Posted on 08/20/2010 2:55:46 PM PDT by RonDog
The Ann Coulter You Don't Know
by Matt LatimerThe flap over Coulter’s speech to a gay Republican group
shows that the right’s provocateur is a heck of a lot of more
complicated than she’s made out to be."Wait until you hear what Ann Coulter did now" has become a cable news era cliché—up there with “fair and balanced," "we report, you decide," and "can I please get a word in edgewise, Mr. Carville?" So upon learning that Ann has found her way into another controversy—a sadly overused word when applied to Ms. Coulter—the natural temptation is to brace oneself. This, after all, is the woman who mused—in jest?—that perhaps America would be better off if women couldn't vote.
One of the carefully guarded secrets of Ann Coulter world
is how much she is not hated and—dare one say it—even liked
by many within the dreaded liberal elite.
No doubt to the surprise of Coulter haters—and "hate" is not too strong a word here—the supposed Bellatrix Lestrange of the Republican Party recently took a stand that the more rational among them might even applaud. When informed she could not participate in a political conference if she kept a commitment to speak to a group of gay Republicans, Ms. Coulter told organizers just what they could do with their conference. Noting that she speaks to all kinds of groups whose views she does not necessarily agree with—"the main thing I do is speak on college campuses, which is about the equivalent of speaking at an al Qaeda conference"—Coulter, in her own style, stood for something that conservatives are supposed to believe in: the free exchange of ideas. Few, of course, have exercised that particular privilege with more vigor than the woman who famously labeled Katie Couric "the affable Eva Braun" of the liberal movement.Lately, in fact, Coulter has been making a habit of getting on the bad side of the right’s Dwight Schrutes, even at the risk of alienating some of her book buyers and website subscribers. She was, for example, an early and outspoken opponent of the Obama birther movement, calling its adherents a collection of "cranks." And in response to commentator Bill Kristol’s haughty demand that Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele resign because Steele criticized the military surge in Afghanistan, Coulter turned the tables. "Bill Kristol Should Resign," she wrote, thus fearlessly taking on one of the Grand Poobahs of today’s GOP and provoking a needed debate within the conservative movement over the dangers of supporting every military action at every time under every circumstance.
Tolerance for differing viewpoints...willingness to stand up to the GOP’s titans...is this the Ann Coulter that liberals loathe and Republicans love? That is exactly her. But you’re not supposed to tell anyone. In fact, one of the carefully guarded secrets of Ann Coulter world is how much she is not hated and—dare one say it—even liked by many within the dreaded liberal elite. Well-credentialed members of the mainstream media privately extol her. Among her friends is the decidedly unconservative talk show host Bill Maher, on whose cable program she frequently appeared. "Unlike so many people in America, she was not afraid to get booed," Mr. Maher once said of his pal. But at a quasi-debate with Maher, Coulter showed the limits of her affection. "Bill wants me to behave like a wife who laughs each time she hears her husband tell the same story," she told her audience. (Predictably she did not oblige.) To the shock, awe, and dismay of many on the left, Coulter even has dated a number of liberal acolytes, including a one-time aide to Joe Biden and the former president of the New York City Council. There are even anecdotal cases of—brace yourselves—actual kindness.
I can attest to this unsettling phenomenon. Some years ago, a geeky political nerd from Michigan came to Capitol Hill with grandiose dreams and a debilitating shyness. Few among the great potentates and perennial climbers of the United States Senate had much time for the lugs at the bottom. But Ann did. Though a senior aide to a U.S. Senator, she took the time to get to know the rest of us, ask our opinions, share stories, and be a friend. Even then I knew that Coulter would not be long for the dreary rituals and bloviating self-absorption of Capitol Hill. Instead she became a media star.
More than a decade later, when I wrote a book about my experiences in Washington I asked my publisher if Ann could read it. I figured she wouldn’t remember me and expected a polite rebuff. Instead Ann got to it quickly and wrote a generous blurb. When the book received criticism from prominent Bush aides and some conservative friends waited out the deluge from a comfortable distance, Ann Coulter stood by with her support, even appearing on Fox News to lend a hand and correct the facts.
I jokingly told her that from here on out I’d punch anyone who attacked her in my presence. "You’re going to be pretty busy," she instantly replied.
None of this is to say that Ann Coulter hasn’t deserved the animosity or opposition she has received over the years—and which she sometimes has shrewdly cultivated. She knew well what she was doing when she boldly criticized the 9/11 widows or poked fun at Senator John Edwards before that particular sport became a national pastime. And most likely she wouldn’t take back a single offending word she has ever uttered.
But there is a reason why all the latter-day Coulter imitators on cable news channels have been about as cutting edge as a J.C. Penney commercial. People—at least those who matter—usually are more complicated than their caricatures. It’s too bad that politics doesn’t allow us to see more public figures that way.
Matt Latimer is the author of the New York Times bestseller, SPEECH-LESS: Tales of a White House Survivor. He was deputy director of speechwriting for George W. Bush and chief speechwriter for Donald Rumsfeld.
These people disagree.
Ann Coulter Applauded by Young Conservatives for 'HomoCon' Speech
"Conservatism and gay rights are actually natural allies," said S.E. Cupp, conservative columnist and author of "Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media's Attack on Christianity." "Conservatism rightly seeks to keep the government out of our private lives, and when you strip away the politics of pop culture, it's this assertion of privacy and freedom that the gay rights movement is essentially making."This is how institutions evolve and emerge within a conservative culture," says Jon Henke, a libertarian-leaning blogger. "In time, gay people will be married, extending the valuable social institution of marriage to more people. In time, conservatives will argue that the positive impact that marriage has on the gay community is further evidence of the importance of the institution of marriage."
Change has come gradually, and it's worth noting that Coulter's decision to speak at HomoCon is merely the latest example of prominent conservatives (of all ages) lending, at least, tacit support to the cause of gay rights.
Poor Ann. She has a lot of that emotional angry spirit in her which is what makes gay people gay.
bttt bookmark!
Ann Coulter will NOT explain why because she can't credibly do so.
The birther issue ia really very simple.
If Coulter can't defend the Constitution ( **ALL** of it) when it safe to do so, there is NO POSSIBLE WAY she will defend it in the face of real tyranny!! That's a fact! That's her true character.
When jack boots march in the street, Ann will sell her talents to the fascist oligarchy. She will spit shine the jack boots crushing our necks.
Does speaking at a conference mean you support their agenda? Did you see Ann’s comments on speaking at college campuses? Does that mean she supports everything coming out of left-wing academia? Clearly not.
Simply preaching to the choir is a very ineffective means of getting out the Conservative message. Ann goes anywhere and everywhere to speak, which she should be applauded for.
Have you read their legislative agenda?
I posted it on the first page of this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2574603/posts?q=1&;page=72
Everything except gun rights is Big Government “gay” agenda.
If she doesn’t point out that their agenda is unconstitutional, then she has let everyone know where she stands.
Still, he was the best Governor Massachusetts has seen in a very long while.
To me it makes evident that he is not a real politician, and perhaps not a real conservative, but I'd take him for Governor and even President over who we have now and over who the choices were in 2008.
I do not get this slamming of Ann Coulter at all.
There were a lot of better choices than Romney, Giuliani or McCain. My honest opinion is that voters were setup. And we were along for the ride, willing or not.
And that is scary.
Excellent point Fabian, I never even thought of it that way, she probably doesn’t either.
What an inane post. Just proved to me why you support whoring for homos. Maybe you got jellybeans for brains I don’t know. Why not take your homo sympathies to DU where they are lauded. Not here, not EVER.
And that’s always the problem isn’t it? United we stand, divided we fall, and right now we are in a freefall.
Nope.....Just a gutless coward.
I’m disappointed that a Constitutional Lawyer, a woman who has dedicated herself to the study of our laws and Conservative principles would not have concerns over an admitted dual-citizen being President. As a student of history, Ann would know our founders were very concerned about foreign influence in the White House. If she knows of some obscure Supreme Court ruling that has affirmed an admitted dual-national is eligible as a Natural Born Citizen, I’d love for her to tell us about it. On the same note, if she believes a dual-citizen is eligible under our Constitution, I wish she would explain why. Coming from Coulter, many people would be willing to listen and accept her reasoning.Ann?I’d also ask her if she is comfortable with a man who has sealed every bit of his background papers, including his original birth certificate when no other President has gone to the lengths Obama has to seal his background. If she is comfortable with a President who does this I’d like to know her reasoning for finding it acceptable and why she would believe the public does not have the right to review a persons background who sits at the head of our government. If she is not comfortable, I’d like to know why she has not spoken out, on at least that issue.
We're waiting...
Okay.
How about in 21 words, and in verse?
Obama hasn't proven
He's what the Constitution says he must be
The burden of proof is on him
Not on me
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