Freakshows, Ann Coulter, and Politics

Maybe Coulter will be useful mascot for the Republican party -- if the Democrats were willing to use her in that way.
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It is always difficult to know how to respond to this type of stuff. Do you ignore her? Do you insult or ridicule the insulting and ridiculous things she says?

The freakshow aspect of the Ann Coulter show is part of the act. How far can she go and still be taken seriously. How many social norms can she ignore? Is she self destructing, or just taking her act to the next level?

Andrew Sullivan says she is a "form of camp . . . The minute you take her seriously, you lose grip on her reality. She's not a social or political commentator. She's a drag queen impersonating a fascist. I don't even begin to believe she actually believes this stuff. It's post-modern performance-art."

Who else with much media viability says plainly they supported apartheid in South Africa, or claim that slave trading is the "only" African institution "America" adopted, and offer countless insults to Arabs, Muslims, moms, widows and just about anyone else who might be useful in generating shock.

The latest venture into religion is another -- can you top this? She has more in common with Madonna than Jerry Falwell. (Is she really waiting for Mr. Right?) If she actually read a bible, she must have crossed out everything Jesus ever said.

Maybe she will be a useful mascot for the Republican party -- if the Democrats were willing to use her in that way. "As your apartheid supporting friend said......" "Does Ann Coulter speak for the Administration on the need to convert the heathens in the Middle East?" "George Will, do you conservatives -- you and Ann that is -- have a new cause in getting rid of the first amendment?" "Senator Frist, do you agree with your friend Ann Coulter, that the Episcopal church is 'barely' a religion?" If being part of the "right" team is part of her act, maybe she can use some help, from the left.

If you are republican, does she help your cause, by pumping up the yahoos who are not-so-closet fascists and racists? Does your party really need to advertise that it is against everyone but a handful of rich whites? Sure, it's free PR, but it still comes with a cost.

Maybe, like the Colbert Report, it slaps people around until they understand how crazy the whole act is.

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