Ann Coulter Finally Goes TOO Far I confess I’ve n…
admin January 28th, 2006
Ann Coulter Finally Goes TOO Far
I confess I’ve never liked Ann Coulter. She has made a career out of oversimplifying, vilifying, and generally doing everything in her power to quash what little reasoned debate remains in U.S. politics.
I once made waves at a table full of political scientists and left-wing poli sci grads by comparing Michael Moore to Ann Coulter. It was at a fundraising event for the poli sci department, and at the time I worked for the fundraisers who had organized the event. As such, part of my job was to try to ensure that everyone had a good time. So I was trying to ‘draw out’ the lone conservative, a somewhat shy guy of about my age, and make him feel more comfortable.
Somehow “Fahrenheit 9-11″ came up, and I mentioned that I wasn’t a big fan of that movie or of Michael Moore. I said I thought that Moore and Coulter were essentially the same species (along with Sean Hannity, Al Franken, etc.). The gentleman on my other side, a very pleasant and friendly professor, stared at me and expressed his disagreement. I stuck to my guns; although I allowed that Coulter is considerably more vitriolic than Moore, they both made their names by being fact-selective and generally intellectually dishonest.
(Incidentally, the lone conservative brightened considerably at seeing me stick to my guns and agreed wholeheartedly that Coulter was unreasonable. I considered it a complete success: I had spoken my mind, stuck to it, and made someone else feel good in the process. As an added bonus, he gave a nice gift to the department before he left. I confess it was unexpected and completely not my motivation, which is probably why I’m not a fundraiser myself and I no longer assist a fundraiser.)
I take it all back. Well, not the part about all of the above-mentioned commentators being fact-selective and intellectually dishonest. To that, I hold firm. However, Coulter is in a league all her own.
The woman actually suggested in a public lecture that someone slip rat poison into Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ creme brulee.
In the interest of fairness, I will acknowledge that she then explained that she was joking. I don’t care. It was neither funny nor appropriate. There’s no excuse for it. I think Justice Thomas is cracked, but I don’t want someone to poison him, and I wouldn’t joke about it either.
Quick side note, before anyone gets the idea that I am some sort of neo-fascist censor, I’m not speaking to whether she had a legal right to say that, although saying such things about a President would probably earn one a visit from one’s friendly neighborhood Secret Service agents. I don’t remember my Con Law well enough to speak to whether this is within the bounds of permissible speech, or whether it falls under incitement or fighting words or some such. I’ll leave that to the lawyers…and wouldn’t it be interesting if this went to the Supreme Court while Justice Stevens was still on the bench? I’m curious how he’d vote.
Anyway. I’m more concerned with the normative issues. Legitimacy is a tenuous thing. What’s happening to us?
The “He’s not MY President” language dates back at least to the Clinton presidency. When George W. Bush won the 2000 election, it got stronger.
I’ll grant that the circumstances of the 2000 election were bound to strain the legitimacy of its results, and I thought plenty of questionable (if not shady) stuff went down, but I could never quite get into the “appointed President” and “stolen election” and “El Presidente” mutterings. It was mindless and inflammatory.
When Pat Robertson suggested that the U.S. bump off an elected South American leader, I cringed. Now another commentator is joking (dear Lord, I pray that she really WAS joking) that a U.S. Supreme Court Justice be assassinated. I shudder to think what’s next.
Hamas just won the Palestinian elections, and has refused to renounce its militant wing. Fatah gunmen stormed the Palestianian parliament because Hamas won.
Thank God we’re not that far gone…yet. I pray we never are.
