Posted on 12/11/2008 5:33:05 AM PST by RonDog
Ann Coulter Visits NYU to Deliver Predictable Stand-Up Routine
Coulter herself was pretty much what anyone familiar with her shtick would expect. The opening speech wasn’t really a speech at all, but a series of one-liners and less-than-witty witticisms that ranged from the outrageous (”Where are the thoughtful, reflective Arabs saying, ‘Why do we hate the Jews, anyway?’”) to the mystifying (”Did anyone ever run on a platform of despair, the status quo and keeping people apart? Besides Ralph Nader.”). But there was no coherent idea behind the speech, just a series of right-wing dog whistles. Once you realize that the dog whistles are really all she has to offer, you finally understand what Ann Coulter’s all about. She’s about as much a serious political commentator as Carlos Mencia is; both go for cheap laughs by playing off of the worst in human nature. And neither of them are worth the time and effort it takes to get offended, because doing that gives them the attention they so desperately crave. It was fascinating listen to her answer serious questions with completely unrelated tangents on why liberals are s****y. In fact, some of her responses were borderline incoherent, as she tried to figure out how to pivot away from answering a question to just delivering the next clever jab at the left. It’s almost like she had a crypto-fascist magic eight-ball hidden behind the podium, and whenever someone asked a serious question she would spout off whatever tenuously relevant wingnut aphorism came up when she shook it. I’m glad I was able to ask a question, and even gladder that Cody was on hand to film it, because her response is a perfect microcosm of how she normally operates: 1. My question was in two parts. She completely disregarded the first part. 2. Her answer to the second part just reinforced the assumption that my question had been meant to challenge in the first place without explaining where that assumption came from. 3. She really couldn’t think up a single reason why a sensible Jew might vote for a Democrat? Seriously? Anyone who wants to say anything interesting about American politics should at least be able to grasp where the other side is coming from. 4. Did you catch that delightfully condescending part at the end about how Jews might want to “start paying attention?” Of course you did. 5. “The Jews will always break your heart.” Tiny violin. Besides the part about the tiny violin, she employed all of the tricks you need to know in order to be a s****y conservative pundit: Don’t answer the question except to underscore your previous point (regardless of whether or not the question reveals that point to be a fallacy), take a gratuitous swipe at liberals, and make sure you throw in something about how your opponents (in this case, 78% of those adorable little Jews) are either misinformed or just plain stupid. Unfortunately, my real question of the night never got asked: What the f*** were the NYU Republicans thinking? Ann Coulter hasn’t been politically relevant since she called Edwards a fag, her self-aggrandizing claim that her support for Clinton in the primaries skewed them in Obama’s favor notwithstanding. People are tired of her song and dance, and not just because it’s intellectually dishonest and contributes nothing to public discourse–it’s also boring and excruciatingly predictable. If I were a conservative who wanted to reach out to moderate and liberal NYU students, this is the last woman I would invite to speak. Why not an actual conservative thinker? Or at least someone who doesn’t define herself entirely by what she thinks will sell books and piss off liberals. Alas, the fact that College Republicans invited someone as alienating and nakedly anti-intellectual as Ann Coulter is just a metaphor for what you see happening to the Republican Party on the national level: the moderate voices of reason are getting ignored or marginalized, while the true believers burrow further into the warm, velvety soft cocoon of their own a******s. Photo by Cody Brown
by Ned Resnikoff on Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:00 - 5 Comments
One of the first things I noticed about the eagerly anticipated Ann Coulter speaking engagement at NYU was that people were dressed up for it. It was almost like this was some kind of surreal College Republican prom night as much as it was a speaking event, but I guess I could understand why they might be excited. They had scored Ann Coulter, the modern conservative icon who had, by her own admission, only ever spoken once in New York City before–and that was during the Clinton years.
And they got what they paid for, I suppose. The thing was more or less your run-of-the-mill Ann Coulter joint, just like when I had seen her at UCONN, back in 2004 or 2005–except this time, to NYU’s credit, the liberals didn’t heckle, and there were no ad hominem attacks during questioning. Based on listening to who applauded to what, I’d guess that the liberals in the room outnumbered conservatives 3-1; but besides a few fumbly, overly earnest attempts at gotcha questions, everyone was on their best behavior. YouTube video "Ann Coulter Question"
A few things to note here:
The thing I like about Ann is that she is VERY quick on her feet. You very seldom see a liberal get the better of her in any give & take. On this question, however, she clearly punted. This gave the author the opportunity to characterize her as having ducked his question while suggesting that she frequently does this. I don’t think this is correct by a longshot.
I remember when The Right Brothers came out with that song, I downloaded it from their site. The photo montage/video clips are awesome — a good compliment to the song.
An and other so called conservative talking heads have lost my respect in light of their wholesale silence concerning the COLB issue and the FACT there are over 20 cases in the pipe to the SC and one for conference tomorrow.
The silence is defeafening.
They’ve sold out or afraid.
Flame away. Listended to Rush for over 18 years.
Many of the yellow dog dims in my area still think that the dims are for ‘the little people’. They think that the dims are still the party of 60 years ago. And don’t try to confuse them with facts.
Here’s the reply I posted on the NYU bulletin board:
Norman Rogers
Dec 11, 2008 10:39
Gee, I think she answered both parts of your question (she said she didn’t know).
As to your commentary, I find it peurile (”shitty conservative commentator”). I am pleased that you rabid lefties actually permitted a conservative to speak without silly disruptions. Perhaps everyone does eventually grow up. And, having to live with your choice as our President for the next four years will only help.
And I’m pleased that it was my alma mater that showed the “students” and “faculty” (of such important subjects as “Women’s studies” and “Gym Flloor Mopping) of Columbia how to behave. I am a graduate of NYU (BS Engineering Physics ‘70, MS OR and Computer Science ‘72). It’s a subject of amusement to me how the prestige of this school has grown over the years. And, I think it’s a stitch that they’re reacquiring the Engineering School with the “merger” with Brooklyn Poly.
OBTW, Ms. Coulter really does stay on point. If you had actually read any of her numerous books, you’d know that. You obviously heard what you wanted to hear.
Jews vote for Dems out of gratitude for the Roosevelt Administration’s quick response to the SS St. Louis situation/sarc
Looks like another good one.
Oh and BTW, it looks like this writer is another one of those few men that have been intellectually emasculated by good ol’ Ann, a 98lb blond girl! (her description of herself)
And then prove it with their words.
Excellent
For just the U tube with out going to the above link, Click HereAnn Coulter Hates Newspapers
Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 11:23:25 AMFor some reason, syndicated newspaper columnist Ann Coulter would very much like to see newspapers die. Presumably because information is a tool of the secular left. She says this is good for news because, uh, it will create more competition. Even though, in South Florida's case, the popular theory is that if either the Herald or the Sentinel bites the dust, the other might take the opportunity to become one massive superpaper for all of South Florida. Surprisingly Coulter isn't making a lot of sense.
Riptide wonders if Coulter has a preference for which paper she'd like to see die first. Probably the Herald, since columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. hates Coulter almost as much she hates newspapers. We're not going to say he's exactly obsessed, but he has written numerous, numerous columns about his tall, blond, and nasty object of scorn.
-- Kyle Munzenrieder
For some reason, syndicated newspaper columnist Ann Coulter would very much like to see newspapers die. Presumably because information is a tool of the secular left. She says this is good for news because, uh, it will create more competition.
It will make room for more competition because it is a fraud to project the idea that Associated Press members are independent of each other. If you both get your stories from the AP, and if you and your "competitor" each project the idea that both you and your "competitor" are objective, you might as well be working for the same boss.
There's no such thing as a "gratuitous" swipe at liberals.
I’ve listened to Rush field this question several times. He says its because they are Liberals, and for them, that trumps religion — Liberal first, Jew second. So the majority of them continue to stupidly vote against their own self-interest by voting Democrat.Watch this space. :o)The second reason is that it is a tradition. They have voted Democrat for generations, and like many families and cultures, these long set habits are very very difficult to change.
The author of the article which forms the basis for this thread -- who asked Ann that question about why so many Jews vote for Democrats -- will stopping by this thread today or tomorrow.
From resnikoff.wordpress.com:
I’m on Free RepublicNed, welcome aboard!How odd. Of all the places I thought one of my articles would get linked, Free Republic wasn’t one of them.
Anyway, RonDog has kindly invited me to defend myself in the comments thread over there, and I think I will–if not today, because I’m super-busy preparing for finals, then tomorrow.
FReepers, be NICE. Erudite, cogent and assertive -- but nice.
Ned may never have met a REAL conservative before, and YOU may be the only one that he EVER meets. :o)
Soon you will be able to ask a self-described "Jew who voted for Obama" -- WHY?
The "review" was what you would expect from a college kid, but at least the kid spelled everything correctly. Aside from the "Hey, National Lampoon, can I write for you?" silliness Ned displayed with his gratuitous profanity and his obvious perspective from the goofball left, there was one bit of genuine stupidity:
"If I were a conservative who wanted to reach out to moderate and liberal NYU students, this is the last woman I would invite to speak."
Real conservatives don't want to "reach out to moderate and liberal NYU students" any more than healthy people want to reach out to AIDS-contagious hamsters.
How odd. Of all the places I thought one of my articles would get linked, Free Republic wasn’t one of them.CG, SJ - If you two (and anyone else that you might want to ping) can make some time, it might be informative for YOU to compare political philosophies with NED. (See my post #32.)Anyway, RonDog has kindly invited me to defend myself in the comments thread over there, and I think I will–if not today, because I’m super-busy preparing for finals, then tomorrow.
Not sure if you (or he) can, or want to, interact online during the Shabbat -- but perhaps AFTER.
FWIW, I thought that Ann was pretty intense in her answer -- (see Ned's video on YouTube) -- saying, among other things that Jews were "no longer the Democrats' favorite victims" and that a friend had told her that [secular] "Jews will break your heart [politically] every time."
If I did not know how Ann thinks, had heard that, **I** might have been offended -- and I'm not even Jewish. :o)
So, posting something like “Bite me, Flanders!” wouldn’t be very nice, would it? Okay, I’ll refrain. :-)
On the other hand, here is what someone (NOT Ned, but with the same newspaper) wrote BEFORE Ann's speech:
So, we shall have to see.Ann Coulter is Coming and She’s as Terrible as Ever
NYU Local, NY -Dec 10, 2008
NYU’s College Republicans are planning to host the wonderfully odious and passionately insensitive Ann Coulter on campus tonight at 7pm. ...
On the OTHER hand, at least the Google-bots like his paper.
Search Google NEWS for "Ann Coulter" NYU, and currently, "NYU Local" has the only hits.
It was fascinating listen to her answer serious questions with completely unrelated tangents on why liberals are s****y
Why was the mindless liberal afraid to spell it out?
**I** took the liberty of cleaning up his trash mouth, as Free Republic is a FAMILY forum.
For the original, in all it's "colorful" glory, click here:
http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2008/12/11/inside-coulterfest-08/Sorry. I should have disclosed my edits earlier.
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