Ann Coulter is provocative. That’s who she is. Yesterday’s Hardball with Chris Matthews exchange between Elizabeth Edwards and Coulter was predictable after the always quotable Coulter said on ABC’s Good Morning America, “if I’m going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.” And while I don’t blame Elizabeth Edwards for calling on Ann Coulter to take a vow to be more civil, no one really expects it from her. Her schick is this dare to offend, insult and provoke the democratic moderates and liberals as well as those republicans who possess an iota of dignity and civility. She’s very good at it. Don’t count on her to suddenly say, “You know Elizabeth, I shouldn’t have said that.”
Which brings me to my point. On one hand we all talk about the negative and impolite name-calling that Coulter, Bill Maher and others engage in and how awful it may be. Yet, Chris Matthews and other media honchos know TV is all about ratings. Have a controversial guest on, and well, everyone’s talking about it the next day.
Elizabeth Edwards is right, of course, that these media personalities who have been elevated to a cult-like status because of their exposure aren’t doing diddly-squat to help the political dialogue this country so desperately needs.
Ann Coulter is also right that she can say pretty much what she damn well pleases, but I don’t have to give her no never-mind. And neither do you.
9 comments:
I use to like Ann, but now I just call her crazy Annie. She has really went on another type of spew that I'm just not into. But I'm with you she gives the media folks like Chris Matthews (whom I dislike a lot) the momentum to talk there crap also. It's a give and give media now-a-days. All bad all the time.. Just my 2 cents:-).
Have a great day!
Hi, I come to you via blog village. I couldn't agree more. The media is supposed to be an important part of our democratic process giving us both sides of the story in order for the people to make an informed decision. Instead all the media cares about is ratings and sensationalizes everything to the point that the world feels evil and dismal.
Who knows what is really going on. The only way to get an idea on the news is to act like an ass. Some say this is what Ann is trying to do, using the media to get a chance to voice her opinions by purposely doing stunts in order to be featured on the news.
If Ann didn't do these stunts, would the news be soley about Paris Hilton and completely ignore the politics all together?
kaliblue, thanks for the comment. Ann Coulter is stident and offensive and I am tired of hearing about her. I wish she would just fade away but instead she gets louder and more outrageous. She sells her books and Elizabeth and John Edwards raise money. What a country we have!
Marsha, glad to have you visit. We have to really work to find out the true story and even then I wonder.
I am no fan of Ann Coulter or Elizabeth Edwards and her husband. And Chris Matthews is an unabashed Clinton fan. There is ni political dialogue in our country and no civility in national politics!
Well, Paul, I did try to be civil in my comments about Ann Coulter, choosing not to call her names. I watch Chris Matthews every once in awhile but am kind of on the fence about him. My support for Edwards has waned a bit and right now, I'm sitting on the fence about most of the current crop of candidates. I still wish we weren't so quick to throw people out of the running. Unlike last election, I'd like to think my vote counted.
I agree that Ann Coulter can be quite over the top sometimes. Ok, most of the time. However, I wonder why when Bill Maher said that he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack, that comment drew no fire from the people who are now vilifying Coulter for a similar comment about Edwards? I think a lot of her statements of this type are deliberately outrageous to point out the hypocrisy of the mainstream media.
Thanks for your visit to my blog and your comment. I hope you'll visit again soon.
John Roberts
Thanks for visiting, John. Your blog is an interesting one.
Yep, ole Ann is deliberately outrageous as is Bill Maher. But why oh why do we continue to give them so much media attention? It's almost as if when a "personality" gets on the radar, it takes a DUI or something similiar to get him or her discredited and out of the news. Oh wait a minute. Even that doesn't work, does it?
Well said. I don't always agree with her, and sometimes I cringe when she speaks, but we must preserve people's right for free speech.
I like your blog btw!
Thanks PSS. I like your writing too. Yes, some of these loudmouths really do irritate, but I'd rather have to put up with the offensive brashness than live where we all "make nice."
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