Media Snake Oil: Ann Coulter Runs Amok; Is There No Accountability Standard? 
Is there any accountability for personalities who irresponsibly assail and operate in a manner inconsistent with decency or reality?
The above question prompts reflection toward an interesting interview involving Bill Moyers and David A. Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, on the former's PBS weekly television series. Moyers had interviewed Keene during the ACU's convention.
Keene pursued a lofty demeanor during his interview with Moyers, denouncing negative politics and stating that his organization believed in elevating dialogue and engaging in an election process in which issues are paramount and inflammatory invective discouraged.
As the interview moved toward its close, however, Moyers asked the conservative spokesperson a question that rocked Keene on his heels and shed doubt on the credibility of his earlier comments:
"Mr. Keene, you have on your program as a main speaker Ann Coulter," Moyers began. "Ann Coulter has equated liberals with treason. Is this the type of spokesperson you want to address your organization?"
"Ann sometimes gets carried away," Keene responded with a chuckle, after which the interview ended.
The Keene response is typical of the air of relaxed permissiveness that the viciously irrational comments of Ann Coulter have engendered, an over the top irrationality seemingly without accountability. What would have happened had anyone on the progressive left hurled as many irresponsible and mean-spirited charges as has Coulter?
Some widows of 9/11 victims are concerned over the absence of answers regarding events of that tragic day. By expressing such sentiments Coulter hurls an accusation claiming that these wives did not really love their husbands properly and perhaps divorces were in the works.
How, pray tell, did Coulter come into possession of this information? Is she an authority on the intimate relationships of those widows and their now deceased spouses?
The tactic is typical of Coulter. If anyone disagrees with the views she holds near and dear, then patriotism and human decency are impugned. To dare attack the Republican right is to be ridden out of the human race according to Coulter's warped view.
Earlier Coulter wrote a bestseller with the title and central premise that liberals are traitors. Her current work is called "Godless: The Church of Liberalism." Is Coulter now passing herself off as a credible religious authority? If so, then she has entered a new phase of demagogic absurdity.
Not only had Coulter dated Robert Guccione Jr., one of pornography's leading figures; she has appeared on television flaunting her libertine lifestyle. There was the memorable interview with Geraldo Rivera when Coulter self-righteously declared, "I'm not married and I can sleep with anybody I like" or words to that effect.
When Coulter was later called to task for the above comment and asked if this viewpoint comported with the Christian right element of the Republican Party that she proudly endorses, the author responded as she sought to distinguish herself from the liberals she detests.
Coulter explained that if someone did engage in open sex without the benefit of marriage that they should at least "feel guilty" about it. Meanwhile the right continues to sing her praises and buy her books, seeing nothing embarrassing or contradictory over having her aboard their team.
One unforgettable Coulter appearance came in a segment of the "Hannity and Colmes" program on Fox News. Appearing in debate with Eric Alterman on the subject of a forthcoming Iraq War, Alan Colmes countered Coulter's claim that only a few irresponsible liberals opposed invading Iraq.
Colmes noted that two prominent Republican spokespersons, General Brent Scowcroft, National Security Adviser to George Bush the Elder, and Jack Kemp, a former longtime New York Congressman and vice presidential running mate to Senator Robert Dole in the 1996 presidential election, had both expressed misgivings about invading Iraq.
Coulter's response was quick and shamefully accusatory, "They're traitors!" she exclaimed. Meanwhile not a word was said by conservative spokesperson Sean Hannity, who took her outrageous comment with silent equanimity.
Apparently some fresh Coulter accusations of treason, even involving Republicans, were nothing new to the right. Hence it was just another day at the office, as is seemingly the case whenever Coulter either voices or commits to paper her declarations of irresponsible outrage.
Meanwhile life continues in the acid-tongued world of Ann Coulter. Sadly few in any position to take her to task bother to do so. Her poorly written, illogical screed laced with accusatory invective turn into bestselling works that the Republican right proudly heralds.
How many Coulter enthusiasts consider themselves members of the Christian right? If so, did they ever hear these memorable words from Jesus Christ: "Let he who be without sin cast the first stone"?
KEYWORDS: Ann Coulter, Irresponsible Political Charges, David Keene, Bill Moyers, The Religious Right's Double Standard
Sign up for a Complimentary Member Account... Join the community! It's fast. And it'll allow you to take advantage of all this site's great features!
| < Why Must Bush Lie About the Killing of al-Zarqawi? | How Sick Can a Society Get? > |
