They walk among us

[Edward Teach]

Okay, I got two things to say here – well maybe three:

Teach! You make long blonde hair and tight sweaters sound like a bad thing! Reminds self, if ever to meet Eddie the Vigilant, put up hair and take off the sweater.

Ms. Coulter is nothing but a female Howard Stern, a shock jock just ‘cause she can and it’s lucrative. (She is really Amicus)

She does reflect the current trend toward doling out constitutional rights only to those who “deserve” them.

Oh no, Lisa, I love long blonde hair and tight sweaters -- that's what caught my attention in the first place.

What concerned me was that Coulter's audience didn't think she was a joke or joking or mistaken or lying and they were educated young women working at right wing think tanks - Heritage, etc.

Oh, and I want that beautiful long blonde hair of yours down. And do take the sweater off, please.

Eddie The Excited

 

[voluptuary_manque]

A clear indication that all it takes to make a pile in this country is good looks and contrarieness. Ann Coulter is the Susan Sarandon for our time.

 

[amicus]

Worse yet, after that they will want to come out of the kitchen, wear shoes and be non-pregnant some of the time.

~~~

Ya think? Just so they don't start wearing pants and business suits to go with the mustache that many already have.

ahem...

 

[Edward Teach]

She's a freak show - get attention by being completely over-the-top. There's versions in all camps.

I'm a bit sad that CBL hosted her, because what I've seen from them is more of the thoughtful and worthy-of-respect brand of conservatism, rather than the reactionary "librals dumb, haw haw" flavor.

That she was hosted by CBL and being taken seriously by her audience of educated young women was what concerned me, Rox.

I agree that she gets attention by being outrageous but she bills herself as a Constitutional Lawyer and serious author, not as a comedian or entertainer.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

That she was hosted by CBL and being taken seriously by her audience of educated young women was what concerned me, Rox.

I agree that she gets attention by being outrageous but she bills herself as a Constitutional Lawyer and serious author, not as a comedian or entertainer.

Yeah well, not to pick a fight, but Al Franken (and at least some of his fans) fancies himself a candidate for high office, too.

The attraction of such characters may be as simple as this: Politics in a democratic system is intrinsically frustrating - perpaps especially in the U.S., where it is extremely rare for one party to have virtual control of the entire government (even FDR had an ornery court to deal with) - and this generates high levels of tension in those are passionate about the issues, or the power struggles. Clowns like Coulter and Franken provide a (mostly) harmless outlet to relieve this for a spell.

 

[cloudy]

A clear indication that all it takes to make a pile in this country is good looks and contrarieness. Ann Coulter is the Susan Sarandon for our time.

"good looks"?

You really ought to get your eyes checked. She looks like a guy in drag.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

"good looks"?

You really ought to get your eyes checked. She looks like a guy in drag.

ROFL Did I ever tell you I wear trifocals?

 

[DeeZire]

Yeah well, not to pick a fight, but Al Franken (and at least some of his fans) fancies himself a candidate for high office, too.

Since GW Bush, it has become apparent that politicians don't need qualifications for their jobs. At least Franken makes humor a science, where many conservatives come by it accidentally, but in all sincerity. I would much rather laugh at a politician who knows he's funny than one who doesn't even have a clue he's a joke.

Clowns like Coulter and Franken provide a (mostly) harmless outlet to relieve this for a spell.

There is no comparison. One bases his shtick on facts and ridicule, the other bases her shtick on fiction and hate-speech.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Since GW Bush, it has become apparent that politicians don't need qualifications for their jobs. At least Franken makes humor a science, where many conservatives come by it accidentally, but in all sincerity. I would much rather laugh at a politician who knows he's funny than one who doesn't even have a clue he's a joke.

There is no comparison. One bases his shtick on facts and ridicule, the other bases her shtick on fiction and hate-speech.

Uh-huh.

And away we go . . .

There are lots of "facts" * in Coulter's rants, and lots of fiction and "hate speech" in Franken's. It doesn't appear that way to you because you agree with Franken and disagree with Coulter about political matters.

Here's where both go outside the pale: When they fail to accord the other side the presumption of good will, in essence suggesting that the other side is evil, not just misguided. There's nothing uncivil about saying "Conservatives are so dumb and blind - they don't see the value in increasing taxes!" It is the definition of uncivil to say, "Conservatives want or don't care if bad things to happen to other people - that's why they don't support tax hikes." This is properly construed as "hate speech."

Respecting this boundary is what separates societies that resolve their difference with ballots from those who do so with bullets.



* I use quotes around "fact" to acknowledge the reality that politics are by definition about matters that are intrinsically ambiguous.

 

[john-the-author]

Dennis Miller, P.J. O'Rourke, Ben Stein. On the libertarian side Penn & Teller, Drew Carey.

~~~~~~

(On reflection, those are pretty strongly libertarian (Stein the closest to real conservative). How is it that there aren't libertarian comics on the Left? Camille Paglia is an intellectual not a comic, but she can be hilarious and she's a left leaning libertarian.)

Dennis Miller's the fair-haired (metaphorically) convert to the Right. He's been supporting Bush since the 2004 election. Yes, Ben Stein should never be confused with a liberal. He was Nixon's speechwriter, has been a staunch critic of global warming (saying it's all a myth, manufactured as scare tactics to prove I'm-not-sure-what), and his recent movie has been a major proponent of so-called Intelligent Design and seems to be ideology over science. OTOH, it needs to be said that the Nixon administration was mighty liberal by any standards you'd measure today; it was largely the Vietnam War and his own stupidity that prevented him from going down in his own time as a Great President. (I never would've though I'd say that, but I've come to appreciate a number of the good things he did at the time, despite loathing him personally.)

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Dennis Miller's the fair-haired (metaphorically) convert to the Right. He's been supporting Bush since the 2004 election. Yes, Ben Stein should never be confused with a liberal. He was Nixon's speechwriter, has been a staunch critic of global warming (saying it's all a myth, manufactured as scare tactics to prove I'm-not-sure-what), and his recent movie has been a major proponent of so-called Intelligent Design and seems to be ideology over science. OTOH, it needs to be said that the Nixon administration was mighty liberal by any standards you'd measure today; it was largely the Vietnam War and his own stupidity that prevented him from going down in his own time as a Great President. (I never would've though I'd say that, but I've come to appreciate a number of the good things he did at the time, despite loathing him personally.)

Loathing Nixon personally wasn't hard to do and I used to be related to the SOB by marriage. Yuck!

 

[SlickTony]

I honestly don't believe she would allow the man to leave the bed unless she HAD been...serviced. In exactly the way she wanted.
In fact, I'll bet you five katrillion donuts that SHE comes FIRST. No questions asked.

That's a bad thing?