Boycott Ann Coulter

I am somewhat reluctant to write about Ann Coulter this week. The last thing I want to do is help her sell more copies of her book. But I am willing to take that chance in order to denouce her, to show that she is one of the greatest danger that exists to the conservative movement.

Ann is in the news of course because of the release of her new book Godless: The Church of Liberalism. As part of the book release, Ann is of course making the rounds at various media outlets to plug her book. Early this week she went on the Today Show to talk to Matt Lauer about her new book.




In particular, Matt Lauer questioned Ann about this excerpt from her book talking about some of the 9/11 widows.

"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies.I have never seen people enjoying their husband's death so much."

Captain Ed says it best about this:

...impugning the grief felt by 9/11 widows regardless of their politics is nothing short of despicable. It denies them their humanity and disregards the very public and horrific nature of their spouses' deaths. The attacks motivated a lot of us to become more active in politics in order to make sure our voices contribute to the debate, and it is impossible to argue that the 9/11 widows (and widowers, and children, and parents) have less standing to opine on foreign policy than Ann Coulter...

Of course Ed isn't the only conservative denoucing Coulter on this.

Hugh Hewitt:

Ann Coulter owes an apology to the widows of 9/11, and she should issue it immediately. This is beyond callous, beyond any notion of decency. It is disgusting.

RedState:

this sort of savage attack on people who have suffered a horrible tragedy is beyond any excusing and, really, beyond any apology. Coulter, who was a friend of Barbara Olson (killed on the plane that hit the Pentagon), should know better; heck, any first-grader would know better. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The Anchoress:

...she is embodying everything I currently cannot abide in the "conservative movement", the arrogant presumption of absolute moral certitude (which is ugly, ugly, ugly coming from the left, so honey, it's not pretty when it's from the right, either), combined with the sense of over-confidence which is sending so many on the right into a self-destructive Roy Moore/Tom Tancredo plunge off a cliff.

Ace of Spades:

this nastiness is uncalled for. Even if something is actually felt deep inside -- even if you're filled with toxic hatred for very annoying, very presumptuous, very left-leaning women with an overweening sense of entitlement -- most people would find less abrasive ways to express such an emotion.

Does that mean that Ann is just more honest than us "nancy boys"?

Not really. A lot of the time the excuse of "I was just being honest" is just a code for "I'm basically an inconsiderate asshole who cannot be bothered to modify my behavior in even the slightest fashion in order to observe basic conventions of social decency."

The Strata-Sphere:

I don't know what happened to Anne, but she is a walking disaster for conservatives...Anne Coulter is no Conservative. She cannot be. Either that or I am no conservative. There is no way to condone such cruelty. Anne, sit down and just don't talk anymore. You have done enough damage.

AJStrata is completely correct: Ann Coulter is no conservative. Ann Coulter stands for nothing more than herself. And this is the curious thing. Many conservative friends of mine are defending Coulter. Well, I think the joke is on them.

Of course, if this particular statement was the only problem with Coulter, it could be passed off as a lone regrettable mistake. But you can count on Coulter making an embarrassing horrific statement every few months. It hasn't been that long since Ann referred to Muslims as "ragheads".

At the end of the day, I'm not sure what I am disgusted more by: Coulter herself or her conservative defenders. Hardly a day goes by in the conservative blogosphere without mention of the "moonbats" at DailyKos and MyDD. Conservative love to point to these blogs and others as examples of extremist rhetoric that has no place in political discourse. So why do they give Coulter a pass??? Oh, she is funny.

That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard. Question to all the conservatives out there: Would Howard Dean be ok with you if he were funny? How about Cynthia McKinney? Should she sprinkle in some jokes? Maybe you would think different of Gore Vidal if he got on the standup circuit?

Funny is good. But funny mixed with virulent hate and offensiveness is not. And don't tell me that she is "just telling the truth". Here is another question, especially for all the conservative pro-life Christians: Should we just "tell the truth" regarding abortion? Is it fine to stand on a street corner across from an abortion clinic and yell at women going in "Don't kill your baby!"? Or would it be better to show compassion and love to those who find themselves in a situation like this?

It's funny (and sad) how easily we forget about "speaking truth WITH LOVE" when it comes to politics.

It is high time to "excommunicate" Ann Coulter from the conservative movement. So I am issuing this call to the conservative movement across the country: Boycott Ann Coulter! Do not buy her book. Do not attend her speaking engagements. My goal is to see her new book fall off the New York Times Top 10 Bestseller List very soon.

So if you are with me on this one please drop me a note in the comments below. And more importantly, get the word out. Pass this post on to others. It is high time to separate from Coulter just like we did with Pat Buchanan and David Duke.

Update: Many of Coulter's defenders point out that she is speaking truth. My friend Joe Carter asked on his blog whether these comments of Coulter are "speaking the truth"

* "liberals are always against America. They are either traitors or idiots..."
* "I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning."
* "Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the President."
* "We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too."
* "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building."
* "Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment."
* "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee."