If you are no longer able to stomach any mention of Ann Coulter, I’m telling you now, look away. The Center for the Advancement of Women has launched a campaign called “Ann Coulter Does Not Speak for Me.” Its centerpiece: a nicely designed online game wheel that, when spun, points to topics such as “Working Women” and “9/11 Widows.” Then up pops some stupid crazy-ass thing Coulter has said on the subject, followed by a blurb correcting her “facts.” (Additional talking points are available too.) You can also sign a “petition” or grab code for an anti-Ann banner for your own Web site or blog.
My first reaction: At us, maybe, and very likely down to. But I’m pretty sure Coulter isn’t trying to speak for anyone except her “base.” She (thank goodness) is positioned as a pundit for conservatives, not a leader for ladies. And do we really need data (“Since 1976, women’s enrollment has doubled in graduate programs…”) to refute Coulter when she says women are “not too bright”? Me, around Coulter, I try to make more like the “Far Side” dog. (What I hear: “Blah blah blah Democrats blah blah blah feminists.”) Isn’t all this “We’re shocked, shocked!” attention — which, one could argue, is distracting the Center for the Advancement of Women from working on, you know, advancement — just what the Coulternator feeds on, aside from kittens?
Then again — kerfuffle over John Edwards notwithstanding — that damn Ann still gets way too much of a pass. Someone’s got to check her facts. And if you’re so inspired, the comments area on CAW’s petition page is a good place to vent.
But while you’re at it, consider this curveball from the Daily Howler: “We scream about Coulter — and give Dowd a pass” (emphasis added). And “Coulter comes right out and calls Dem men ‘f*ggots’ — but Maureen Dowd has always come close. Just as Chris Matthews is a slightly cleaned-up William Donohue, Dowd is a more presentable Coulter. For mainstream voters, Maureen is easier to take. For that reason, she has done us more harm.” Ooh, snap! Read Howler’s full analysis here.
Most by now are probably familiar with Ann Coulter’s declaration, when discussing the Herman Cain sexual harassment debacle earlier this week, that “our blacks are so much better than their blacks.” Most probably weren’t all that shocked to hear this sort of race-baiting from Coulter, who’s made a lucrative career dispensing right-wing vitriol. Most probably just ignored her uncouth remarks and moved on.
Still, just in case you were looking for a more complete exegesis of the logic behind Coulter’s statement, Jon Stewart, along with his “Daily Show” correspondents, extended the argument to its logical extreme last night.
Ten years ago, a tragedy brought us all closer together. Last night, Jon Stewart recalled another moment, just two days after, when all the solidarity engendered through a national trauma began to dissipate into the political ether. Opportunists — first Jerry Falwell, then Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, all the “Ground Zero Mosque” people (not to say anything of the folks in power) — began using the memory of that historical moment for their own personal advantage. “The Daily Show” paid tribute:
09/13/01: Remembering the Day We Forgot the Lessons of the Day We Had Sworn We Would Always Remember
Ed Schultz targeted Ann Coulter and her recent comments on radiation’s positive health benefits in his “Take Down” segment on Friday night. Last week, Ann Coulter wrote a blog post about the positive health benefits of radiation and made national headlines when Bill O’Reilly scolded her on his show for the shoddy research and inappropriate timing of her incendiary claims. Schultz agreed and took the scolding to the next level saying:
A lot of people say Ann Coulter is toxic. But we had no idea that she would take that literally. You would laugh at her if she wasn’t making light of a terrible tragedy.
Watch Schultz’s segment in full. Note Ann Coulter’s glowing green head.
What’s the opposite of fear-mongering? False-sense-of-security-mongering, probably. Or whatever you’d call Ann Coulter’s latest blog post claiming that radiation does a body good:
With the terrible earthquake and resulting tsunami that have devastated Japan, the only good news is that anyone exposed to excess radiation from the nuclear power plants is now probably much less likely to get cancer.
Coulter cites a 10-year-old newspaper article and some studies by fringe scientists as proof to her theory. She goes on to compare radition — which she says is “a sort of cancer vaccine” — to “poisons” like zinc and magnesium found in multi-vitamins.
Bill O’Reilly invited Coulter onto his show last night and scolded her for misleading the audience into misunderstanding the well established dangers of radiation:
Republican opinion outfit ConservativeHome polled 1,152 Republican activists (according to “YouGuv America”) on their favorite conservative pundits. The results: mostly unsurprising. Rush Limbaugh is No. 1 and Glenn Beck is No. 2. Republican activists love being angry and scared, and getting lied to.
The only newspaper columnists Republican activists actually like are George Will, at No. 10, and human smarm machine Charles Krauthammer, all the way at No. 3, thanks in large part (I assume) to his frequent appearances on Fox and the fact that he has a professional wrestling stage name. (There is also Ann Coulter at No. 9, but she’s more of a mascot than a columnist.)
The winners, in order:
Rush Limbaugh: 41 percent
Glenn Beck: 33 percent
Charles Krauthammer: 29 percent
Bill O’Reilly: 24 percent
Sean Hannity: 21 percent
Newt Gingrich: 16 percent
Michelle Malkin: 16 percent
Mike Huckabee: 13 percent
Ann Coulter: 13 percent
George Will: 13 percent
It must kill Ann that she’s tied with boring old George Will. It looks like “evil” still barely beats out “crazy,” too, with Rush beating Beck. And angry trumps stupid, with O’Reilly beating Hannity.
The authors of the survey are slightly dismayed by the news that GOP activists enjoy frothing rage and hysterical conspiracy theories more than coherent arguments. “Worryingly, columnists often regarded as among the most thoughtful conservatives did not fare well.” Three people voted for David Frum and 35 people voted for Peggy Noonan.
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