Comments on: You scumbag, you maggot

By: Sean Kinsell

Sean Kinsell — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:29:48 +0000

That’s hilarious, CNT: “Don’t pay attention to the fact that my opponent is a faggot; pay attention to the fact that he’s a cokehead.” There’s a Snow Queen joke to be made in there somewhere, but it’s Sunday and I’m feeling slack.

By: CNT

CNT — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 07:00:05 +0000

A little off-topic, but in tolerant Canada (or is Quebec still part of Canada?), a politician scores political points by refusing to allow the sexual orientation of his opponent to become an issue in the belle province's election campaign:

Homophobia 'unacceptable' in election campaign: Charest

BTW, I wouldn't say we Canadians are tolerant...we're mostly indifferent.

By: Sean Kinsell

Sean Kinsell — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:48:45 +0000

Carolyn, she's always struck me as probably being naturally that thin, though of course I'm not privy to her eating habits. (BTW, the "second-grader" part was my not-all-that-charitable paraphrase. Carolyn knows that, I think, but just to be scrupulously clear.)

Eric, whenever something like this happens, I try reversing things as a thought experiment. That is, in this case imagine that Michael Moore had said used the word faggot in connection with one of the plummier-seeming Republicans, then maintained that he'd just been having some bratty good fun implying the guy was wussy but hadn't been making any insinuation about homosexuality.

Would GOP partisans accept that explanation? It seems to me they'd be much more likely to complain that the Left was playing word games again; that any normal American would recognize the common-sense connection between faggot and homosexuality; and that the anti-gay underbelly of the left, despite its superficial embracing of diversity, had been exposed yet again. I'm not saying that Republicans are worse than Democrats or vice-versa, only that partisans are partisan.

By: Eric Scheie

Eric Scheie — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:35:17 +0000

Thanks for the link!

BTW, I do agree with the "sticks and stone analysis for the most part, but I think Howard Stern has a better approach than Ann Coulter.

But what interests me longterm about this is not what Ann meant, what this does for her book sales, or what the various bloggers, pundits, and commentators think, but how it might ultimately resonate with ordinary people, and voters. (Naturally, the Dems will say "Republicans hate you and don't mind calling you names!" I don't know what the GOP response will be, but I suspect it won't be as widely circulated.)

I can think of better ways to protest PC, and I think this will give the left a morally self-righteously feeling of total freedom to be as loony and unhinged as Amanda Marcotte.

And it isn't even election time yet!

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 14:39:37 +0000

I think Ann Coulter is a shrill harpy who needs to eat something with calories on occasion. I also totally believe her when she says she operates at the developmental level of a second grader. But I don’t think her choice of the word “faggot” had anything to do with homophobia or immaturity — it’s all about the attention for her. And as usual, she’s getting loads of it. I have to give her a touch of grudging credit for that.