One of the first things I noticed about the eagerly anticipated Ann Coulter speaking engagement at NYU was that people were dressed up for it. It was almost like this was some kind of surreal College Republican prom night as much as it was a speaking event, but I guess I could understand why they might be excited. They had scored Ann Coulter, the modern conservative icon who had, by her own admission, only ever spoken once in New York City before–and that was during the Clinton years.
And they got what they paid for, I suppose. The thing was more or less your run-of-the-mill Ann Coulter joint, just like when I had seen her at UCONN, back in 2004 or 2005–except this time, to NYU’s credit, the liberals didn’t heckle, and there were no ad hominem attacks during questioning. Based on listening to who applauded to what, I’d guess that the liberals in the room outnumbered conservatives 3-1; but besides a few fumbly, overly earnest attempts at gotcha questions, everyone was on their best behavior.
Coulter herself was pretty much what anyone familiar with her shtick would expect. The opening speech wasn’t really a speech at all, but a series of one-liners and less-than-witty witticisms that ranged from the outrageous (“Where are the thoughtful, reflective Arabs saying, ‘Why do we hate the Jews, anyway?’”) to the mystifying (“Did anyone ever run on a platform of despair, the status quo and keeping people apart? Besides Ralph Nader.”). But there was no coherent idea behind the speech, just a series of right-wing dog whistles.
Once you realize that the dog whistles are really all she has to offer, you finally understand what Ann Coulter’s all about. She’s about as much a serious political commentator as Carlos Mencia is; both go for cheap laughs by playing off of the worst in human nature. And neither of them are worth the time and effort it takes to get offended, because doing that gives them the attention they so desperately crave.
It was fascinating listen to her answer serious questions with completely unrelated tangents on why liberals are shitty. In fact, some of her responses were borderline incoherent, as she tried to figure out how to pivot away from answering a question to just delivering the next clever jab at the left. It’s almost like she had a crypto-fascist magic eight-ball hidden behind the podium, and whenever someone asked a serious question she would spout off whatever tenuously relevant wingnut aphorism came up when she shook it.
I’m glad I was able to ask a question, and even gladder that Cody was on hand to film it, because her response is a perfect microcosm of how she normally operates:
A few things to note here:
1. My question was in two parts. She completely disregarded the first part.
2. Her answer to the second part just reinforced the assumption that my question had been meant to challenge in the first place without explaining where that assumption came from.
3. She really couldn’t think up a single reason why a sensible Jew might vote for a Democrat? Seriously? Anyone who wants to say anything interesting about American politics should at least be able to grasp where the other side is coming from.
4. Did you catch that delightfully condescending part at the end about how Jews might want to “start paying attention?” Of course you did.
5. “The Jews will always break your heart.” Tiny violin.
Besides the part about the tiny violin, she employed all of the tricks you need to know in order to be a shitty conservative pundit: Don’t answer the question except to underscore your previous point (regardless of whether or not the question reveals that point to be a fallacy), take a gratuitous swipe at liberals, and make sure you throw in something about how your opponents (in this case, 78% of those adorable little Jews) are either misinformed or just plain stupid.
Unfortunately, my real question of the night never got asked: What the fuck were the NYU Republicans thinking? Ann Coulter hasn’t been politically relevant since she called Edwards a fag, her self-aggrandizing claim that her support for Clinton in the primaries skewed them in Obama’s favor notwithstanding. People are tired of her song and dance, and not just because it’s intellectually dishonest and contributes nothing to public discourse–it’s also boring and excruciatingly predictable. If I were a conservative who wanted to reach out to moderate and liberal NYU students, this is the last woman I would invite to speak. Why not an actual conservative thinker? Or at least someone who doesn’t define herself entirely by what she thinks will sell books and piss off liberals.
Alas, the fact that College Republicans invited someone as alienating and nakedly anti-intellectual as Ann Coulter is just a metaphor for what you see happening to the Republican Party on the national level: the moderate voices of reason are getting ignored or marginalized, while the true believers burrow further into the warm, velvety soft cocoon of their own assholes.
Photo by Cody Brown
@Jeff: Sorry, to tell you this sir, but you almost sound like a Republican Keith Olberman.
Now that Democrats are in control, Keith Olberman will replace Bill O’Reilly/Sean Hannity and MSNBC will replace Fox News.
Ok maybe it won’t be that bad this time around. You know…for me, since I’m a liberal.
[...] Bad, Good, Awesome In Awesome, Bad, Good on December 12, 2008 at 3:42 pm Ann Coulter speaks at NYU: What he said. [...]
@Jeff: How the hell does one call someone a fag in a joking fashion? Normal, decent human beings don’t joke around by calling people fags. Close-minded, homophobic bigots…Well, that’s a different matter.
I don’t have much to say to you about Olbermann. I can’t stand the guy either. He’s like Bill O’Reilly, except on the left.
[...] Damn you, anti-Semitic Democrats! [...]
Keith Olbermann is cool as hell. He calls out hypocrisy and stupid politicians left and right. He’s not in it to score points for one side, he’s in it for the truth. But as my old friend Jacko said once, “You can’t handle the truth!” Conservos can’t handle it, that is.
Great write up. Ann Coulter is worse than a rash that won’t go away. She is equivalent to two bunions stuck respectively on each of my ass cheeks. But fortunately she is totally irrelevant now, and I hadn’t even thought of her for months until my friend sent me this link.
As for conservo jackasses who say things like they’re just trying to be objective and “fair and balanced,” get a life. Your world view has failed, and frankly it wasn’t very positive to begin with. Just a bunch of “I got mine, now you get yours” BS. Not to mention deep down you all hate the Jews, the gays, the black, and Hispanics, and let’s not even get started about the Arabs.
Ok, rant over. God bless the 54% of America who get it!
whoa zac bilker, whoa. you want to talk about offensive? why is it that on this campus we have to much tolerance and diversity for every single area EXCEPT political opinion. if you made these comments about a jew, or gays, or black, instead of about republicans, you would get attacked by the entire student body of nyu. political diversity is just as important as racial diversity, because political thought is an intellectual faculty, instead of a mere color of skin. (im saying that the color of your skin is not important, what is in your brain is.) anyway, about your comments.
first off all, the conservative view has not failed. it has, in fact succeeded. we ran on cutting taxes from their high of 70% during the Carter administration, and the tax rate fell 30% under Reagan. We ran on defeating communism, and george h. w. and reagan both accomplished that. We ran on defeating terrorism and keeping our country safe and….WE HAVENT BEEN ATTACKED ON AMERICAN SOIL IN 7 YEARS. under george bush. i’m sorry this is so off topic but your claim that the conservative view has failed is errorneous. it has succeeded, so it is no longer relevant. it has simply become an american way of life.
as far as republicans hating basically everyone, Abraham Lincoln was a republican who basically freed the black from slavery. In 1896, Republicans were the first major party to favor women’s suffrage. 26/36 state legislatures that voted to ratify the 19th ammendment were under republian control. The first woman elected to Congress was a Republican, Jeanette Rankin from Montana in 1917.
and my last point(sorry to make this so long) is the reason we chose to bring Ann Coulter on to campus. It’s not because she had something enlightening to say about the presidential election or an inspiring message for the republican party, it is because she is a political commentator with absolutely no goal except to look hott and get laughs. she writes comedy routines that pertain to conservatives and get liberals riled up. if you even take her seriously, regardless of your party affiliation, you need to reevaluate yourself. it doesnt matter if she hasnt been in the public spotlight the past few months, she is a notable conservative speaker who sold out a crowd of 450+ at NYU of all places. I think that says enough in itself. Who is the last notable speaker the college democrats ever brought to campus who attracted that many attendees?
The problem with your comment, Annie, is that you use historical examples of when Republicans (at least the majority of them) were actually nice people. The Republican party has changed drastically since the days of Lincoln and the women’s suffrage movement. The party then is definitely not the party now.
And it’s great that we haven’t been attacked in seven years. But look at everything else. In the past seven years, how many things have been greatly fucked up by the policies of the current administration?
And Zac…Your comments are just as bad as the “conservo jackasses” you write about. If there’s anything that’s just as bad as “conservo jackasses” it’s liberal holier-than-thou assholes.
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The question in the video makes no sense.
Ann asserted the Left hates Jews.
The questioner says (paraphrasing) “Well I’m a Jew and I voted for Obama”
So what? How does that change the assertion about the Left?
Your paraphrase of my question focuses on one little throwaway line and ignores the actual question part.
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i can say that i miss jacko so much coz i am one of his die hard fans.;’
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