"Despicable." "Disgusting." Those words by conservative notables 1) sum up my perspective on Coulter and 2) make me happy (actually, relieved) that conservatives can speak for principle and not tribal loyalty.
I join your call, Dignan-- conservatives of all stripes should denounce this woman's despicable words and ostracize her. She is a menace to civility.
Your all full of it. Ann Coulter is a national treasure! Why is that people like Michael Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Franken, etc. get to bloviate and spread their gospel of hate speech day in and day out with little or no confrontation by the likes of Matt Lauer while Ann gets called to task?? What I love about Ann is her refusal to wrap her views in PC language. She calls it like she sees it and makes no appologies. The difference between her and the Cocktail Communist is that she tells the truth. You don't see her hiding behind conspiracy theories and propoganda. GOD BLESS Ann Coulter! I'm going to buy 10 of her books and hand them out to people.
Because conservatives are supposed to be above the lies and cheap playground taunts of the left. Let them wallow in the mud; let's take the high road. Otherwise we are hypocrites.
Image of God Identified as J. Clay:
We are full of it! Thank you for recognizing it! I think I can speak for all of the Dignan's posse: the Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ years ago, and He fills us. He (The Holy Spirit) bears fruit in our lives; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
That Spirit allows us to love others that are hard to love. And that Holy Spirit, whom Jesus said would guide us into all truth (John 16:13), helps us stand up for truth. The Spirit of Truth prompts questions like the following.
Paul says the desires of the Spirit are, "sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-21)
Are there any items on this list that Ann lives out in public? Is it truthful or untruthful to say that she participates in 1) enmity, 2) strife, 3) dissensions, 4) divisions?
I believe she participates in all four of those.
Image of God Identified as J. Clay, you are obviously free to believe what you wish to believe, and so are we. As a Christian, I witness her participating in the desires of the flesh and I hope that she'll repent and submit to the Spirit of Christ. It would be beautiful to see her bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
In Ann Coulter-- as I see her on television-- I see little if any love, peace, kindness, and gentleness. She may be those things off camera, but I do not see it on camera.
Again, I'm viewing her through Christian lenses. Does she love her enemies? Jesus died on the Cross for His enemies (which include me and all in-Adam people). I see Ann going after her enemies.
If you happen to read this and then turn what I'm saying into something like this, "You just don't stand for truth," then you are distorting what I'm saying.
Let me say it clearly: I think we can and should stand for truth. I think we can and should bring criticism to things/statements/actions/people that merit criticism. But Paul says we should express the truth in love. I critize Ann Coulter because I think she her actions and words are close to the deeds of the flesh than they are to the fruit of the Spirit. Criticism can be good, but it can also be done in an unloving manner.
Ann Coulter has every right to criticize her ideological adversaries. But she should do so in love, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. Any criticism done apart from the Spirit is of the flesh.
If you actually care about changing people's minds, you have to convice people that they are wrong and you are right. You DO NOT do that by making fun of them, mocking them, calling them names and pissing them off. IT'S COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.
We should all remember John Maxwell's maxim: People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
Think about it.
People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
Convincing people that they are wrong is as much about establishing a credible relationship as anything else.
People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
I'm not a conservative and I've never liked Ann Coulter at all, but let me tell you my perspective on this for whatever little it is worth.
What I have always enjoyed about Michael Moore and especially Al Franken is that they don't come off to me as promoting hate - they generally just promote the truth in the face of lies and often it means showing the two-facedness or dishonesty of others. I don't think it makes for a good political platform or even good discourse, but I always do appreciate people who won't sit back and let lies perpetuate themselves and go unchecked. I'd never vote for either of them, but I can appreciate what they do, when they do that.
Coulter is just mean and nasty and rude and often, very dishonest. There are conservatives out there who are not that way and even when I don't agree with their position, I can still appreciate what they are saying and how they are saying it (especially when they are pointing out where liberals really aren't telling the truth). But since I'm not a conservative and already basically boycotting Coulter, so it doesn't really involve me.
Well stated (and quoted) Dignan.
I respect you more all the time.
American political discourse would be a lot better without the likes of Coulter and Moore.
Klaus,
What implications for blogging do you see flowing from your comment?
Also, the following question is an honest question. I've learned that in this medium it is easy to think a comment is snarky when it is not, so I'm prefacing my question with this: the following is not intended as snark, but rather a serious question.
Was your comment above intended for people with whom you do have a credible relationship or did you intend it for people with whom you do not have a credible relationship?
Ann Coulter owes those New Jersey twits no apology. About time someone stood up to all this far-left liberal #$@$@#.
wow
Way to go Ann. In regards to there 9/11 widows, I have echoed your thoughts for years now. These women have taken their 9/11 widow status and wrapped it around themselves as a politcal SHIELD. You can not even criticize anything they say without being derided as an insensitive goon.
And that Todd Beemer wife (Flight 93: the one who called the press to follow her and watch her board an aircraft 2 weeks after the tragedy, as well as publish a book, "lets roll" etc). Shame oin her. Absolute shame on her (and all of them that seek out the press). Really
I was not aware of Coulter's existence until recently, and minding the license that comes with her pop polemicist role, I've only encountered a few statements attributed to her that seem truly dumb and possibly despicably. These are not in that category. I applaud her remarks on the terror widows and in this interview. Furthermore, Buchanan has nothing in common with Duke. Maybe you ought to read the man a little more before you go about issuing little scapegoating fatwas. I'm putting you on NOTICE that you are now on my "fake conservatives/closet liberals" donkey list.
Speaking of the Beamer Family Martyrologist industry, here is an authentic conservative response:
Glen,
There's a difference between genuine criticism and being cruel. This isn't about Coulter being brave and calling it out in the name of truth. Ann Coulter uses conservatives. She doesn't advance their cause, she just sells books and promotes herself. She doesn't persuade the unconverted.
Oh, and I don't know about you but if my wife burned to death in a building that was attacked by terrorists, I might be interested in national security issues myself. Whether they are wrong are not, they deserve some empathy and have a right to voice opinion.
DDD, if you can degrade people who lost husbands and fathers by calling them "New Jersey twits," there's no point in having any real dialogue, I guess. "Far left #$@$@#"? Wow, thanks for the contribution!
Fr. G. Jape, SJ, interesting that you would accuse Will of making a rash judgment and then do the same with your very helpful "fake conservative/closet liberal" list.
Come on people, let's have some real dialogue.
Just to clarify, my comments above were directed primarily at J.Clay.
I have my own issues with the way some of the family members have dealt (at least in public) with what happened and I do think that on the part of some there has been a feeling of being entitled... However, that is a long way from what Coulter said. I used to think she was funny, until I heard her more regularly and more often. Now I don't.
J. Clay:
"Why is that people like Michael Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Franken, etc. get to bloviate and spread their gospel of hate speech day in and day out with little or no confrontation by the likes of Matt Lauer while Ann gets called to task??"
The fault there lies with Matt Lauer et al. They are the ones who are full of it. If you think that Michael Moore and Al Franken need to be called to task for the moronic and poisonous things they say, then you have to think that Ann Coulter must too, or you are a hypocrite. Alternatively, you can believe that none of them should. That the media isn't consistent makes THEM hypocrites, but it doesn't mean I have to be one too.
yeah, what he said. 
They are a bunch of twits that are being used by the far left to spew their propaganda. I feel bad they lost their husbands, but they have gone too far and when they enter the political arena its fair game to be challenged.
Bravo on your Blog observations and statements. Miss Coulter is a brilliant business woman for figuring out the best way to sell books, get press, and become a darling of fellow self-righteous,pompous pea-brains. It reminds me of Miller's Death Of A Salesman when Willy Loman tells his sons "it's not what you say, but how you say it." Coulter says it with venom. Perhaps it's a reflection of her inner self.
Dignan-
Don't forget some real goodies...
She responded to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by stating that America should "invade their [terrorists'] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."
or
When discussing the merits of a higher gas tax, she said, "And mind you, this was before we knew Gore was clinically insane. Back then we thought he was just a double-talking stuffed shirt who seemed kind of gay."
Don't forget this one...
Ann wrote "wrote that 'conventions of civilized behavior, personal hygiene and grooming' are 'inapplicable when Muslims are involved.'"
But really the best one must be this...
On Dec 21 2005, Ann wrote, "I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo."
Completely vile.
Still in the afterglow of D-Day commemorations, and two weeks from Memorial Day, it pains me to think of all our servicemen and women who have died, in part, for Ann Coulter to have her right to free speech. She's got a quick mind so what a shame she uses it for such vile-ness.
It's dificult to love her. I completely fail at loving some other notables, like the recently departed al-Zarqawi. Jesus says, "Love your enemies" but I found Zarqawi beyond my ability to love.
Coulter hasn't committed acts of violence, so she's in a completely different category. Completely. However, her verbal abuse is, I think, the worst I've read since I read Albert Speers' memoirs concerning Hitler and the end of the Third Reich years ago.
It is scarcely believable that someone would or could say the things she says today. I long ago stopped reading her, and until this video clip I have purposefully changed the channel when she comes on television.
Critics might mock and say, "How is that intellectual?" Well, I listened and read for a long while, baffled by her tasteless vitriol. When I became convinced that she was unlikely to change, and I had determined that her discourse was despicable, there ceased to be a good reason to listen to her or read her.
Thank you! I honestly don't know why this person gets so much news attention. It speaks sadly of the state of the news media in this country. She has absolutely nothing of value to add to any "news analysis" and seems to be only out to further herself (and her book sales and future Playboy contract). I think of her as the Britney Spears of news and turn the channel or pass up on the publication as soon as I see her name or face.
For those that are unaware of what the National Review had to say about Coutler.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
nr...ent100301.shtml
I did not think Coulter could get any worse, she does surpise me.
I am unaware of what the wives did that was so bad, can anyone please give me some details.
I know of no better reason to get involved in politics as when your family has been attacked. I my not agree with what they have to say, but I repect thier courage to come forward.
I've been reading some of your past posts and am so impressed. I am a Christian and it is refreshing to find a writer who can articulate a conservative position with grace and intelligence and not an ounce of vitrol. Your quest for true dialogue is inspiring. Thank you. Oh, and if one were to give me a label it would have to be "liberal Democrat". Viva dialogue!
My husband was at 9/11. He was a hero, according to the most demanding standards of that word--and he didn't have to be. My husband was an artist, not a fireman or cop. He stayed at Ground Zero and helped people leave, helped rescue the schoolchildren in the school next to the Towers....and Ann Coulter's evil, ugly, cynical diatribes--all done to sell books and buy more Gucci shoes, people--dishonors my husband and all who were at Ground Zero.
This is not about politics, it's about human decency.
Conservatives--heck, human beings in general-- do themselves a serious injustice if they lose sight of compassion and become cartoons of intolerance that the world doesn't have to take seriously.
Boycott Coulter and protest everytime you see her Botox'd. lifted face and bleached mane ANYWHERE. All she cares about is money. Hit her in her Prada purse. It's the same place she keeps her heart, assuming she has one.
I am so happy to see this article. I absolutely cannot stand Ann Coulter. She is so full of herself it is sickening. She has no sense as to how disconnected she is from normal people. Nothing good comes from her mouth. She and her supporters show as much intolerance as the Muslims they despise. Great article. I hope people can get past personal biases and see that views like Ann's are not just wrong but disgustingly selfish.
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