Defending Ann Coulter

Recently Donny Deutsch, the CNBC quasi-personality tried to goad Ann Coulter regarding her views on Jews. Ann delivered a typical Coulter-ism and lo and behold Donny Deutsch gets press. Which he needs. His show, according to TVNewser frequently "scratches," i.e. gets so few viewers they statistically do not exist. Maybe they are scared off by Deutch's Agnes Moorehead-like reading glasses.

Twice now Elizabeth and John Edwards have quite publicly pronounced their indignation at remarks Coulter made regarding John Edward's masculinity. The campaign dollars poured in. Notice a pattern?

More than a few HuffPo posts have been devoted to Coulter lately. It's understandable liberals rail against President Bush. They are protesting his actions, not his words. Okay, maybe we should all protest his syntax. But Ann Coulter simply offers up words. Sometimes bizarre, imprudent words, but simply words nonetheless. For this she has to travel to speeches with a bodyguard.

What is more offensive; Ann Coulter's remarks about 9/11 widows, or women being tortured to death in Saw? Her thoughts on Muslims, or women being tortured to death in Saw 2? Her writing on Bill Clinton, or women being tortured to death in Saw 3? Need I comment on how offensive last weekend's grosses were for Saw 4?

But it's all free speech, and after the last few years, that's one of the few liberties we have left to hold on to. Ann Coulter stirs the pot, and her remarks are all the more infuriating because they come packaged in a hot little black cocktail dress. Tell the truth, you've wondered what it would be like, haven't you? I thought so.

Republicans don't so much like Ann for what she says. We like her because she has big brass balls, unlike most Republicans in Washington right now. Guiliani? Whipped. Romney? A pretty boy. Huckabee? Diet freak. Thompson? He dated Lorie Morgan for God's sake. You think Democrats are frustrated with Republicans? Trust me, Red Staters are far more frustrated. We want a man. That man is Ann.

Ann Coulter fearlessly says what she says, and in doing so exercises her right to free speech. The entertainment community should be particularly sensitive to this. Remember Theo Van Gogh? Ann Coulter is not hurting anyone, but she is making them think. Don't ban Ann, as some groups are suggesting. Ban the thought police.

Follow Ron Galloway on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rongalloway

Comments

[Lasserina]

I agree, and that's using the word "entertainer" oh so loosly.

[Apples]

Ann is not hurting anyone? Are you kidding me?

Words are powerful. If you've never been pierced by one of her inflammatory remarks then you have no idea of just how powerful and painful her words can be.

As a film fan I can't defend the 'Saw' movies, but to use them as some kind of example against Coulter's harmful diatribes is just bad writing.

Exercising her right to free speech? She abuses it and uses it for no other purpose except to sell her objectionable little books. This Blog tells me more about Ron Galloway than it does about anything else.

And don't forget what we've always known to be true; the pen is always mightier than the sword. I suspect Coulter is only too aware of this. With admirers like Galloway behind her, Coulter will continue to sharpen that pen and stab us all in the back. Freedom of speech? Give me a break!

[WHATEVER7]

"...they come packaged in a hot little black cocktail dress. Tell the truth, you've wondered what it would be like, haven't you?"

Whew!!! That's a stretch. You just put me off my lunch. And yet another reason I'm a bleeding heart liberal.

[BlackJAC]

Plot Hole: if she's so ballsy, why didn't she return verbal fire when she was found dining in a gay-owned restaurant in the gay district of Los Angeles, a city which you Republicans universally agree is America's answer to Sodom & Gomorrah? Why did she shrink down in her seat while one of her handlers said that the guy confronting her was "molesting" Ann? And is it a wise idea to call Ann a man when it's rumored that she isn't a biological female?

Ann is, in online parlance, a griefer or troll. She was probably ignored by her parents as a child and has been looking for someone to attention to her ever since, even if it is negative attention. And no matter how much you erroneously admire her for her unfiltered outbursts, it's all resulted in her closing in on the half-century mark without a single marriage, functional or failed, on her record.

[Lon]

What exactly is Ann Coulter making people think, other than that one can get rich saying purposely offensive things.

Everyone in this country has a right to free speech. But there is no right not to be criticized for what one says. And this "defense" of Ann Coulter is blessedly free of any defense of content unless one counts the comparison between insulting actual people, and fictional scenese of violence.

In general Ann Coulter would be best ignored or laughed at. But the fact that she hires a bodyguard to create the impression that she is a victim hardly counts as a defense of her.

[mcthfg]

I didn't see any of the "Saw" movies, but I bet they didn't cheerlead us into a war with Iraq.

Words hurt, Ron. Ann has literally voiced her opinion that people who think as I do should be KILLED. She's not fucking around, and we shouldn't be, either.

Movies? This horrible skag is telling people that Jews are just Christians waiting to be "perfected", and you're worried about movies?

The only way to beat her is to tag EVERY conservative with Ann's words, until they turn away from her in droves. Make them own her words. Then make them eat her words.

So... until they tell me otherwise, ALL conservatives want Jews to be perfected.

[progresemulo]

Ann has called for or celebrated the deaths of over 300 American citizens and patriots, among them the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing (really-look it up), numerous war heroes, and regular citizens.

What annoys so many people is that the so-called mainstream media are televising the ravings of someone who is ideologically no different from the scum who flew two planes into the world trade center.

I don't know about you, but I really don't believe that "American" media have any business in airing the rantings of terrorist sympathizers. That anyone, right or left, would support this monster says at lot about their level of respect for this country.

[jaywh1]

There is no problem with Ann Coulter, so long as she is viewed in the proper context. Ann Coulter is an entertainer. The problem is created when media outlets present her as a political authority or, even worse, a spokesperson. Her expressed views should be compared to the rants of Howard Stern or Lenny Bruce, not Republican presidential candidates. Coulter's partisan broadsides certainly tickle her conservative fans, but no reasonable person could believe that an elected leader should be openly hostile to half the citizens of this country. The only danger Coulter poses id that she may be viewed as a model of leadership, rather than a current events based humorist.