Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter reminds me a lot of Dennis Rodman. When Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons, he was a fan favorite despite his lack of offensive skills. He played his ass off doing the dirty work and the people of Detroit loved him for it. But greater fame was available for Dennis, not through his determination and his willingness to throw his body in front of much larger players, but by acting like a jackass. Rodman has said that Madonna gave him advice on how to behave in order to get maximum public exposure. So he started wearing dresses, coloring his hair, and writing a crappy book (which I did read) . All this idiocy did work, as Rodman because very famous nationwide and is still talked about to this day.
Which gets us back to Ann Coulter. Much like Rodman, she is loud, obnoxious and desperate for greater fame, at any cost. I have a hard time believing that she truly means everything she says. When she says "liberals hate God and America" she really can't mean that. There certainly are leftists who rip on their own country to such an extent that their patriotism deserves to be criticized, but many liberals have fought and died for this country. Also, the left has more atheists than the right and the anti-religious rhetoric from some on the left alienates more than a few moderates, however, there is a long tradition of progressive religious action, from abolition, civil rights, opposition to war and immigration.
Coulter's most recent flap comes from her new book and her subsequent publicity tour, where she has torn into some 9/11 widows who have made political stances. I have read opinions from some on the left who feel that people like Cindy Sheehan should be immune for having their viewpoints criticized, because they have suffered such awful tragedies. But once they enter into the realm of politics and start sucking the ass of traitors like Lynne Stewart, as Cindy Sheehan has, then the grieving mother or wife is open for judgement.
While it is ok to attack these people on their statements, I feel it is out of bounds to hit them personally like Coulter has. These women do not enjoy the ugly fact that their husbands were murdered by extremists, even if they seem to blame Bush more vocally than the terrorists. It just isn't enough anymore to take a person's opinions apart, it has to get ugly and personal. It is all through our culture. Howard Dean says he "hates the Republicans" and claims a lot of them don't make an honest living. And Dean is fairly well mannered compared to the blogs, messageboards and left wingers who have numerous competitions to compare Bush to Hitler.
Coulter's act does pay her quite well, her books, while having many factual errors and distortions, sell in massive quantities. Which makes her similar to Michael Moore on the left. Democrats would be smart to use her the way the right used Moore as lightning rod for all that is wrong with the left. In doing this, they should avoid using some of her tactics. The morally credibility goes away quickly when liberals call her "Man Coulter" or "Ann the Man". She says enough on her own to offend, the piling on is just as mean spirited as what the left accuses Coulter of behaving like.
Which gets us back to Ann Coulter. Much like Rodman, she is loud, obnoxious and desperate for greater fame, at any cost. I have a hard time believing that she truly means everything she says. When she says "liberals hate God and America" she really can't mean that. There certainly are leftists who rip on their own country to such an extent that their patriotism deserves to be criticized, but many liberals have fought and died for this country. Also, the left has more atheists than the right and the anti-religious rhetoric from some on the left alienates more than a few moderates, however, there is a long tradition of progressive religious action, from abolition, civil rights, opposition to war and immigration.
Coulter's most recent flap comes from her new book and her subsequent publicity tour, where she has torn into some 9/11 widows who have made political stances. I have read opinions from some on the left who feel that people like Cindy Sheehan should be immune for having their viewpoints criticized, because they have suffered such awful tragedies. But once they enter into the realm of politics and start sucking the ass of traitors like Lynne Stewart, as Cindy Sheehan has, then the grieving mother or wife is open for judgement.
While it is ok to attack these people on their statements, I feel it is out of bounds to hit them personally like Coulter has. These women do not enjoy the ugly fact that their husbands were murdered by extremists, even if they seem to blame Bush more vocally than the terrorists. It just isn't enough anymore to take a person's opinions apart, it has to get ugly and personal. It is all through our culture. Howard Dean says he "hates the Republicans" and claims a lot of them don't make an honest living. And Dean is fairly well mannered compared to the blogs, messageboards and left wingers who have numerous competitions to compare Bush to Hitler.
Coulter's act does pay her quite well, her books, while having many factual errors and distortions, sell in massive quantities. Which makes her similar to Michael Moore on the left. Democrats would be smart to use her the way the right used Moore as lightning rod for all that is wrong with the left. In doing this, they should avoid using some of her tactics. The morally credibility goes away quickly when liberals call her "Man Coulter" or "Ann the Man". She says enough on her own to offend, the piling on is just as mean spirited as what the left accuses Coulter of behaving like.
posted by Doug at 6:17 AM
1 Comments:
the factual errors link, are semantical errors at best. they were really scrapping the bottom of the barrel to find fault w/ her facts. it sounds like the writer of the article just didn't like what she has to say.
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