Hate in the Veins

[enochs_fable]

So Ann Coulter called John Edwards a "faggot." Should we care? I mean, it's Ann Coulter - does anyone take her seriously? Mainstream Republicans have been quick to distance themselves from her. It's nice to know that Mitt thinks "all people should be treated with dignity and respect" - as long as they're not gay or lesbian and wanting to get

Comments

[verin_the_brown]

I think that even when the slur comes from a wingnut like Ann Coulter, the show poodle of rabid conservative thought, you can't just ignore it or laugh it off, because somewhere out there, there are people who actually listen to her

I agree very much with how you put this.

The interesting question is - how far should she be called out? She loves negative publicity like anything - it keeps her in cornflakes. How do you censure homophobes without inadvertently promoting them at the same time?

What do you mean by censure anyway?

It is a tough quandary, because we can't shoot them, so the only thing one can reasonably do is agrue against them and that DOES gives them publicity. BUT, I think it's worse to ignore it. Then people somewhat right of center, seeing this garbage and nothing to contradict it, really start to believe that maybe gays and democrats really do eat babies, because, ya know, Fox news said so.

censure

[enochs_fable]

I mean call them out and condemn their comments.

I do agree it's worse to ignore it, but I can't help being struck by the fact that all the hubbub just gives her more publicity. She's like a leech.

[st_emma]

Even though Ann Coulter is known to be a rabid wingnut, she did say it at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which is relatively mainstream Republicanism. And many of the people there laughed and applauded. Mitt, for all his yammering about dignity and respect was apparently still chatting amiably with Coulter after her little "keynote" speech, so apparently he doesn't disagree with her too much.

I don't think calling out Coulter is necessarily going to work, because I think it's painfully obvious the woman has no shame. Or basic human decency. But calling out people who support her, for instance presidential candidates... that might actually work. People like their presidential candidates to at least pretend to have a sense of shame and/or basic human decency.

[enochs_fable]

Mitt, for all his yammering about dignity and respect was apparently still chatting amiably with Coulter after her little "keynote" speech, so apparently he doesn't disagree with her too much.

Right, hence my comment and the video link.

Certainly calling her out won't cause her change her behavior, but I think it still needs to be said. The problem with having her as a speaker is that as we've seen, it's easy for candidates to distance themselves from her statements - and then invite her back for some other speaking event. How can you call out the candidates when they've publicly stepped back?

[echoweaver]

What St. Emma said. She was friggin' invited to be a keynote at the Conservative Political Action Conference. What did these fools expect? This isn't a matter of calling HER out. It's a matter of calling out Mitt and everyone else who accepted her as a legitimate part of that conference. They need to tapdance on the outrage, and hopefully it means that Coulter's invitations to legitimate political events take a plunge.

"all people should be treated with dignity and respect" - as long as they're not gay or lesbian and wanting to get married, of course.

In the interest of respect to the opposing side, I think there's absolutely nothing hypocritical about believing in respectful treatment of all people -- and just civility of political discourse in general -- and not advocating gay marriage. I was very pleased to see Mitt say that. That kind of distinction is imperative in keeping the homosexuality debate narrow in focus and not letting the conservative agenda just become a hate campaign.

[enochs_fable]

It's a matter of calling out Mitt and everyone else who accepted her as a legitimate part of that conference. They need to tapdance on the outrage, and hopefully it means that Coulter's invitations to legitimate political events take a plunge.

We can hope, right?

In the interest of respect to the opposing side, I think there's absolutely nothing hypocritical about believing in respectful treatment of all people -- and just civility of political discourse in general -- and not advocating gay marriage.

Or adoption of kids by gay couples, et cetera.

I guess it depends on what you mean by respectful treatment. If you're defining it purely as civility in political discourse, yes, certainly. If by respectful treatment, you mean equal treatment under the law, then not at all.