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Dave the Wonder Boy said:
Like Rush Limbaugh, she is hated by liberals because she uses so well the precise tactics of mockery and emotionally charged rhetoric that liberals use toward conservatives.



With all due respect, I think Rush Limbaugh is disliked because, frankly, he's a hypocritical blowhard. He dedicates enormous amounts of time to denigrating drug users and the unemployed, despite having not only accepted numerous welfare checks(something he himself attributed to simple laziness on his part; laziness being another aspect of modern society he regularly bemoans) but also spent time in a drug rehabilitation clinic.

Perhaps years ago, before he bought into his own hype as Mr. Talk Radio, he might have really made an impact as a controversial, "in your face" political commentator, but now he's just a joke, much like Michael Moore.

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What exactly does Ann Coulter say that's so "whacko", as Steve T, Animalman and other have alleged ?



I did not use the term "whacko", but I do think that Coulter's expressed desire to convert the Islamic people to Christianity(something she's gone on about before, mind you) is pretty creepy.

As I said, I do think there's some slight jest to her comments, but I also think she partly believes what she's saying, considering how often she says them, in varying contexts.

Really, I think there's a lot of hate in Coulter's words, which is a big turnoff for me. Having political opinions and expressing them is great, but hating an entire group of people simply because of their general political ideology? I'll never understand that. That, to me, seems a little...well, "whacko".

Perhaps if she focused on individal issues, or even individual people, and attacked them, her views would be easier to digest. Instead, she presents her own interpretations of liberal justifications as the unwavering norm.

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In the above quoted comment, Coulter is basically saying that if we (the U.S.) really were the opressive evil imperialists that so many liberals, muslims and other enemies consistently allege, and we really fulfilled their worst fears and toppled their Islamic governments, they would be exposed to the benevolent traditions of American "evil Christian" culture, and find it a hundred times more tolerable than the oppressive dictators and Islamic repression that these nations already have.



I guess we all read what we want into comments like thse. I just don't see that, at least, not in that specific comment. Perhaps if she had expanded the thought, it wouldn't be as open to interpretation, or as potentially offensive.

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And Coulter points this out beautifully with her playful irreverence toward these flawed liberal and islamic views.



Clearly, in this case, your idea of beauty and playfulness differs greatly from my own.

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I fail to see what is crazy or whacko in her comments, which are the conservative equivalent of the political commentary liberals churn out weekly, from Al Franken to any number of evening talk shows to Doonesbury to Saturday Night Live.



I don't recall ever seeing Franken or Saturday Night Live(perhaps I'm misinterpreting you, but are you suggesting that SNL is a heavily liberal program?) saying something as equally drastic as what Coulter says. I'd say Franken's conservative counterpart is probably someone like Ben Stein, or Dennis Miller, both of whom I like, as well.

Franken actually has a background in comedy and displays a wide variety of humor in his writing, including self-deprication. That's something I've never seen Coulter exhibit, which is a big reason why I find her far less endearing as a personality.

MisterJLA is RACKing awesome.