Lie Down With Strippers, Wake Up With Pleas [Ann Coulter]

HumanEventsOnline.com ^ | Apr 19, 2006 | Ann Coulter

[boryeulb]

However the Duke lacrosse rape case turns out, one lesson that absolutely will not be learned is this: You can severely reduce your chances of having a false accusation of rape leveled against you if you don't hire strange women to come to your house and take their clothes off for money.

Get Yours FREE!

Also, you can severely reduce your chances of being raped if you do not go to strange men's houses and take your clothes off for money. (Does anyone else detect a common thread here?)

And if you are a girl in Aruba or New York City, among the best ways to avoid being the victim of a horrible crime is to not get drunk in public or go off in a car with men you just met. While we're on the subject of things every 5-year-old should know, I also recommend against dousing yourself in gasoline and striking a match.

Everyone makes mistakes, especially young people, but the outpouring of support for the victims and their families is obscuring what ought to be a flashing neon warning for potential future victims.

Whenever a gun is used in a crime, there are never-ending news stories about how dangerous guns are. But these girls go out alone, late at night, drunk off their butts, and there's nary a peep about the dangers of drunk women on their own in public. It's their "right."

Yes, of course no one "deserves" to die for a mistake. Or to be raped or falsely accused of rape for a mistake. I have always been unabashedly anti-murder, anti-rape and anti-false accusation -- and I don't care who knows about it!

But these statements would roll off the tongue more easily in a world that so much as tacitly acknowledged that all these messy turns of fate followed behavior that your mother could have told you was tacky.

Not very long ago, all the precursor behavior in these cases would have been recognized as vulgar -- whether or not anyone ended up dead, raped or falsely accused of rape. But in a nation of people in constant terror of being perceived as "judgmental," I'm not sure most people do recognize that anymore.

It shouldn't be necessary to point out that girls shouldn't be bar-hopping alone or taking their clothes off in front of strangers, and that young men shouldn't be hiring strippers. But we live in a world of Bill Clinton, Paris Hilton, Howard Stern, Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman," Democratic fund-raisers at the Playboy Mansion and tax deductions for entertaining clients at strip clubs.

This is an age in which the expression "girls gone wild" is becoming a redundancy. So even as the bodies pile up, I don't think the message about integrity is getting through.

The liberal charge of "hypocrisy" has so permeated the public consciousness that no one is willing to condemn any behavior anymore, no matter how seedy. The unstated rule is: If you've done it, you can't ever criticize it -- a standard that would seem to repudiate the good works of the Rev. Franklin Graham, Malcolm X, Whittaker Chambers and St. Paul, among others.

Every woman who has had an abortion feels compelled to defend abortion for all women; every man who's ever been at a party with strippers thinks he has to defend all men who watch strippers; and every Democrat who voted for Bill Clinton feels the need to defend duplicity, adultery, lying about adultery, sexual harassment, rape, perjury, obstruction of justice, kicking the can of global Islamo-fascism down the road for eight years and so on.

This is crazy. (I can say that because I've never been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. Although I did test positive for "Olympic fever" once.)

In no area except morality would a sane person believe he can't criticize something stupid because he's done it. How about: If you've ever forgotten to fill up your car and run out of gas, you must forevermore defend a person's right to ignore the gas gauge. Or if you've ever forgotten to wear a coat in cold weather and caught a cold, henceforth you are obliged to encourage others not to dress appropriately in the winter.

This deep-seated societal fear of being accused of "hypocrisy" applies only to behavior touching on morals.

But we're all rotten sinners, incapable of redemption on our own. The liberal answer to sin is to say: I can never pay this back, so my argument will be I didn't do anything wrong.

The religion of peace's answer is: I've just beheaded an innocent man -- I'm off to meet Allah!

I don't know what the Jewish answer is, but I'm sure it's something other than, "therefore, what I did is no longer bad behavior" -- or the Talmud could be a lot shorter.

The Christian answer is: I can never pay this back, but luckily that Christ fellow has already paid my debt.

[chris1]

went to a strip club a few times when I hit 18. After two or three times, it was boring and not even entertaining. I am 30 now and could care less about going to one as it is a waste of money and time.

[chris1]

Its not fair, but Ann is dead right. Bad things are much more likely to occur with bad behavior than if you are just minding your own business.

These Duke students are not only immature and dumb, but naive and reckless.

[Proud Conservative2]

"Are you serious? Not to be disrespectful, but you are either from Utah or 80 years old. I can't believe that you are serious. Although if you are joking, that was a good one. As much as I am a Catholic, I even have seen strippers. Please being 80 you never served in the military?"

You are wrong on all counts. LOL. Live in small Missouri town, am no where near 80 and am a female. There are communities throughout America that still operate with a lot of principles and morals.

Our town is twenty miles from the population center of the nation, had a population in July 2004 of 4777 of which 2673 are females. WE have over 30 churches, two bars, four banks and a new Holiday Inn...LOL. Last week the churches of the community got together for their annual teenage lock down. Kids of high school age get locked in together and party to Christian bands and music, play various sports and play video games all night. This year there were almost 500 kids. It is a great environment in which ro raise a family and instill values.

You can still have a lot of fun and a very good life without dragging yourself into the gutter... :)

[jammer]

Ann is half right. The point you make is, of course, correct. However, there is another point that is wrong--she also wants us to draw the inference that the situation somehow is caused by the innocent, but stupid. That is not dead right. It is dead wrong.

Endlessly reiterating your opinion--our opinion?--of the students only obfuscates the point I am questioning (I do see that you're an attorney, so it must be natural).

[Ken H]

These Duke students are not only immature and dumb, but naive and reckless.

You left out the worst one-- they're privileged.

[Musket]

Saw this posted on coasttocoastam. It's in the Chicago area. I don't think the Coast folks know what it is. We do.;-)

[JBGUSA]

Risky behavior has its punishment. The lesson should be that assuming that someone is a victim is way too easy.

[chris1]

Agreed. Its funny, but when I was like 18-21, we went a few strip bars and had our laughs. Nothing at all really happened other than our wallets a little lighter and us guys had a few laughs, mostly at each other.

I don't go now for many reasons. However, thinking back, it really was a safe atmosphere leaving little room for trouble and accusations like in this case.

[cake_crumb]

"You can severely reduce your chances of having a false accusation of rape leveled against you if you don't hire strange women to come to your house and take their clothes off for money.

"Also, you can severely reduce your chances of being raped if you do not go to strange men's houses and take your clothes off for money. (Does anyone else detect a common thread here?)"

HEAR, HEAR!

[cake_crumb]

"If young people would listen to the lessons of those that went before, what a wonderful world this would be."

Yep. If those of us who've made mistakes and learned from them aren't qualifed to criticize the same behavior in our kids, who the heck is??

[cake_crumb]

"Ann, learn how to show respect."

I've met plenty of so-called "Christians" like that. She should have qualified the statement, but those people do exist in plenty and are usually in high positions within the church.

[cake_crumb]

"I disagree. There isn't a man, or woman, between the ages of 19 and 21 who has not seen strippers."

Would you like to make a bet? You're statement is ridiculously untrue.

The point of the article is NOT whether or not anyone of any age has ever seen a stripper. The point is that if you put yourself into a dangerous situation, you should not be in the least surprised when you're in danger.

If strippers are your thing, go to a club where there are bouncers and witnesses instead of inviting a drunk stranger into your house. Maybe you should ENlighten up.

[cake_crumb]

Of course you can catch a a cold from being out in cold, damp weather without a coat. Or a bacterial infection, and any number of upper and lower respiratoy complaints.

When your core body temperature gets too low, your body turns all of it's resources to raising it's temperature, like shivering.

Your body expends an enourmous amount of energy when you're shivering uncontrollably, which dampens normal immune system response until that energy is recovered, leaving you much more susceptable to infection than if you're just dressed appropriately for the weather.

[cake_crumb]

I've tried it. I didn't enjoy it and have never got the point. But we WERE smart enough to go to a club, not to invite some strange man into a private home.

[cake_crumb]

What is everbody's problem with Laura Bush?? Good grief, I've got a dirtier sense of humor than the joke she told!

[mike_9958]

'I disagree. There isn't a man, or woman, between the ages of 19 and 21 who has not seen strippers.'

Right.... what little world do you live in. I almost feel sorry for you. You have some warped perception of our society. I've never walked into a strip club or seen a stripper, and I've lived in the city my whole life.

I agree with Ann - if you put yourself into a bad situation the odds of bad things happening goes up.... QED

[SuziQ]

Some people live with their knickers in a continual twist.

[ccmay]

I have never been in a strip club or a place where strippers did their work. The whole enterprise strikes me as anti-romance and anti-sex.

I've been to a few of these places, for bachelor's parties and the like. I hate them. They are depressing and boring. Since I became the father of a daughter, I haven't gone to any and don't think I ever will again.

If guys want a male bonding experience, I think a baseball game or a round of golf are far superior.

-ccm

[ccmay]

My husband's 3rd cousin is the only one I know of that did something like that. It was the talk of the town.

If you live in the kind of place where people know who their 3rd cousins are, everything you do is the talk of the town.

-ccm

[ccmay]

No, you can't catch a cold being cold in cold weather, said the good doc, but, contradicting himself immediately, he admitted that being cold in cold weather helps (not the word he used) the little tiny, invisible cold viruses to make you catch a cold.

Cold winter air is less humid. Dry mucous membranes have a harder time resisting infection.

Cold weather also drives people indoors, where they come into closer contact with others.

-ccm