Ann Coulter Visits NYU to Deliver Predictable Stand-Up Routine [VIDEO: apparently no "broken jaw"]

NYU Local.com ^ | December 11, 2008 | Ned Resnikoff

[RonDog]

Ann Coulter Visits NYU to Deliver Predictable Stand-Up Routine

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.

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:

YouTube video "Ann Coulter Question"

A few things to note here:

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

[WashingtonSource]

Thanks. I should have been able to guess that one.

[RonDog]

:o)

[exit82]

Ned Resnikoff: a legend in his own mind.

And not an ounce of liberal bias either. /s

[RonDog]

So how DID Ann break her jaw ??

It is increasingly obvious that she did NOT.

The "molehill" from which this entire "mountain" of a "broken jaw, wired shut" rumor arose appears to be some minor personal matter that required Ann to re-schedule two of her speaking engagements.

The leader of one of the groups whose event with Ann was rescheduled sent out an imprecise e-mail that made it APPEAR that Ann was badly hurt -- we think.

Not sure how long it takes to heal from a "broken jaw that was wired shut" -- but the Page Six story that started all of this was posted on 11/25.

You have just seen photos and video of Ann speaking in public at NYU on 12/10.

Plus, ANN says it never happened.

So, I call "B.S." on the whole "jaw wired shut" stuff -- and ask the lefties who are claiming otherwise to PROVE IT, or SHUT UP.

[Tigercap]

Agree 100%

[Tigercap]

excellent reply!

[SJackson]

I know she's popular here, but imo she's a bombthrower, which makes money for Ann, not a serious thinker.

As to Jews I'm reminded of a couple of her comments last year. One, her absurd contension that Jews hate, don't like, don't remember the words, Jesus. Jesus simply isn't an issue in Judaism. The second, imo a serious slur against Christianity, her contension that Jews should accept Jesus, because as Jews they're stuck following all those Commandments about living life, as Christians, they accept Jesus, and get a FedEx ticket to Heaven. I admit I was in a minority finding that a slur on Christianity.

Fair to say I don't consider Ann's pronouncements worthy of serious comment.

[SJackson]

BTW, Shabbos is tomorrow. Among the other comments I’ve been critical of was her fag comment. She sucked the wind out of Romney’s victory that weekend. The GOP should go no where near her.

[RonDog]

And now there is This, another question for Ann and a U-Tube of it:

Ann Coulter Hates Newspapers

See also THIS YouTube cell phone video of Ann at NYU:

Ann Coulter: "Even Jesus Had More Executive Experience than Obama"

[RonDog]

I know she's popular here, but imo she's a bombthrower, which makes money for Ann, not a serious thinker.

LOL!

Thank you for posting your thoughts here, SJackson.

That wasn't quite what I expected, but at least we can now show our new liberal friend Ned that there is considerable diversity of opinion about Ann -- even here on the right. :o)

Note to Ned: Not every conservative -- and certainly not every FReeper -- is an "Ann fan."

Sorry for pinging you to this thread without more preparation.

I am on your Mideast ping list, and I gathered that you were Jewish from the nature of the threads that you promote -- but I do not think that we have ever interacted much here on FR previously.

I wanted to get someone with experience that I lack, and was trying to rapidly think of any observant Jews that I knew that posted here -- besides Cinnamon Girl, who is a hard core FReeper, and has joined us on MANY local events -- except the ones that fall on the Jewish Sabbath.

(She puts her religion above her politics, no matter HOW strongly held her opinions of secular matters are, I think.)

The message that I was hoping to elicit was that SECULAR Jews put their politics above their religion, but that OBSERVANT Jews do the reverse.

What is YOUR position on the fate of Israel -- particularly with respect to the very real (to ME) threat to her existence, as a result of Iran getting nukes, for example?

As an observant CHRISTIAN, I take very seriously the Biblical warnings that God will "curse those who curse Israel" -- and find it inconceivable that someone who supports Israel could also support Obama, given his positions, and his associations with so many who are against Israel.

[RonDog]

As to your commentary, I find it peurile (”s****y conservative commentator”)... -- from your message to Ned

See: I edit out the off-color words posted by EVERYBODY.

I'm "old school" FR. Posting words like that USED to be frowned on here. It coarsens the debate, IMHO.

Here is MORE from Ned, about Ann's speech:

Inside Coulterfest ‘08
By Ned Resnikoff - Dec 11th, 2008 at 3:51 pm

I do my best to avoid shamelessly plugging my extra-curricular projects on Pushback, but in this case I’m going to give in to that temptation and highlight my penultimate post on NYU Local: a rundown of Ann Coulter’s speech last night at NYU.

I want to expand on a couple points in the piece, because I don’t think they’re specific just to Ann Coulter. One is the emphasis of political theater over actual political commentary; you can find this everywhere, but particularly in certain corners of the right: Coulter, O’Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, etc. It’s one area where the right has a definite edge over left-wing punditry, but while that’s good for ratings, it’s problematic for a host of other reasons. Which brings me to the final point I made in the piece: that the College Republicans made a huge error by inviting a mudslinger like Coulter to speak instead of an actual conservative thinker.

It’s a sad reflection of what’s happening to the conservative movement on the national level: as long as people like Coulter are the public face of conservatism instead of, say, Douthat, Larison, or Salam, then it’s just going to more and more resemble a fringe movement.

Finally, one thing I barely touched on in the piece: Ann Coulter’s weird, latent anti-Semitism, or at least paternalism and condescension towards Jews. Check out her response to my question about the left and Judaism:

YouTube video: Ann Coullter Question

As far as I can make out, she thinks that Jews overwhelmingly vote for progressive candidates because we used to be the left’s celebrity victims–thanks, Holocaust!–but now we’re too ignorant to realize that they’ve moved on to terrorists and sodomites and somesuch.

It’s hard to tell though, given that her response (like most of the responses she gave to serious questions) was borderline incoherent.

[RonDog]

MORE cell phone video of Ann at NYU here:

YouTube video: "Ann Coulter at NYU"

[RonDog]

And, more commentary about NED, writing about Ann:

December 11, 2008
Ann Coulter Bombs at NYU

NYU student and blogger Ned Resnikoff's account of Anne Coulter's appearance at the university last night is so sharp you'd think the kid has a bright future in journalism ahead of him, if it wasn't for journalism's implosion: "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... 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

...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."

-- snip --

joevoter (25): Bombed?

I was there, and contrary to the "commentary" of this blogging youngster who clearly needs to establish himself as a worthy member of the lefty blogging media so he can earn his .000025 cents per page view salary in the future, Ann was quite well received by an audience of 300-400 primarily young college students.

She was given two standing ovations and much applause and laughter all around. A good time was observed to be had by all.

I know that bit of news is probably as distressing to you all as Obama's cabinet picks are to the Daily Kos basement dwellers, but them's the facts

-- snip --

mfER (27): ...@25. I am sure you wet yourself during the ovation. Or twice during the 2 standing ovations. Nice.

Now sit down and comtemplate on the fact that you are in love with a giraffe...

-- snip --

joevoter (29): @27 I'm actually a GIRL, so wrong again!

And I happen to be taller than Ann~so wrong again!

And a socially liberal Republican who doesnt agree with bunches of what she said, but she was still cooler, funnier and classier than any lame ass, living off my parents baby blogger could hope to be.

BTW if you were Israeli, would you REALLY think a Democrat would defend your statehood better than a Republican?

[Syncro]

Thanks RonDog, that was cool.

This thread is very interesting, I'll have to read the rest of it cognizlantly when I am awake.

: >)

[RonDog]

LOL!

I have been just using this old thread as a place to gather NYU-related "Ann videos" and commentary.

This might be a good place to start a limited discussion of the issues that Ned and Ann addressed in her speech and his article.

Eventually, though, I would like to start a FRESH thread -- so that we can get input from a lot more people.

No hurry. For now, though -- it might just be me and you -- and Ned? -- posting on THIS thread. :o)

[RonDog]

Thread view check:

Ann Coulter Visits NYU to Deliver Predictable Stand-Up Routine [VIDEO: apparently no "broken jaw"]
Thursday, December 11, 2008 5:33:05 AM · by RonDog · 54 replies · 1,848+ views

NYU Local.com ^ | December 11, 2008 | Ned Resnikoff

[Cinnamon Girl]

For you, I’m checking in, Ron. On the matter of why Jews vote democrat in such embarrassingly high numbers, the trouble is equating Jews with Judaism. The fact is, the more observant a Jew is, the less likely he or she is to vote democrat. Hence the reason McCain got an estimated 75% of the Orthodox Jewish vote. The less a Jew knows about Judaism, the more likely he is to replace that lack of religious observance with the pseudo-religion of liberalism. Social justice has become a religion in itself. The best way to get Jews to start waking up and becoming republican/conservative, is to become more observant of Judaism.

Regarding Ann’s answer, I think, rhetorically, it’s doesn’t usually work out well to bring up the Holocaust when discussing Jewish voting trends. I understand where she was going with the victim status thing, but I think the misguided sense of social justice angle is where she means to be.

[RonDog]

...The fact is, the more observant a Jew is, the less likely he or she is to vote democrat.

Hence the reason McCain got an estimated 75% of the Orthodox Jewish vote. The less a Jew knows about Judaism, the more likely he is to replace that lack of religious observance with the pseudo-religion of liberalism.

Social justice has become a religion in itself.

Bingo!

Thank you, Cinnamon!

THAT is what I was struggling to say!

Is this YOUR understanding, too - SJ?

And, NED -- whenever you are done with your finals: What do YOU think about this?

[Syncro]

Good thread to do it on until Ann does something next that sets off the liberals to the extent that they pull some shenanigan they think will shut her up which gets her a million or so hits at google and other search engines.

My computer isn't state of the art enough to log the number of holes shot in the feet of Coulters detractors by their excellent aim.

I don't imagine Ann could afford the publicity these angry clueless liberals are giving her.

This 98 pound blond girl has them in a fenzy just by typing and speaking a few words. Love it!

: >)

[RonDog]

Can you zip over to popmodal -- and post a link to Ann's appearance with Cavuto last night?

Jeffers says that it is up now -- but I will be offline for a while.

You might even want start a new thread for it, something like: Ann Coulter SPEAKS! (again) ANOTHER "Ann" rumor squashed by REALITY.

Wonkette is now saying that ANN made up the whole "broken jaw" thing.

Lefties are AMAZING that way -- in their disconnect with reality, and the ease with which they change positions 180 degrees, when it suits them -- and expect nobody to say anything.