Why I Despise Ann Coulter

I think the problem is really in the labels. I own two flags, and display them properly. One daily (on the pole)and one extra (on the house) for special occasions. I fully support school choice and homeschooling, but I also believe in full civil rights for homosexuals. I LOVE Howard Dean (I know him as a person and a politician) for both his strict welfare-to-work policy and his universal healthcare success. I support our troops 100% while I deplore the war itself. And yet I understand the need to deal with scary religious zelots with military force. Meanwhile, some of my favorite people are Muslims, and they are deeply offended by the Taliban and Al-Queda.

What does that make me? I don't even know anymore. We can't rely on these labels, can't make blanket statements in today's world. I was raised on protest songs, and yet I am a truer hippie baby in my rejection of establishment(big government). If anything I believe that Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and the whole situation has brought us closer. My husband and I used to cancel each other out in every election, now we vote united. How weird is that?!?

I agree with witchiepoo (btw, witchiepoo - I know a couple of people by that name - do I know you?) - I don't think I'm even remotely categorizable. And I have always had a flag.

AND thank you for that link - I've been looking for an indoor bracket for our flag for our homeschool room.

She made some pretty good points in this column. The statement about liberals and their flags was obviously a sarcastic joke, aimed toward those public figures, who, in her opinion, bely their own claims to patriotism by their silly statements which boil down to the contrary. She tends to take aim at self-styled liberals who consistently make fools of themselves in the press. If you're an average American and on top of that, not a traditional liberal, why would you even consider yourself a target of that comment? And from your perspective, aren't "bimbo" and "twit" sinking to her level of invective? She doesn't strike me as a bimbo, unless all long-haired blondes are bimbos; actually, I gather that she is a professing Christian. And she strikes me as quick-witted and sharp-tongued, but certainly not a twit. I once read an interview transcript she did with Katie Couric (one of the most biased "journalists" in tv-land) and Coulter definitely came out on top.

In this particular column, she did lots of quoting and shooting down the ideas contained...with which quotes do you agree or disagree and which of her arguments (as opposed to her hyperbolic jokes) are not true?

I happen to believe, like the General, that Allah is not the true God. Does that make me racist? I think it makes me (gasp) not-a-Muslim, and furthermore, a Christian. (Scary.) It seems to me that if one holds something is absolutely true (as in one's religious faith), one automatically assumes the alternatives are not true. If a God of mercy and forgiveness is real, then a god who is not full of mercy and forgiveness would not be that God. Which would make him a false god. In biblical terms, an idol. Right? I don't see where she is wrong in firing away at those who would suppress Boykin's right to free speech in *churches* for goodness' sake, by calling for his removal from his job! After all, the most radical of Muslims are freely allowed to incite hatred against Americans in the mosques of Iraq (and around the world).

Just a different perspective (you can always count on me!).

There's another one to add to yours, Lynn!

I've had a flag ever since I can remember. And unlike most of the post 9/11 flagwavers I've seen, I actually know how to care for and respect mine.

Why bother to hate Ms. Coulter though, Lynn? Personally, I give her talking about what constitutes a good American about the same amount of worth that one should give Rush Limbaugh's ideas on what should be done with drug addicts, or Al Gore talking about what a nice middle-class working background he comes from.

I don't think her ideas are meant beyond a certain very specific audience, most of whom don't want to hear that perhaps their stereotypes aren't always so.

Ann C. is hateful, hateful, hateful, and doesn't add a lot to any debate in my opinion. My "traditional liberal and proud of it" schoolteacher brother is about to be deployed overseas. He volunteered for the National Guard after 9/11 because (at the age of 28) he felt it was his duty to his country. Blithe comments like hers, which I used to dismiss as willful ignorance, just make me feel sick and angry now. She's made other comments about liberals being afraid to fight, etc. BTW, my DB met a lot of other liberals at boot camp and subsequent training, who had similar motivations.

...But I don't own an American flag! LOL! I don't even have a God Bless America bumper sticker.

I don't think she stirs up hatred. Would you call me a hateful person? We know each other pretty well by now. It's a laugh, nothing more than that. For me it's the equivalent of watching late-night comedians make fun of public figures. You giggle, even though you might not ever be that rude about someone else yourself. I would never make unkind comments about Hillary Clinton's personal appearance, for example, even though I consider her dead wrong on almost all policy issues, but comedians do that sort of thing all the time. I personally HATE practical joke shows. I never even liked Candid Camera that much and I despise shows like Scare Tactics. I cringe watching some unsuspecting average person be scared to death or made a fool of on camera. But I do enjoy a good heated political debate and in my mind a person's publicly aired ideas and statements are fair game for anyone to make fun of. Sheesh, that just makes the game more interesting. I know pundits are saying the atmosphere today is more hateful than it's ever been, but I totally disagree. Politics has always been contentious or even downright nasty and upcoming elections always bring on a certain amount of hysteria (cf. the current field of Democratic presidential contenders, for example). Doesn't anybody else find this even vaguely amusing? Or am I just a degenerate, political-cartoon-addict? Politics is one area where speech ought to be totally unfettered. I was disappointed when people called for Bill Mahr's resignation after his 9-11 comment. For heaven's sake, the name of the show was Politically Incorrect! Duh! I enjoy political incorrectness. I revel in it. It's such a breath of fresh air in what can otherwise be a very prissy environment nowadays. And the "moralism" comes from some very surprising sectors, too!

BTW, I like the word "penumbra." It has such a legal air to it. I guess because it reminds me of reading certain Supreme Court cases.

"And I for one don't think she was joking any more than she was joking when she demanded that we kill Muslim heads of state and forcibly convert their populations to Christianity."

She didn't say "Muslim heads of state," she said "leaders," i.e., terrorists who are capable of crashing planes into buildings. Specifically, those operating out of Afghanistan. She also didn't say we should forcibly convert them. Personally I thought the carpet-bombing statement was the one that was over the top. They did it to Germany in WWII because there was no other *way* to do it then. Now we can avoid such civilian losses.

Didn't one of Coulter's dear friends die on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon two days before she published that column? I felt the same way that day...I'll freely admit I was angry at images of Muslims rejoicing in the streets over the deaths of thousands of innocent people. Personally, I think the world *would* be better off if Muslim nations somehow could became Christian nations overnight...but as conversions come about via willing acceptance of the love of Christ and not by force, that can only happen on an personal level, not a national one. And we DID happen to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. That is now government policy, to invade and to decapitate these terrorist groups right on their own turf. In fact, Christians are on the ground in both countries as I write, rebuilding hospitals and schools and offering the message of the gospel to those who want to hear it, in what were formerly repressive nations with no freedom of religion whatsoever. I say, "alright!"

Would it really make a difference to Boykin's enemies whether he were in uniform or not? We both know they'd still be calling for his resignation. It's *where* he was that makes the difference. He wasn't exhorting the troops to spread Christianity. He was talking to fellow Christians about shared beliefs. And they were by no means inflammatory statements, either. He's a general, whether in uniform or not, so what difference does it make what he was wearing? The point is, he is free to believe what he wants to believe about God, and especially to talk about it in a church.

Allah is the Arabic word for God, in the same way that Elohim is the Hebrew word for God and Dieu is the French word for God. Arabic-speaking Christians pray to Allah. Therefore it is incorrect to say you believe that "Allah is not the true God." You could say you believe that "the Muslim God is not the true God" or "the Muslim Allah is not the true Allah" or "the Muslim Allah is not the true God" etc.

I put her in the same league as Al Sharpton--just someone fanning the flames for his/her own benefit and fame. She's a hatemonger, whether her opinions are sound or not...

Maybe she'll repent for her pure and dogged meanness at some point down the road, as Lee Atwater did on his deathbed.

Judging from her book sales, there are plenty of people out there who think Coulter is good for a laugh, and those people aren't out there bombing mosques or anything hateful like that. The term "hatemonger" usually comes from quarters not so unabashedly conservative and angered by her sarcasm toward more liberal views. Feeling hatred (despite, whatever) toward someone, however, does not necessarily make the object of one's hatred a "hatemonger." Like they say down our way, if someone gets your goat it means you got a goat to get. For me (brought up in a politically minded household), if the opinion is indeed sound, it can only be improved upon delivery with a good zinger. Given the appropriate context of course. And political commentary is the perfect context; where else? Late Nite with Letterman?

Okay Becky, I'll go with "the Muslim Allah is not the true God."

Well I gotta tell you I think Ann is right on the money.

In this area the most liberal town in the state refuses to say the pledge because it has the word "God" in it. It makes it dirty in their view. They come right out and say it. The whole town just shrugged while the more normal towns around it are scandlized.

I am sure many liberals are patrotic, but it is defineately true that they tend not to be.

I see a lot of the liberal kids in this college town with a flag upside down in their car window meant to protest the country's foriegn policy.

Forgive the spelling errors. My spell check for some reason in on the blink and I am to lazy to find the dictionary.

I think she is a strong woman who says things that some of us may not have the guts to say. Weather you agree with her or not you've gotta respect her for being outspoken and knowing she is going to get a lot of backlash from people who dont agree with her.

By the time I got here and clicked on the link, it sent me to her article about Bill Clinton's new book.

I have to say, that I don't see any evidence of her acting "Christ-like" which is what Christian is supposed to mean. Gladly admitting that she hadn't read the book, she then completely trashes it. She also rips into Clinton with very nasty language. Her invective, her poisionous remarks, her complete lack of compassion or grace tell me all I need to know.

I have no respect for someone who is just plain mean because she can be. And she was mean in that article. Her pen drips with poison. And I read that and think, what would Jesus do? I study the Gospels, and I can tell you, Jesus called a spade a spade, but he helped sinners, befriended them, ate at their tables, and converted them by his example of love, grace, compassion, and humility. He lead by example.

I do not have to respect her, because she is mean. And it has nothing to do with my political beleifs. I respect Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Billy Graham, and other people who "spoke the truth and shamed the devil", and they did it without adding more hate and meanness into the mess.

The Pledge of Allegiance was written by a clergyman who wrote it without "under God" because he wanted it to be secular. They added that bit later. Our founding fathers didn't want religion in the public schools. I happen to agree with them. They wanted a seperation of church and state. I happen to agree with them. I also happen to beleive in God.

Protesting foreign policy isn't unpatriotic. It shows that you care enough about your country and what happens to your countrymen and to the world to say something about it. Liberals love this country just as much as conservatives do. Throwing around language like "liberals/conservatives are/aren't (fill in the blank)" is dangerous. The overgeneralizations are innaccurate and divisive. Like Coulter.

I even wear the flag. One is on a ballcap with the word "Pride" underneath it. I wear it gladly. Another is on a T Shirt that I wear proudly. But I also know that patriotism is more than waving a flag, much, much more.
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May The Hair On Your Toes Never Fall Out

--Traditional Hobbit Blessing