outrage, yeah of course you’re right. I just don’t care about the Left, and I always expect the worst from their lunatics. What I DO care about is the Right’s image and my conclusion is, we’re in deep kimchee. Our loons seem to be competing with their loons—and it’s a neck in neck race to the bottom.
9:26 am
A bigger group of unhappy, humorless, grouches you would be hard pressed to find. The inability of pissed off p.c. gutless and envious hacks, like Moran, to just get it is astounding.
Keep it up Ann. You make alot of us who are un-afraid laugh.
9:59 am
[...] Update: Rick Moran over at Rightwing Nuthouse has Coulter Fatigue and I like his suggestions. Go have a look. [...]
10:03 am
Rick: “every single conservative blogger I have seen this morning has roundly condemned herâ€
Power Line, Time’s 2004 Blog of the Year, is silent on the subject, today.
Probably the most idiotic comment offered by a leftist here.
Um, was Power Line given the blog of the year award because of their conservative influence?
Of course not.
Nice issue conflation.
10:06 am
CPAC is Shocked—Shocked!—by Ann Coulter’s Remark
Who knew that Coulter would say something that would give liberals an excuse to attack conservatives?
10:14 am
And let me guess Mrmontes… your idea of humor is the Half Hour News Hour on Fox. Starring, naturally, Ann, Rush & Drudge. Nothing like “keeping it fresh” doncha know.
Check out Steve Graham for several posts on Ann and the new Surnow “comedy” show. Here’s one piece that lambastes both, and it is genuinely funny:
The Undead
GOP’s Lost Weekend Continues
http://www.hogonice.com/2007/03/the_undead.html
10:31 am
Yeah, it’s the media. It has nothing to do with the fact that many conservatives agree with her substantively and enjoy her rhetoric. c’mon…..
10:44 am
Talk about hypocrisy. So now we’ve got a bunch of conservatives with their panties in a wad over Ann Coulter saying the word “faggot,” but turn around and support amending our Constitution to guarantee homosexual Americans are deprived of the right to contract voluntarily with one another to start households.
Yeah, that’s it social-cons, do everything you can to keep homosexual Americans from being more conservative and living more conservative “lifestyles” and we’ll see if you get back into power before my children are old enough to vote.
10:59 am
Was Ann’s comment worse than wishing a bomb would have killed Dick Cheney?
11:26 am
There are two paths before us.
One, we can go with the George Bush SENIOR plan—inveigh against real conservative plans—call them ‘voodoo economics’—promise to do conservative things, and then betray our promises—like raising taxes—-and lose, lose, lose. Just like in the last election. Gutsy, visionary, truth-telling conservatism wins—which is why we lost. The Heralds of the Half-measure (who call themselves sane and moderate) which is watered down to infintestimality won again—and thus the Conservatives lost.
Or Two, we can follow Reagan. Be joyful and unafraid. Make fun of our enemies while kicking them in the knee, and having a good time doing it—the trash heap of history—the bombs are on the way—tear down this wall—an evil empire—-
Imagine that—Reagan joked, very probably on purpose so that others, including the Rooskies would hear—about starting a thermonuclear war. Kind of puts this tempest in a teapot in perspective, hunh?
Now we can be the girly-men that Coulter rightly describes many of the so-called leaders on the Right as—we can sacrifice her to the Left, and hope that those who dream Tranzi dreams which would have to be supported by machine guns will be satisfied.
But I think thats naive. You can get hung for a sheep as well as for a goat. Might as well die proud.
Someday, in the distant future when the Left is politically destroyed, and Libertarians and Social Conservatives politely duel in words over the future, then we can do as the towns in the Old West did after they got law and order—we can ask Chairman Ann to put her gun up, and let the law deal with the wicked. In that day, when Conservatism has triumphed, we can turn the heat down, and the old gunfighter might be politely asked by the new, more suave, and very courteous forces of justice to step down. But in this day and time when assasination is in the minds of many of the Left, we don’t need to unilaterally disarm.
Reagan did not unilaterally disarm despite the cries of the nuclear freeze movement. They said it was destabilizing. So let us not join the ‘peace’ protestors. Let us not join the loser clubbers and the RINO’s and the ‘we’re really conservative’ moderates.
We need Ann. We needed Reagan, and the past pope, and the Iron Lady—people who could sound the clarion call, and raise conservatism above its disunified, and frequenly cannibalistic state.
11:40 am
Rick, if you want to get Ann Coulter off of TV and away from the public spotlight, the best way would be to find some metabolism-altering drug that would make her gain about 300 pounds in a couple of months.
Ann’s basically a cross between Anna Nicole Smith and Terrell Owens in that her looks get her invited into the TV party (the left’s adam’s apple sniping is pretty lame when you compare all the physical insults the right has to work with when commenting on folks like Bill Mahr or Michael Moore), and her outrageousness provides that TV ratings jolt that the execs crave. A Coulter without the outrageousness would be just another blond face with conservative views, ready to be pushed aside when a younger spokesperson comes along. On the other hand, an in-your-face Ann with the body of a bigger Rosie O’Donnell would only get on Fox if she peered through the glass on Sixth Ave. while the cameras were on Steve, Brian and Gretchen during the morning show.
I don’t doubt Coulter believes in the conservative viewpoint—Ann could make far more money if she were to “grow” and make the trip across the ideological spectrum, the way Arianna Huffington did in 2000—but if you had to rate what she believes is important, No. 1 would be the financial well-being of the Ann Coulter franchise. No. 2 would actually be getting conservatives elected to office or boosting the influence of groups like CPAC in getting candidates they support into office. And judging by some of the responses this morning to the thread on Lucianne.com about GOP candidates criticising her remarks, she understands that there’s a pretty good sized contingent out there that wants the red meat thrown out there for immediate gratification, because they either don’t understand or don’t care that in the current big media climate, anything controversal a conservative says is far more likely to be taken as a generalization of all conservatives than something a liberal like Mahr says about killing Dick Cheney will be pushed as evidence that all liberal want Cheney assassinated.
11:58 am
We face many,many serious issues nowadays. take your pick, Illegal immigration, the worldwide war on terror, social security, medical costs…
I happen to be a CONSERVATIVE.
I find Ann Coulter’s approcah and choice of words, despicable, and not helpful to the Conservative movement.
For the record, I also find the tired phrase: “You’re a great American” an overused phrase that actually cheapens and dilutes the word “Great”. We’ve become a nation of big TALK. We need to once again, be a nation of great achievments and just “do” it… Less talk, more actions.
I find Bill Maher and others like him,on the “left” equally despicable and NOT helpful to a genuine National debate on the issues we face as a nation, and as members of western Civilization.
Coulter and Maher completely trivialize any message or contribution they may have to issues by their juvenile approach to adult issues.
These are 12 year old tactics, not adults debating life or death issues for our collective well being.
I agree with many comments above.
Conservatives: REJECT Ann Coulter.
Liberals:REJECT the Bill Maher’s as well.
Neither of them, or look alikes, are helpful or productive.
They are merely entertainers, playing to hype and sizzle. That is their business, and livelihood. They sell poison, and we buy it. We are their addicts, they are our pushers.
reject them all. Seek adults instead.
12:29 pm
william Said:
10:59 am
Was Ann’s comment worse than wishing a bomb would have killed Dick Cheney?
———————————————————————
She is a published author who makes nationally televised appearances and makes her comments as a paid speaker at public events that are nationally televised. Not an anonymous poster at somebody’s blog.
See the difference?
——————————-
1:16 pm
I would agree it’s a matter of degree.
Yes,Maher,was absolutely reprehnsible with that vicious comment.Agreed, way,way over the top. Again, the product of a vicious, juvenile mind.
Coulter is a published author. Agreed. That is not a point to argue…I own nothing written by her.
My exposure to her is on Hannity and in the NY Post. That’s plenty for me to get the idea.
Socratic? Not even close.
Let’s Remember this: She writes, and speaks to, the “faithful”.
In return, she receives her daily bread. And lots of it.
Let’s not lose sight of the fact she gets “paid” like an entertainer, to spew her at times, ugly thoughts.
She does not represent “me” as a conservative, that I can assure you. I find her to be distasteful, and embarassing.
But hey, that’s just my opinion.
Whatever good ideas she has, and being a conservative, I admit, she does has some good ones, get entirely lost in the mud she throws.
Don’t confuse that with advocacy, or “debate”.
To think we “need” her to counter Maher, or Moore, or any of the other folks in the opposition who revel at childlike antics is, well, childlike.
Ours is the movement of “grownups”.
Her message, and his,if he has one, gets lost in the bile and vitriole.
The country needs to move on and find ADULTS to deal with hard, real world issues. Not name calling and poison.
that’s what my 12 year old does. And what I did, in my youth.
We don;t need, Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Bill Maher, Ariana what’s her name. No one.
We need adults, like Rudy or Newt, with ideas, and constructive actions. Doers… Not yappers…Positive action, No poison. That levels the playing field with the children on the left. We don’t “want” a level playing field. We want to lead…and rise above that silly stuff.
3:30 pm
Ann Coulter would not have had so many opportunities to appear on television if she wasn’t easy on the eyes. However, she’s 45 years old. She can’t continue in the same role much longer. The Coulter problem will resolve itself soon enough.
Regarding the controversial remark, If she had just called Edwards a “metrosexual” or possibly a “girly-man”, complete with the Schwarzenegger accent, she would have more accurately made fun of his effeminate traits without the unnecessary anti-homosexual baggage. However, even though it’s ridiculous that Michael Richards and Isaiah Washington can receive absolution by rehab, one can’t directly use the words they used even when poking fun at them. Unfortunately, conservatives need to be more careful about what they say in certain settings. Bomb thrower Ann Coulter shouldn’t be invited to any event also attended by political candidates.
5:34 pm
[...] Several of the conservative sites I usually read are turning into whining, scolding harpies. Since when do real conservatives subscribe to the PC regimen demanding that no one be offended by anything, ever? So Ann Coulter told a lame joke. OMG! I hope that tender, sensitive flower Edwards recovers from the severe trauma of being called a faggot, I really do. I know that would be enough to shatter my fragile ego forever – well, at least make me cry and feel bad, and question my manhood. I’m already steeling myself for the inevitable onslaught of criticism for our occasional use of homo or faggot. I can just imagine how Ace will feel when y’all turn your wrath on him. Whattaya mean that’s different? How? Because his jokes are better? [...]
7:31 pm
What is next? Shall we organize an Ann Coulter book burning in the town square? Boycott Ann? Go right ahead, that is your right. But when are you going to boycott all the others who make stupid statements for the purpose of having people talk about them? Where shall we start?
I am sick to death of this PC world we are forced to live in. So Coulter put two words, “faggot” and “Edwards” together in the same sentence. And the right is falling all over themselves to make sure that the left understands that we are all “above” such things when in reality, we should be telling the left to pound sand. Where are all the Democrats apologizing for Bill Maher’s statements indicating that people would be alive if someone had had the fortitude to take out a sitting vice-president? Ummmmm?
Perhaps some of you need to sit down and read Gramsci. Since Howard Dean is screaming for the right to denounce Coulter, I am sure he has.
Maybe when, like Coulter, the right stops worrying about insulting those on the left we can take back what we have lost. So while those on the left make snide remarks about our President, and insult anyone who doesn’t fall lockstep to their drummer, we are falling all over ourselves to make sure they understand we are such nice people.
Denounce Ann? Nope. I didn’t make the comment. I didn’t ask her to make the comment. And since I am a conservative who believes in personal responsibility, I will let her apologize for whatever she may think she did wrong. I owe no one an apology. And when the left comes out and denounces people like Cindy Sheehan who wants to go back in time and kill our President while he was a baby instead of standing on the podium with her, I will just understand this for what it is. Indignation of the left that they have raised to the level of an art form while they make the right squirm and convince the right that we should be ashamed of using their own tactics against them.
8:08 pm
They invited her, knowing what she said last year about “ragheads” and the other inflammatory things she has said over the years. The people at the conference, knowing what she said last year about “ragheads” and the other inflammatory things she has said over the years, lined up to go hear her. When she made a new inflammatory remark this year, in line with what she said last year about “ragheads” and the other inflammatory things she has said over the years, she got laughter and applause.
There are the obligatory “distancing” remarks but face it: She knows her audience and she gives them what they want, and she keeps getting invited back because everyone knows she knows her audience and everyone knows she will give them what they want. And her books will sell big, and she’ll be on lots of talk shows, and she’ll speak at other conferences, and all of that says far more than the obligatory “distancing” remarks.
12:23 am
Ann Coulter and Hatred
So, what’s the problem with this? Isn’t that what freedom of speech is all about? How on earth can there be anything wrong with her saying vile things, if free speech is as wonderful as we liberals say it is?
5:37 am
You foolish right winger nut houses do not deserve to be in power. You think that you need to be civil and condemn Coulter.
Just as Bush is fighting a civilized war, Republicans are conducting cililized politics. America has uncivilized enemies on war front and the political front.
People like you continue to embolden them. You are helping the enemy. Quit being wussies to the enemy. The other side is playing for keeps, wake up and do the same.
Act like you want to win. The public that matters, understands. And the others, they want to grant ammesty and other traitorous things. They are trying to destroy us all and they dont matter
!!
5:51 am
When are you going to excoriate the Swift Boaters, cuz, Kerry is whining foul in front of Senate hearings.
You want to stay above the fray and be civilized. So get to it.
You start apologizing and I start working on the rest of the list for you to proselytize over.
8:25 am
Rick: You managed to unearth every liberal who up to now has been hiding under a rock. Ever heard of piling on? I really don’t mind any of the anti-Coulter rant, but I must take exception to censorship. In any form! How can you play into the hands of anyone who would write to a media source to block someone’s 1st amendment rights. As you can plainly see from the numerous response to your “Coulter Fatigue” everyone has an opinion to express and they all have the same free speech right. Whenever I listen to any group think, I am reminded of Daniel Elsberg, Senator McCarthy and some long forgotten radio/TV sponsors that dictated what they wanted shown or heard, and what was actually shown. What gall! Whenever anyone attempts to censor another, whether Ann Coulter, Bill Maher, Rush Limbaugh or Capt. Bob Emery we are rushing headfirst down a slippery slope of totalitarianism.
As Voltaire once said, “I don’t agree with what you say, But I shall defend to the death your right to say it.”
Take heart my learned friends.
10:49 am
“Otherwise, shut the F**k up and stop ginning up the outrage over what anyone with half a brain can see is a deliberate attempt by Coulter to garner cheap headlines and publicity.”
But it took you all just forever to arrive at this moment of clarity, and now only because it has ceased to serve your purpose. Why on Earth shouldn’t we keep poking you with a stick? Tell me you’d not do the same to an out of control embarrassment making us look foolish. You know you would.
2:17 pm
[...] In response to this inevitable-to-everyone-except-conservatives trainwreck, a number of folks have stepped right up to the plate. Condemnation, calls to shun her, Open Letters… all good stuff, though it would have been more admirable had it preceded her totally unsurprising viciousness. [...]
4:46 pm
I cant wait to see what Ann Coulter has to say about all this LOL.
8:58 pm
Ace: “was Power Line given the blog of the year award because of their conservative influence?”
Yes.
9:31 pm
You know, it’s actually so-called right-wingers like yourself that are giving conservatism a bad name. You positively excrete weakness every time you bow down before the almighty PC gods like this. And for what? To distance yourself from a comment (granted, an esoteric reference and stab at humor that fell flat) that many people throw around every single day in their own lives yet don’t feel the need to publicly prostrate themselves for. So we’re all bigots now, just because the Left says so?
Sorry, but I don’t think so. I think you people need to stick with the Left and their wishy-washy inability to admit what they actually believe, or say what they actually feel.
Edwards IS an effeminate prima donna, there’s no denying that. The man’s in love with his own hair, for pete’s sake. I really don’t see why this whole incident is so beyond the pale. Here’s some advice: grow some balls. Tired Huffington Post tranny jokes aside, the reason conservatives like myself enjoy Ann’s commentary is precisely because hers are infinitely bigger than other self-styled conservative “heavyweights.”
You people think a Giuliani or Romney is the “new face” of the Republican Party? Fine, then better get used to losing future elections, because the rest of us simply aren’t going to buy it.
10:58 pm
[...] …he said, then sat down to compose a series of indignant emails to every single network he could think of, demanding that the Evil Harridan with which he disagreed be ostracized and banned from public appearances forevermore. [...]
12:55 pm
Kudos especially on your Update II, the letter to CNN asking that they—and by extension the rest of the media—stop featuring Coulter. That is the key. I for one don’t find it any less outrageous that CNN (and the rest of the media) continually book Coulter and treat her as a mainstream pundit. It’s not just CPAC.
11:35 am
Wow. 88 posts thus far. And counting of course. Suffice it to say that the ‘discussion’ carried on here just confirms that we are a divided nation. Sad, actually, because at the end of the day, Ann Coulter does not speak for America. And we’re all too busy yelling at each other (hey Rick, love your post but stop with calling people whe disagree ‘idiot’ or ‘moron’ already-it marginalizes your point and does not become you) to even begin to hear enough to have the political discourse this country so desparately needs. Since when did America become a country where opposing points of view are considered unpatriotic? Hatred, no matter how delicately expressed, is still hatred. This is not America.
3:44 pm
I’ve known enough wingnuts that DO agree with Ann Coulter and consistently defend her to disturb the hell out of me. It’s good to see conservatives and sanity in the same place at the same time; this article is much appreciated.
4:52 pm
To whom ever said Bill Maher is a Democrat, you are misinformed. Bill Maher, of which I am a big fan, is a self proclaimed Libertarian. Maybe you would know that if you had actually seen his show.