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Jews, Jesus and Republicans: Playing Ann Coulter's Game
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2008 Election, Ann Coulter, Politics, Religion And Politics, Republican Presidential Candidate,
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To read Jon Wiener's most recent post, "[Expletive] the Jews. They didn't vote for us anyway": Republicans and Israel, click here.
The following piece was produced by the Huffington Post's OffTheBus.
When Ann Coulter remarked on CNBC that Jews should become Christians, it wasn't "a faux pas," and she wasn't being "an idiot," as many commentators suggested. Instead she was playing her game -- provoking her critics to get her into the media spotlight that helps sell her books. That raises the question: should the Republican candidates be asked whether they agree with Ann Coulter that America would be a better place if we were all Christians? Or is that simply playing Ann Coulter's game?
Many people are playing her game this time around: Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, denounced Coulter for speaking in "the classic language of anti-Semites throughout the millennia." The National Jewish Democratic Council asked broadcast news organizations not to give Coulter airtime. Then right wing talk radio got to yell at liberals for trying to deny Ann Coulter her right to free speech.
So it's happened again: Ann Coulter is controversial. Ann Coulter is important. We all need to take a stand for or against Ann Coulter's right to express her views, no matter how repugnant they may be.
But what if we ignored her latest publicity ploy? What if we didn't play Ann Coulter's game - again?
That would be a mistake, Tim Rutten argued recently in the LA Times. We need to press the issue on the candidates, and others, this time -- because, Rutten writes, "the implications of these latest remarks simply are too threatening to be allowed to stand."
Yes, it's worked for her many times before, propelling her books to the top of the best-seller list. Her readers buy her books precisely because they love the way she provokes liberals to screaming outrage. That's why in the past, when asked about our enemies in the Middle East, she said "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity"; that's why she insulted the 9-11widows.
But this time, Rutten argues, it's different. That's because Coulter's argument - that Christianity "perfects" Judaism, and that Jews need "perfecting" -- is the major theological underpinning of anti-Semitism (along with the notion to that the Jews killed Jesus). The Catholic church, and most Protestant denominations, have explicitly broken with that claim. The Republican candidates ought to do the same thing.
"It's a scandal that in this pluralist nation it falls to the voices of organized Jewry to make this case," Rutten writes, "because it is a case whose outcome is of the greatest consequence to us all. For too long we've pretended that the brutal political rhetoric that now characterizes our partisan politics can be quarantined, that it won't inevitably leach over into every other aspect of our lives."
So it would be good to ask Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and their rivals: Ann Coulter is a best-selling Republican pundit; do you agree with her that the ideal America is a Christian America?
Read more OffTheBus coverage here.
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As long as we give voice to Coulter, we are doomed to deal with her and therefore give her power. She has control over millions and she is loving every minute of it. Her relevance is only that we give her relevance. Without our continued whining and wringing our hands whenever she opens her mouth, she would have to crawl back under the rock from which she slithered along with the rest of the race baiters in this world.
Now the question for us all is why do we give her that power? Could it be that she actually represents the fear of "other" and the hatred of those different inherent in us all. I know I am as guilty as anyone else of having a knee-jerk reaction out of a baseless fear of something I do not understand that confronts from no where and I am certainly not alone in that behavior.
We fear what we do not understand and we do not understand much.
How many of us knew that Iraq was made up of Sunni, Shi'a, Kurd before Bush threw an army in there and started ripping the country apart? How many of us knew that there were so many various denominations within what we have all called "Islam"? And they are only the ones making the news
How many of us know the various denominations of Judaism and how they differ?
How many of us know the differences between any peoples that are thrown into any mass classification (black, white, brown, yellow, red?)
Our ignorance feeds our fear and our fear feeds hatred and that IS what feeds Ann Coulter. She is the face of us all when we close ourselves to reason and chose to act out in ignorance. She is our hatred and our bigotry and our racism, as are Limbaugh, O'Reilly and all the rest of those who give voice to hate and fear and spew that venom toward "other"
I believe that Ann Coulter should be allowed to say anything she wants. I also do not believe anything that may come out of her mouth or her poison pen so her words have no effect on me.
I believe that people like Coulter are here to remind of us what we do not want to aspire to. As a Catholic, it is not for me to judge but, saying that, I believe Coulter has a long way to go to being perfected as a Christian, as do most of us. I will pray that some day she will actuallly understand what it means to be one.
If she does not think that God loves the Jewish people, she has never picked up a bible.
Ann is about as "un-
Christian" as you could possibly be. A Christian does not go on talk shows and spew hatred. Christianity is about loving your brother and turning the other cheek. Actually, I believe she belongs to a coven somewhere.
There is too much hate in America these days. It doesn't matter who says what. But it does matter where it is said.
Apparently if the media would stop putting these people on. Ann Coulter, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the true racists in this society. Everything would calm down.
Obviously everyone wants ratings. And this is sick.
The Mainstream media and cable channels purporting to be "News Outlets" are run by a few people.
There is no more NEWS. Just violent statements, accusations and timid censored segments.
Report the news the way it is happening right now. Not how the people will react. Or if they are Republican or Democrat. And do not report sensational stories like the Philadelphia Enquirer does. It is a joke what happend to Imus in the MSM. It is also a joke the Media Matters was behind the unveiling of three words that didn't make sense to those listening and knew it was a feeble attempt at a joke.
News should only be broadcast once each day at a certain time. It need not be on 24 hours a day. That is why they have "Special Reports" or "Breaking News" interruptions.
Ann Coulter may have been wrong. But the person and station putting her on that station was the one at fault.
Have you ever seen the show 'Smackdown' on TV?
Professional wrestlers beat each other up and the fans express outrage.
People that get upset at Ann Coulter would be better off watching Smackdown.
Jesus would never be a Republican. He would never hate all the groups of people that Republicans, like Anne Coulter, hate.
(i.e. Homosexuals, immigrants, Iranins, North Koreans, themselves, Jews, Democrats, African-Americans, poor, homeless, Europeans, Asians, Africans, Antarticans, and anybody else who is not a GOP Christian)
LMAO...you just listed all of the groups the Dems hate but use soley for votes. You are a very twisted person!
LMAO...right back at you....actions speak louder than words. You make a bizarre comment that even your own Republican freaks wouldn't agree with and then you call me twisted. That is really funny. Par for the GOP hating course, but still funny. Take a poll. We'll see who's twisted.
Coulter cannot laugh all the way to the bank unless there are narrow-minded people anxious to buy her dribble.
Anti-semitism is indeed hate, and must be addressed accordingly.
Ann Coulter can assert her free speech, and make
oodle $ out of it, but she is just a shill, and has no authority, nor responsibility when it comes to policy making in Washington. She is, what she is, a rich, arrogant and extremely unattractive jerk!
The best thing the the liberals can do, is to press the Christian America questionable supposition directly to the Republican Party, and in particular, it's presidential aspirants, and watch them VERY closely, when they respond.
Watch McCain fumble this one, with all those marbles in his mouth, and Giuliani with his silver shark teeth. Mitt Romney, Mr. Smoooothe?
Keep Coulter out of the room of the BIG Boys, and
go right at 'em, and be unmerciful.
A party that installs and is still sticking with
Adolph Bush and Heinrich Cheney, must be put to the fire.
You're looking at the tail wagging the dog (A. C.). Although it may well promote her books I think the point is to promote the idea: "The Jews are so oppressed!". I'm not saying they're not but there are many people in the world that are just as oppressed without belabouring the point to "teach" everyone just how oppressed they are. If you keep complaining about something like Coulter it seems a little suspicious.
"Along with that right, there needs to be the responsibility that what you are saying is truthful, honest,forthright and factual.
It's a sad fact that this is no longer the criteria in certain media outlets."
gearbox
We must always remember that for every right there is a responsability. Helen Thomas said it right.
I have no doubt that AC writes outrageously to provoke and get popularity. Anyone buying her rabid books shouls have their brains examined...
The author is right, ignore the woman.
Could someone please tell me where Miss Coulter's "hate speech" is found? Caring about Jewish people and hoping that convert to Christianity is the total opposite of hating them. If anyone here will take the time to actually pick up a Bible long enough to read a few portions of it will realize that Jesus Himself was a Jew. He came to earth and offered the free gift of salvation "first to the Jew, then to the Greek" (Romans 1:16)
Also, to address the comment about how we should invade the Islamic countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity: haven't we already done the first two? Wouldn't "love your neighbor" and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" be much better messages to teach the young Arabic children than " kill all infidels"?
The only thing more cringe-worthy than listening to Ann Coulter's cynical comments and becoming incensed about it, "playing her game," is to listen to that cynical, calculated bullshit and mistake it for "genuine concern" for the poor, un-perfected Jews. Not only do you buy Ann's horseshit, but in revealing this you also reveal your own incredibly condescending attitude towards Jews.
"Oh, when we say we want the Jews to be perfected, that's just PURE LOVE." Gag.
BTW, the Golden Rule is not inherently Christian in nature. There is a theological basis for it in every major religion, including Islam. Believe it or not, "kill all infidels" does not define Islam any more than the idea that gay marriage is the biggest threat to morality defines Christianity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethic_of_reciprocity
The leaders of Middle Eastern countries needn't be converted to Christianity in order for their citizens to learn the Golden Rule. Without a doubt, most of them have already learned it. How ridiculous of you.
What are you, in the 9th grade?
Actually, kill all infidels is how Islam got its start. Anyone who would not live by the teachings of Islam would die by the sword.
I do not have a "condescending" attitude toward the Jewish people or anyone else. I think that we are all inherently evil and need a Redeemer.
Yes, the Islamic leaders would have heard the Golden Rule before, but they choose to only teach hate. Have you ever actually been to an Islamic country? Have you seen their version of Saturday morning cartoons? Instead of something like Superman-who teaches honor, courage, and self-sacrifice, they have jihadists. Palestinian children are taught nothing but hatred for Israelis. The think anyone who tries to come in and teach anything else is evil.
No, I am not a 9th grader. I am college educated. How about you? You potty-mouth leads me to believe that you are not well-educated.
So, would you have converted Jesus to "perfection" too? Christianity was organized after him, not by him. He taught that we were all equal in "God's" eyes... he taught tolerance and love..."kill all infidels" is NOT an Islamic tenant... it is a radical distortion of Mohammed's teachings used by terrorists to create an atmosphere of hate and fear, much like "perfect all Jews" or "do unto others"... I mean really, would you have "others" relentlessly proselytize and insult you, your family or Jesus?!
WWJD? he would not wage war in his name; he would not bomb thousands of innocent people; he would not sell t-shirts or have a talk-show and I am pretty sure he would not buy that waste of a book either.
Before you start spouting generalized insults, I am college educated too, and I am Catholic educated and self-educated. I have visited mosques and temples and studied world religions and managed to come up with my own ideas and opinions about how many beautiful, amazing people there are in this world in so many different shades, classes and religions.
Disdain, distrust and obvious dislike are found within Ms. Coulter's rhetoric, along with her colleagues Rush and Bill. No, they may not "hate" but nor do they "love" all their neighbors.
Only a fool would feel that her remarks indicated she "cared" for the Jewish people. Where have you been for the last 60-70 years? I guess Hitler "cared" for the Jews, too, and was just "frustrated" that they wouldn't "go away" so he killed them all to "perfect" them.
Is Coulter a Christian? Wouldn't Paganism be
closer?
Right wing Christians have hurt their cause for
centuries by starting wars in the name of
religion. But not all Christians start wars.
You can be a Christian and still fornicate. But
not all do.
You can be free of organized religion but be
raptured by the lure of money, important job,
knowing influential people. And politics.
You can be a good decent and caring human being
and not be religious. But morals are learned not
inherent. If you have a teacher with no morals
or understanding of right and wrong, decent or
indecent, how do you become decent. Faith not
religion teaches good works. Faith is trust that
there is something better, something higher than
mortal man.
Well.....just preached a sermon didn't I?!
As a practicing pagan, I resent Ann Coulter being called a pagan. This is a deep insult to modern pagans. The word "pagan" derives from the same root as "vega," the Spanish word for "field." Pagans worshipped the gods of the fields in the old times. Today they worship the Earth and nature. Ann Coulter worships money and herself and doesn't care who she destroys with her vicious, hate-filled attacks.
AC is entertainment for the 21st century. She has a right to say anything she believes. It's called free speech. And why would we want to shut up those who annoy us? That's a misguided and dangerous policy. I'd rather know who says what and believes whatever than to repress them into silence. it's a much more informed way to make choices.
No one said anything about repressing her. Simply ignore her. Sorta like the classic Roman stance of enmity (turning one's back on her). Next step don't buy any of her books. She has a right to say anything she wants. I have the right to decide who I want to grace with my valuable reading time.
BTW: There are many Christians who beleive exactly what she said some of whom are in or are very supportive of this administration.
I would agree.
People ignored Bush's track record and look what we got. Disaster.
Guess the same could be said of the Nazis, right?
If Ann wants to say that Christianity completes Judaism, and is protected by the freedom of speech, then what's stopping Osama and all the other Muslim radicals from sending in their tapes stating that Islam completes Christianity, which is their belief.
Shouldn't that be protected under the freedom of speech Ann so preciously uses time and again in her defense?
Like Helen Thomas said on Bill Maher once:
"I’m not for any censorship, but I am for some self-restraint, some taste, some sensitivity."
I think Ann needs to study up on all three of those.
America is obviously a Christian nation. If it were not, perhaps an atheist/Taoist like me could have a chance to run successfully for obvious.
In some of these post, I've read comments about the "rights of free speach". Our Nation is fortunate to have that right in our Constitution and, it should be protected at all costs.
Along with that right, there needs to be the responsibility that what you are saying is truthful, honest,forthright and factual.
It's a sad fact that this is no longer the criteria in certain media outlets.
A newspaper once had as it's motto:
"All the news that's fit to print" and, as the case with this current brand of "neo-journalisim, about all that paper would be printing today would be blank pages.
Also, were the pathetic Ms.Coulter to follow those simple journalistic guidlines, her books would have blank pages.
As stated, she must be afforded the right to print and say as she pleases but, we as a Nation with the same rights as her's, also have those right to "not" to have to listen to her hate filled "talks" or buy her hate filled books.
Why is it the media both right wing and mainstream asked Democratic candidates at every chance they could if they supported Move On's General Betray us ad, and you never hear anybody ask a Republican politician if they support Ann Coulter's otrageous statements??
That's because the repukes love AC. She says things they say behind closed doors and cannot say in public because they have this image they have created for themselves to uphold. No one with an ounce of brains thinks the repukes are the moral elite. That opinion is in their own minds and no where else. The opinion is in fact a mirage. No more twisted, lying, evil hypocrite exists than a republican, but they have to hide themselves under this cloak of "we're better than you" so AC gets to talk, and they probably supplement her income lavishly. If by nothing other than buying her worthless trash.
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