Ann Coulter

I just saw a talk by Ann Coulter at the IU Auditorium. What a bitch!

Before it started I asked my friend Larry how many people he thought were Republicans, and how many watching it ironically like us. He estimated 30% Republican but when they stood up for the ovation I thought it looked more like 80%!

I don't want to get into the content because it's too depressing but I have to comment on style.

She really makes too much of a fuss about shutting people up. It's like she's a princess, she doesn't just pause when people yell out, she talks to the ushers and insists that they remove anyone who has interrupted her before she'll resume. She's really quite rude about it too, saying things like, "Well if you're not going to do anything about it I guess you'll be getting a short speech tonight" and "Did you hire Democrats as ushers or something?" Anyone who's done it for as long as she has would be used to heckling; the only explanation is that she want's to pretend she's being persecuted.

The other ridiculous thing she does is hurl simple facts as though they are insults (this is after she has a go at the left for using "flag-waving" as a negative epithet)! The best examples are accusing people of not believing in God. saying that John Kerry testified that US troops had committed war crimes in Vietnam and "Democrats try to argue for family values too, they say a gay marriage can be a family" (she even called one of her questioners "gay boy"). Obviously this says as much about her audience and the wider cultural climate as it does about her but I still have trouble with her claiming any points from such an attack. Luckily someone took her up on the second one and asked what she thought about the My Lai massacre. But she refused to answer because he prefaced the question with something innacurate. Bitch! It just gets to me that people like Coulter and her audience can see the situation in the same way as their opponents yet be filled with such spite that they hurl the facts back as insults. Sigh!

Addendum:
I friend sent me a link to the Indiana Daily Student, who reported it pretty much how I did. Then this:

IU College Republicans President Shane Kennedy defended Coulter's comments by stressing that the speech was for entertainment and attendees should have expected Coulter to say controversial comments.

"I think the guy could have been more respectful to her," he said. "I mean, we already know that she was going to be controversial and she was just saying what people were thinking. If you are going to talk like you are gay, then Ann Coulter is going to call you gay. Of course, she said it in a spiteful tone, but it was expected."

Oh, well if you make such a habit of insulting people that everyone's come to expect it, that's ok! Vilify to your heart's content!vilify