"No liberal has to have security (in public). Though I'd like to change that," says Ann Coulter, after claiming that she can't appear in public without protection. This comes from a dialog with Bill O'Reilly (courtesy of Media Matters) where O'Reilly complains about unscrupulous leftists who "intimidate people with whom they disagree. ... They really want to just bludgeon anybody with whom they disagree." Coulter joined him in complaining about the "Nazi block watchers" at Media Matters who publicize their most egregious lies and offensive statements.
"Bludgeon" was a odd choice of word to use in conversation with the woman who said the best way to talk to a liberal is "with a baseball bat." This is, of course, the same Ann Coulter who expressed regret that Timothy McVeigh didn't blow up the New York Times before his capture. Suddenly her sensibilities are more delicate. Could it have something to do with the way the political climate is turning against them and their kind?
After all, isn't this the same Ann Coulter who called people who didn't support Bush "traitors"? And who distorted the comments that George Soros - a Jew - made about the causes of anti-semitism?
Isn't this the same Bill O'Reilly who wants Al Qaeda to blow up San Francisco? And isn't this the same Bill O'Reilly who says there's a secret conspiracy to eradicate Christmas, led by George Soros - who is, in case you've forgotten, a Jew? (Shades of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion.") Isn't this the same Bill O'Reilly who promised to start "naming the names" of "terrorist sympathizers" for public ridicule and threat - and started with columnist Bob Herbert?
O'Reilly was joined in his "naming names" efforts by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, who promised to print the names of those he called the "excuse makers" (the column's no longer available, but Hooman Majd summarizes here -- except it's even uglier than Hooman suggests). Any attempt to understand the motivation of a terrorist, Friedman suggested, is tantamount to supporting terrorism - and if you try he'll print your name for everyone to see.
O'Reilly was all over the news this week when he finally published his threatened media blacklist, which only contained three names. I can tell you, there were disappointed faces all over the blogosphere about that one.
Nazism is a political metaphor that should be used rarely. And what do they do over at Media Matters that could possibly remind readers of Nazism? All they do is simply repeat and analyze the words that people like Coulter and O'Reilly speak.
The punchline writes itself.
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CODA: As an Indian guru once said:
"When you want to see your own face in a bowl of water, how should the water be? Clear and peaceful. If there are waves in the water, what kind of face do you see? A terrible one!"