More fearless commentators like Ann Coulter — on both the Right and the Left — are precisely what this country needs.
Always late to a party, it wasn’t until Sunday that I heard Ann Coulter’s remarks regarding Presidential candidate John Edwards. The video is available at this link, but, for those of you without the proper plug-in, she informed a Conservative Political Action Conference audience that she could not comment on the former Senator because “you have to go into rehab if you use the word f*ggot.” Predictably, a firestorm ensued. CBS News dubbed her words a “slur against gay people.” Mr. Edwards called her comment, “hateful, selfish, childish behavior.” He further noted, “What I've learned is that if you don't have the courage to speak out against it — no matter who says it, and no matter who it's leveled at — then it becomes tolerable. And it's not tolerable, any more than the language I heard leveled at African-Americans when I was young.”
As it turns out, the fringe candidate is wrong on all counts. F*ggot is not a term of hate. It’s a word sometimes used to describe gays as well as a bundle of sticks or branches, a type of meatball, and, way back when, it even represented a unit of measurement.1 As far as offensiveness goes, there is no reason why it would appall gays; particularly since it has “been employed by gay men in a defiant, self-consciously empowering or self-mocking way.”2 Gay advice guru Dan Savage, in his “Savage Love” columns, an adult version of “Dear Abby,” prefaced each query with the salutation of “Hey F*ggot.” A person coming across his columns, as I used to in The Chicago Reader, would never have considered the greeting to be a symbol of abomination.
I honestly think that when most people utter it they use it to describe something they regard as silly, goofy or embarrassing which, at its root, may have nothing to do with homosexuals. Consider Coulter’s statement for a moment. Does she really think that Edwards is gay? I seriously doubt it. She was using her enemies' PC sensitivity as a means to provoke and incite — which is exactly what happened. The quip was an incendiary joke. Coulter is not publicity shy, and, given her background, must have known that furor would follow her heretical observation. Ironically, Howard Dean’s response — “this kind of vile rhetoric is out of bounds” — plays like made-to-order dogma. Like Dean, many leftists would like to send Coulter to places far fouler than rehab. Why is saying a word like f*ggot out of bounds? If a homosexual called Coulter a breeder or a black person called her a cracker, would we judge them “hate-filled and bigoted?” Of course not.
Many of her adversaries, those supposed lovers of diversity and goodness, can be seen on YouTube referring to her as a c*nt and a transvestite. I guess this goes to show that tolerance can only be tolerated when it is extended to the right kind of people. Some guerrillas sabotaged her wikipedia page by altering her biographical entry (they may have deleted the insertions by the time this piece is published) by fictionalizing her early history and mental status:
After her birth in New York City, she was taken to central park, where the family had built a sacrificial platform. Young Ann was then stoned and burned alive. Because obviously she fit all characteristics for being an evil satan spawn. It was however, found that her body was resilient and oppositely gotten stronger. After another attempt where her infant body was thrown down the laundry shoot . . . After observant careful study of Ann's behavior, it is obvious her mental well being is not in check. Possibilities include: Manic-Depressive Disorder, Rare form of Gonnorrea which consumes your thoughts and logic over a long period of time.
Well, at least they weren’t being hateful.
Most humorous was Edwards’ exploitation of the situation. He put together a special webpage in which one can eradicate injustice by forwarding him a cool 100 grand which he’ll be happy to call “Coulter Cash.” Ambulance chaser fails to describe most lawyers, but John Edwards could smell a C-note even if it were encased in lead.
As for the offending agitator, Coulter responded by saying, “I'm so ashamed, I can't stop laughing!” The hullabaloo is absurd but far from funny. Our media and politicians continue to be involved in a great race to prove which uncaring overfed yuppie happens to be the most sensitive and self-righteous of all. The general public has little interest in these pursuits, but are the only losers in the competition. Since the late eighties, we have been cowed into modifying our speech and thoughts as one can only view so many PC crucifixions before realizing the inherent danger of speaking truth to commissars. Sadness, as opposed to mirth, is the proper emotion for this circumstance.
The most important thing to remember about this incident is that Coulter has not, and hopefully will not, apologize. Thank God there are a few conservative millionaires out there who possess the financial and mental wherewithal to actively defy societal convention. Their presence helps to delay the date of PC’s eventual victory over free speech as the totalitarian nature of our Therapy State becomes more apparent with each passing day. Indeed, this morning I awoke to discover that high school officials in Washington State are now considering banning fan booing during games due to its supposed cruelty. I have a better idea, why don’t they just mind their own business? That’s a better government “solution” than any other in history.
People should have the right to say what they want to in our society, and when we disagree with them we have the right to respond. Mumbling a few cacophonous syllables does not align one with the forces of evil. In my opinion, more fearless commentators like Ann Coulter — on both the Right and the Left — are precisely what this country needs.
Endnotes
1. Taken from the Wikipedia definitions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot_%28epithet%29
Until several weeks ago, I was so naive that I thought the “F-word” referred to a 4 letter expletive found in most R-rated cinema. That was before I read the “shocking” headlines regarding actor Isaiah Washington using the word “faggot” on the set of a TV show. Actually, I can’t say that I read the word “faggot” in any of the headlines, because the term is apparently so vulgar that it had to be marked out with asterisks. Meanwhile, news articles half a page down had crotch shots of Britney Spears without underwear with nary an asterisk to be seen.
Another great example of the extent that PC “newspeak” has become public dogma was the Michael Richards “N-word” video. When you listen to the audio, a young woman gasps “Oh My God!” after Richards utters what is apparently the second worst word in the English language (next to the “F-word”, of course), yet no audience member can be heard displaying any anxiety when the hecklers retort by calling Richards a “white boy cracker-ass mother f***er”. Makes you wonder who the bad guy would have been if they had responded by calling him a faggot instead.
I grant every point to the author. And I understand what Ann was trying to accomplish. I admire her for her courage.
However, it still does not advance the conservative cause to use words that offend people. The fact that our opposition does equally egregious things is not justification.
I am not interested in speech codes, so Ann should be able to say whatever she wants. But still, those who criticize her have the same rights. Even if they’re idiots.
Coarse talk is not constructive. Bottom line.
You go girl.
If we are to have open debate then we have to stop talking about the words and start talking about the content. I will say that until Ann spoke up we only could see Obama and Hillary on the news. I wonder if that was the plan? I believe that Ann should take back her comments after all those who called Bush a Nazi take back their comments. They of course won’t and I hope neither will she. Let the mud fly.
In a couple of years we may have Hillary as president. Does anyone think she will hold her tongue once she has the office? The left is making anything said by the right hate speech. Hillary will work with the democratic congress to outlaw hate speech, which will be definded as anything a republican says.
In short order the Bible will be outlawed as hate. Free speech will be dead in order to prevent hate speech. It is so sad to see it happening. Like seeing a slow motion train wreck.
Islam=Nazism. There I had to get it off my chest.
I understand the good intentions of truly civil people in saying Coulter isn’t getting us anywhere.
But honestly, the biggest problem with Coulter is that she is so smart, and so many people are either too quick to be “outraged”, or too stupid to understand that she is being very astutely satirical on so many levels. She is making her points, and I’m laughing. If people who never stop being outraged are outraged, how much should we really worry? Are we afraid these people will be so upset that they won’t stop to reason?
Nearly every entry on Wikipedia is vandalized with some regularity, usually by trolls and preteen goofs overwhelmed by their newfound sense of power. To single out the Coulter example as if it somehow represents the collective mindset of the left is just silly.
Since the Left thinks nothing is gained by offending somone, does it mean we won’t see any more “Piss Christs” or “Dung Madonnas”?
That could be funny, but it is a soberly true example of a self appointedly pure idealogue degrading into its opposite. The process is usually plainly observed by just about everyone, except the mouthpiece. I doubt that Ann Coulter, author of the self-righteously accusatory “Godless” views herself alongside the words “Piss Christ” and “Dung Madonna”. But she did choose it.
After “An Inconvenient Truth” won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Coulter was quoted as saying that the theory of Global Warming is “druidic” and “antihuman.”
I’ve always wondered why the right can’t embrace environmentalism. It seems to me that it is inherently conservative – it’s everything our prudent, preserve-canning, penny-pinching, pioneer ancestors believed in. I really don’t think it’s the message, but how it’s packaged, which led me to this imaginary public service announcement by Frank Luntz:
http://www.lisamoscatiello.com/blogtest/blog.html