WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP NASTY ANN COULTER ON THE DEFENSIVE
The reaction to the Ann Coulter story is no surprise. Frankly, she brings out the best and worst in us. The best is the realization that Coulter, trapped within her own tortured mind, has pretty well run her course and has now become a liability to her conservative fans, those who are remaining.
The worst is the haters who buy her exploitative brand of hatred, her spewing of negativity about minorities, the poor, Jews and her favorite target – anyone who disagrees with her.
Normally, Coulter goes on the attack. A storm of controversy follows, and we just forget, trying to put the nasty aftermath out of our minds.
But this is different. Nasty Ann has taken her bigotry bashing to a new dimension.
Why do I keep writing about this? It bothers me that Americans continue to make her books best sellers, when they are filled with the kind of invective that only mad bigots would write. It also disturbs me that the major networks give her the time of day. It is bad enough that we are obsessed with celebrity malcontents like Spears and Hilton. Now, we attempt to glorify an intellectual weakling whose sole claim to fame is outrage and intolerance.
This is quite a year. We have Britney, Paris, Larry Craig, the steroid scandals, and always close to the media heartland is Ann Coulter.
Frankly, it is time that good and decent people to continue writing about her verbal indecency. It is time to use the paper in her books to wrap the fish. It is time to let her know that her act is getting old. Maybe she’s thin-skinned, and will hide in a cocoon.
I doubt it. But we can try, can’t we?
It is rather unfortunate and disturbing that there is a segment of American culture that takes serious heed to the rantings of these perverse talking heads. Being in the army, and being stationed in Iraq for fourteen months, I sometimes wonder what is the benefit - the old free speech mantra has run afoul of itself, with Rush, Ann, Michelle, and the others who make up the far, far right propaganda machine trampling the reputations of those who look to sound a calmer voice to all of the issues that divide our country. We have to stop giving them the platform with which to espouse their hatred and lies.
In commenting on the matter at hand, I hope to make a clear statement.
I think that the obsession with Britney, Paris, et al. comes from our desire to see the rich and famous destroyed. It is my understanding that a Detroit radio station put on a contest that awarded a prize on when Britney will commit suicide. It is almost a game to see people fall and we get excited.
What does this have to do with Ann Coulter? In a world of Sound bites, it is the objective not only of the left, but some on the right as well to shock the audience out of their stupor with outrageous sayings just as the celebrties tittilate with their debauched lifestyles. With the attention span of only a few minutes, most of us actually get excited over this stuff to give meaning to our lives. Our powers of critical thinking have been dulled over the past few decades with a subpar education system that teaches feel-good socialization and useless programs instead of the three Rs and classical learning. Civility has been reduced to a myriad of ad hominem attacks and little discussion on the issues at hand.
BTW, my favorite commentators are Michael Barone and Charles Krauthammer. They discuss the issues without shocking.