Ann Coulter Under Fire from Fellow Conservatives
And rightly so. She has been described as the Michael Moore of the conservative movement, always waiting and willing to throw the cheap shot.
Unlike Michael Moore however, I don’t know how well known she is in Ireland. Not very, I would think – I have yet to see any of her books in our book shops while I’m tripping over Moore’s.
I’m sure if I actually read her stuff on weekly basis I could find plenty I disagree with. Her recent comments calling Muslims “ragheads” are just stupid, low and bigoted. (She also had some other clangers in the speech, including fantasies about killing Clinton and a couple of Supreme Court justices)
Michelle Malkin has links to right wing bloggers criticising Coulter.
I find all this very interesting as I’ve just finished reading Malkin’s “Unhinged, Exposing Liberals Gone Wild”. I was really quite surprised at the amount of completely whacky things people inside the Democrat/Liberal movement have said, and are still feted and welcomed back into the fold. (The craziest to my mind, remains Cameron Diaz’s appearance on Oprah where she started tearing up over the Bush’s proposed plan to legalise rape – despite this not being part of any Bush campaign statement, or general principle of the Republican party)
It is a very healthy sign that so many conservative people are slapping Ann around the head (metaphorically!). It’s a pity that many of those listed in Malkin’s book don’t get a similar treatment from their fellow travellers.
Getting back to Coulter’s comments, this is a critical time for the West. In recent weeks the Arab Street has gone wild – burning flags, embassies, effigies, Danish Lego and anything else that might look like a cartoon. This is not a good thing.
Yes, we should have the right to say whatever we want about any religion, but more importantly we should have the right to say what we want and not get killed for it. I posted the infamous cartoons on this blog. I then changed my mind (but left up the cartoons as I think we need to see them to be rational and sensible in this debate).
One of the reasons I changed my mind is that famous Arab Street – if we truly want to fight terrorism, we should be willing to enter in a dialogue with those who disagree with us. Especially those that disagree with us in such an angry, all-encompassing obsession that has led to too many tragic deaths of innocent people. I’m not suggesting that dialogue or diplomacy will cure all terrorists – I still support the Iraq war. But hand in hand with what ever military conflict that becomes necessary, we must remember the ordinary people that we are fighting on behalf of – not just the free citizens of the West, but the hearts and minds of those who the terrorists claim to fight for.
It is too easy to simply throw our hands in the air in despair at the OTT actions of the Arab Street and decide that if they’re that mad anyway, why should we compromise our rightly valuable and cherished ideas of freedom and democracy.
Sister Souljah, a right wing American blogger that I have recently discovered puts it quite succinctly - this is not about whether or not someone has the right to say something; it’s about whether or not it is right to say.
There is nothing to be gained in further inflaming a vast group of people who are already feeling disenfranchised and at this stage are taken over by a fervent zeal and a mob mentality that seems to viscerally hate everything “we” stand for. Our task is to convince them. Not to intentionally anger them. The way we do things is already vexing enough for them – even simple issues like how women dress here are intensely contentious.
If we want to be safe from the threats of Islamic terrorism, suicide bombers, Bin Laden et al, have we not an obligation to work on convincing moderate Muslims that we genuinely care for them and their societies? That we want the best outcome for all – the continued security of our free societies and whatever arrangement that grants citizens of the Arab/Muslim world dignity and freedom. That democracy can work for them. That allowing women to drive cars will not be the end of the world. And that free society works when we all subscribe to some basic tenets of respect, equality, dignity and liberty.
Ann Coulter is not on the side of terrorism. These comments show that she not on the side of those fighting it either.
Unlike Michael Moore however, I don’t know how well known she is in Ireland. Not very, I would think – I have yet to see any of her books in our book shops while I’m tripping over Moore’s.
I’m sure if I actually read her stuff on weekly basis I could find plenty I disagree with. Her recent comments calling Muslims “ragheads” are just stupid, low and bigoted. (She also had some other clangers in the speech, including fantasies about killing Clinton and a couple of Supreme Court justices)
Michelle Malkin has links to right wing bloggers criticising Coulter.
I find all this very interesting as I’ve just finished reading Malkin’s “Unhinged, Exposing Liberals Gone Wild”. I was really quite surprised at the amount of completely whacky things people inside the Democrat/Liberal movement have said, and are still feted and welcomed back into the fold. (The craziest to my mind, remains Cameron Diaz’s appearance on Oprah where she started tearing up over the Bush’s proposed plan to legalise rape – despite this not being part of any Bush campaign statement, or general principle of the Republican party)
It is a very healthy sign that so many conservative people are slapping Ann around the head (metaphorically!). It’s a pity that many of those listed in Malkin’s book don’t get a similar treatment from their fellow travellers.
Getting back to Coulter’s comments, this is a critical time for the West. In recent weeks the Arab Street has gone wild – burning flags, embassies, effigies, Danish Lego and anything else that might look like a cartoon. This is not a good thing.
Yes, we should have the right to say whatever we want about any religion, but more importantly we should have the right to say what we want and not get killed for it. I posted the infamous cartoons on this blog. I then changed my mind (but left up the cartoons as I think we need to see them to be rational and sensible in this debate).
One of the reasons I changed my mind is that famous Arab Street – if we truly want to fight terrorism, we should be willing to enter in a dialogue with those who disagree with us. Especially those that disagree with us in such an angry, all-encompassing obsession that has led to too many tragic deaths of innocent people. I’m not suggesting that dialogue or diplomacy will cure all terrorists – I still support the Iraq war. But hand in hand with what ever military conflict that becomes necessary, we must remember the ordinary people that we are fighting on behalf of – not just the free citizens of the West, but the hearts and minds of those who the terrorists claim to fight for.
It is too easy to simply throw our hands in the air in despair at the OTT actions of the Arab Street and decide that if they’re that mad anyway, why should we compromise our rightly valuable and cherished ideas of freedom and democracy.
Sister Souljah, a right wing American blogger that I have recently discovered puts it quite succinctly - this is not about whether or not someone has the right to say something; it’s about whether or not it is right to say.
There is nothing to be gained in further inflaming a vast group of people who are already feeling disenfranchised and at this stage are taken over by a fervent zeal and a mob mentality that seems to viscerally hate everything “we” stand for. Our task is to convince them. Not to intentionally anger them. The way we do things is already vexing enough for them – even simple issues like how women dress here are intensely contentious.
If we want to be safe from the threats of Islamic terrorism, suicide bombers, Bin Laden et al, have we not an obligation to work on convincing moderate Muslims that we genuinely care for them and their societies? That we want the best outcome for all – the continued security of our free societies and whatever arrangement that grants citizens of the Arab/Muslim world dignity and freedom. That democracy can work for them. That allowing women to drive cars will not be the end of the world. And that free society works when we all subscribe to some basic tenets of respect, equality, dignity and liberty.
Ann Coulter is not on the side of terrorism. These comments show that she not on the side of those fighting it either.
Labels: Islam
posted by Auds | 23:04
3 Comments:
ann coulter is she phil coulter's wife. :-)
But seriously good point..
No but that image hurts my head.
Auds,
If you haven't read much Coulter, you have to understand that she says a lot of things, sometimes insensitive or rash, usually just to be controversial. People take her way too seriously, and she knows it and plays off of it. She also happens to be very popular with men because after you filter out the superfluous fluff there’s something very appealing about her gutsy, tell-it-as-it-is style. You don’t have to agree with all the silly “ratings boosting” things she says to ultimately enjoy her determined and dogmatic conservativism.
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