The American Spectator

home
ADVERTISEMENT
Print Email
Text Size

The Spectacle Blog

True, Barack Obama hasn't warned Republicans in Congress against her -- as he did with Rush Limbaugh -- but is there any figure on the Right who generates as much outrage as Ann Coulter? In the L.A. Times Sunday, Mickey Edwards made sure to name-check her:

The Republican Party that is in such disrepute today is not the party of Reagan. It is the party of Rush Limbaugh, of Ann Coulter, of Newt Gingrich, of George W. Bush, of Karl Rove. It is not a conservative party, it is a party built on the blind and narrow pursuit of power.

Perhaps he meant "blonde and narrow"? Whatever. Her latest book, Guilty, is No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list, and here's an unusual comparison to think about:

Given the Newtonian opposition of their political loyalties, and their vastly different literary ouevres, the fans of Hunter S. Thompson and the fans of Ann Coulter are very near to being mutually exclusive sets. A Venn diagram would show an almost infinitesimal overlap between Set A (those who admire the drug-addled king of gonzo) and Set B (those who admire the acid-tongued right-wing blonde). Yet as one of the few occupants of Set AB, I find striking parallels between the two, and wonder why others don't also see these parallels.

What kind of demented geek would write such lunatic gibberish?

View all comments (15) | Leave a comment

JP| 1.26.09 @ 12:55PM

One of the things that does seperate conservatives vs liberals is a sense of humour. You know you are a liberal when you cannot even entertain the slightest humourist insult. Perhaps it is because conservatives have been the butt of so many jokes for so long it no longer stings. I have yet to find a liberal who thinks Coulter is funny. The only conservative humorist that gets a shred of respect is PJ O'Rourke -and that respect usually comes from aging hippies.

Iowahawk along with Coulter are two of the funniest writers on the market.

J David| 1.26.09 @ 2:07PM

Whomever this dufus Edwards is, he OBVIOUSLY is needing to go out and purchase a clue, as neither Ann nor Rush even remotely belong in the group of Knee-Pad RINO sellout B. Arnold-Petain *Republicans* he name-dropped. I guess, though, one should expect anything from the misinformed "informers" in the *Drive-by Media*.

J David| 1.26.09 @ 2:10PM

Oh, when your Lexus-Nexus scans turn this comment up, Ann, I LOVE YOU, my White Knight! Lop off some heads for me!

Eric| 1.26.09 @ 4:24PM

J David - your comments made no sense

Jeremiah| 1.26.09 @ 4:28PM

Any person who loves books and great writing is depressed by Coulter's simplistic, shallow prose.

Stylistically, Coulter is very nearly retarded, writing at just a notch below the fifth grade level. Her petulance and phony fury are never interesting or remotely inspired. She focuses on tired, endlessly played out issues, rarely finding anything new to say abou them.

Coulter is a creation of the 24 hour cable news industry: she is mass produced on Hannity and a few other low-brow shows.

Jeremiah| 1.26.09 @ 4:30PM

Anyone interested in reading REAL satirical prose should try out Swift's Tale of a Tub, probably the greatest piece of cultural criticism in the language.

(It's not for the faint of heart, mind you, but you'll come away unable to froth at the name Coulter any longer.)

Interested Conservative| 1.26.09 @ 6:01PM

If I recall correctly, her comment immediately circa 9/12/2001:

"Invade their countries, kill their leaders, convert them to Christianity"

It's a tad longer than Colin Powell's "we will hunt it down and kill it" Iraq War Part One.

J David| 1.26.09 @ 6:56PM

That is because, Eric, you are probably a person who does not know the difference between a *conservative* and just a plain old RINO. Maybe you should looking for clue sales in your own locale.

J David| 1.26.09 @ 6:58PM

*Compassionate Conservatives* are another name for RINOs...

Ran| 1.26.09 @ 7:04PM

RSM,
What annoys me the most about Coulter is that she's so damnably rough. Her ideas are sound: So why garnish them with acidic delivery? Flanders & Swan, P. J. O'Rourke, even Frank J. Fleming can do great humor and make it hurt without the vinegar. Perhaps it's just the wuss in me feeling sorry for the liberal puppies she drowns.

I love your pulling the quote about Jodie Evans. Reminds one of the old line "Yes, and in the morning I shall be sober. However..."

JP| 1.26.09 @ 8:10PM

Jeremiah,
Please cut the phony intellectual schtick. Shakespeare could be hilarious, as could Chesterton, and Belloc. But no one writes that like anymore. Menckin was fabuolousy funny (he could also be very mean -like Coulter). His detractors said the same thing about him (uncouth prose, mean spirited, and just a plain ignorant kraut).

In the field of punditry today, one must be very economical with words, precise, clear, and never dull. Gone are the Men of Letters who could fill 30 pages with elegant, well thought out prose. Edmund Wilson was probably the last of them. No one even attempts to write an OpEd containing more than 800 words. Today the Left attempts to outdo Coulter, but fall way short. They are all take themselves too seriously.

So please, spare us all the false pretensions. Your appreciation of Swift is commendable. But your comparison of Swift to Coulter is nonsense. You might as well compare Swift to Astrophanes.

Anthony McHugh| 1.29.09 @ 9:01AM

I heard this arrogant clown on Laura Ingraham last night. If what Mickey Edwards stands for represents conservatism in any way, count me out. This guy is Chaimberlan; smug, "erudite", out of touch and WRONG. I have cancelled my membership with Edward's Heritage Foundation.

sidnee| 12.12.09 @ 12:55PM

jack wills
ugg new arrivals

Leave a Comment

N.B. We encourage readers to share and discuss their thoughtful and relevant comments about this Spectator article. Comments are routinely monitored and will be deleted if profane, bigoted, or grossly impolite. Please be respectful. (And don't feed the trolls!) Thank you.

More Blog Posts by Robert Stacy McCain

http://spectator.org/blog/2009/01/26/ann-coulter-guilty-of-gonzo
ADVERTISEMENT

Clip of the Day

Most Popular Articles

Who Castrated Ann Coulter?

David Catron | 2.6.12

Bigoted Barack, Red in Tooth and Clause

George Neumayr | 2.10.12

Unsafe at Any Smoke

Eric Peters | 2.10.12

Access This

Ross Kaminsky | 2.10.12

The Delousing of a Movement

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. | 2.9.12

Justice Ginsburg Should Resign

William Tucker | 2.8.12

The Show Me State's No Show Primary

Andrew B. Wilson | 2.10.12

No Double Play

Peter Hannaford | 2.10.12

ADVERTISEMENT