OK. I'm going to try to say this while avoiding, to the greatest possible extent, coming off like I live in a compound in the Bitterroots.
Ann Coulter's latest book (not dignified with link) is in the shitter; for reasons that strike most of us as self-evident, no one's buying it. Under those circumstances it should be absolutely no surprise that Coultergeist's latest tour of the talking head shows would feature some bat-shit insanity. Because really, that's all she is. She's a shameless self-promoter, and her only goal is to one-up herself and think of increasingly idiotic and "shocking" things to say so she can get 10 seconds of attention to plug the Ann Coulter Brand Name. The media, to its eternal shame, enables her. They bring her in under the guise of being a Serious Pundit when they're really just grasping for the same 10-second high of attention that her stupidity brings.
So it is within that context and with an enormous grain of salt that I take the flap over her "Jews should be perfected" rant. It's no different than any other Coulter-on-TV moment. Camera rolls, Ann suggests killing a particular group of people, and cut to commercial. But this one was a little different. All of the sudden, Very Serious Media Types are having earnest "Gosh, has she gone too far?" talks and self-reflective "Gee, are we in some way enabling her by constantly inviting her onto worldwide television?" Even Tucker Carlson is using her as a punching bag and mocking the overpowering stench of desperation that cloaks everything about her. And vacant blow-dried types like Meredith Viera are starting to complain.
My question, and I put this as delicately as possible, is "Why now?" Don't get me wrong, what she said is obviously offensive, racist, and idiotic. But….well, when wasn't she? To be blunt, I find it equally offensive that feet are being put down now that the issue is anti-Semitism. It was OK when she said we should invade every Muslim country, kill their leaders, and forcibly convert them. It was OK when she slandered the 9/11 widows. It was OK when she called John Edwards, Bill Clinton, and every other male Democrat on Earth a queer. It was OK when she said women shouldn't be allowed to vote, everyone at the New York Times should be killed, and so on. None of that precluded a return invite onto the talk shows (several hundred appearances on every network according to Media Matters). But now….apparently she's finally said something offensive.
It's idiotic, and what's worse is that it plays directly into the worst backwoods Aryan Nations-type "theories" about New York, The Media, and The Establishment (which are codewords for Jews, Jews, and Jews, respectively). If Coulter's saga, and what's happening to her at the moment, are indicative of anything it's that talking about converting Jews is apparently far worse and more despicable that advocating genocide against Muslims.
It's good to know that there are limits.
Samantha says:
Regardless of nationality, religious affiliation, age, or gender, most of the world believes the nazis were evil. They're the one group it's okay to hate openly. By that logic, it stands to reason that if you are an anti-semite you are also a nazi sympathizer. No one wants to be seen as a nazi sympathizer, so because of their oppression by the nazis, perhaps jews as a group are completely safe from criticism. I don't know; just a theory.
JDryden says:
I think Samantha's on to something. The Holocaust and its pervasive presence in film/media–you can't flip 'round the dial without catching either documentary or docudrama portraying the genocide–has it firmly embedded in our collective conscious ('conscience'?) as an immediate and relevant issue. (I don't, by the way, think that this pervasive presence is due to some Zionist stranglehold on the media–but rather it's because "the Holocaust" has become an easy go-to subject for cheap sentimentality, and thus is catnip to lazy writers/programmers.)
Muslims are still too easily associated with 'the Enemy'; homophobia is still, thanks to crap like 'Will & Grace', considered good fodder for a cruel but acceptable laugh; but there's something about anti-Semitism and where it leads that causes us to collectively wince, thanks to 'Shoah,' 'Schindler's List,' 'The Pianist,' and so on. There's no ameliorating cushion of internalized bigotry for most of us when it comes to Jewish people, thanks to the fact that every high school in the country, even in the Red States, will happily assign Anne Frank as required reading. I *think* that's what at play here…
Chris says:
I don't see how ANYBODY can't see through what she does. You make a good point: why now are people truly offended by her? Everything that comes out of that cretin's mouth is BILE, she completely lacks credibility.
You're right, I guess we've found the limit. What scares me is that everything else Coulter says is just as terrible, mass murder and extreme hatred towards anybody is flat out wrong. The reason why she has gotten away with it is because most Republicans are racist, xenophobic, chickenhawks, and basically stupid. She has a crowd, and they want to hear stuff like this. Like Samantha says, most people view the Nazis and Hitler as the most evil people to ever live, and condoning what they did evokes a special rebuke from pretty much everyone.
Nick says:
OH NOES THE JEWS CONTROL ED'S RAGE