Coulter
March 7th, 2007 |I have written about Ann Coulter previously. I still think that she is nothing more than a clever self marketer who has tapped into a healthy vein of hatred in order to make a buck.
The problem I have is with her fans. Her comment regarding John Edwards is no surprise. What is very troubling is the audience reaction to her comment (applause) and the ensuing practice of discounting the effect of her comments by the likes of Fox News, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.
From conservative Albert Mohler:
Conservative institutions cannot afford any association with this kind of language or attack. The issues are far too serious to be treated in this manner, and the very convictions Ann Coulter often defends are now sullied by association with her.
…
So . . . why would Ann Coulter use that word? And, even more troubling to me, why would any in her audience laugh? There is nothing remotely funny about that word in any context. It is meant to hurt when boys use it in the locker room, and it was meant to hurt when Ann Coulter used it when speaking to a conservative audience. It demeans homosexuals and should be banned from any acceptable discourse.
How can homosexuals think anything but the worst of a movement that would laugh at the use of this slur? How can we think any better of ourselves if we stand by and let it happen?
Coulter is not going to lose any significant audience as a result of her comment. She will continue to appear on Fox News, she will continue to be embraced by the American Conservative Union, she will continue to be invited to CPAC and she will continue to sell books and get paid a lot of money for public speaking engagements. She is absolutely right when she says that “This is the same thing we go through every six months. I say something, the same people become hysterical, and that’s the end of it.”
Ann Coulter is who she is and she says what she says. She will continue to do so for as long as it pays the bills. But what does it say about a political movement and party that continues provides her with a career of preaching hatred?
