# Ann Coulter, you really aren't welcome here **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589 "2010-03-24T05:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/1 "2010-03-24T05:56:43Z")
[Her Tuesday speech at the University of Ottawa ends up cancelled.](http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/03/23/13336316.html) The Provost of the University of Ottawa sent her a note about; > [@](#): > > Houle had earlier sent Coulter a letter suggesting she brush up on the limits of free speech in Canada, adding that promoting hatred could lead to criminal charges. There was a big protest at the university, things got crazy, and her talk was cancelled. Oh yeah, Ann’s response to being told that things are different in Canada - > [@](#): > > Coulter reacted angrily to the letter, saying Houle had threatened to charge her with a crime. She really doesn’t interface well with reality. Her next stop is Calgary; I’m tempted to go see if there is a protest here, too - for all Alberta’s reputation as a redneck province, I think there will be one. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/2 "2010-03-24T06:32:58Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [Her Tuesday speech at the University of Ottawa ends up cancelled.](http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/03/23/13336316.html) The Provost of the University of Ottawa sent her a note about; There was a big protest at the university, things got crazy, and her talk was cancelled. Oh yeah, Ann’s response to being told that things are different in Canada - She really doesn’t interface well with reality. Her next stop is Calgary; I’m tempted to go see if there is a protest here, too - for all Alberta’s reputation as a redneck province, I think there will be one. Didn’t GWB have a speaking engagement somewhere in your neck of the woods? IIRC it was Edmonton, though, not Calgary. Were there any protests on that occasion? ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/3 "2010-03-24T13:10:18Z")
Once she crosses the border into Canada, I vote we close it. We don’t need that wacko bitch back here. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/4 "2010-03-24T13:17:37Z")
She’s a professional troll. Why, exactly, would you book Ann Coulter for a speech if you have a problem with what you know she’s going to say? It’s all on record, it’s not like anybody can claim that they are surprised when she says things like this. What I can’t figure out is what motivates people to be like this. How can anybody go through life being nearly universally reviled? I don’t get what motivates people like this. It’s one thing to be hated for your opinion, it’s another altogether to make yourself hated by intentionally provoking people. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/5 "2010-03-24T13:19:20Z")
By all means, bring out the mobs when someone with an opposing point of view comes around. It’s a time tested tradition, and you have a lot of company, not very nice company, but lots of it. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/6 "2010-03-24T13:21:17Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > What I can’t figure out is what motivates people to be like this. How can anybody go through life being nearly universally reviled? I don’t get what motivates people like this. It’s one thing to be hated for your opinion, it’s another altogether to make yourself hated by intentionally provoking people. The fans may be few, but they’re what sustain us. Er… I meant her. Sustain _her_. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/7 "2010-03-24T13:34:42Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > How can anybody go through life being nearly universally reviled? For one possible answer to this, you can always go with **Lemur866** ’s [post=10498619]definitive explanation of Fred Phelps[/post]. May not be relevant to Ann Coulter, but it’s an anwer. > [@lalenin](#): > > By all means, bring out the mobs when someone with an opposing point of view comes around. It’s a time tested tradition, and you have a lot of company, not very nice company, but lots of it. In fairness, Ann Coulter isn’t an “opposing point of view”. She’s a troll whose whole shtick is making outrageous statements. One of the few chosen public speakers who makes most of her fame not by making speeches, but having them cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/8 "2010-03-24T13:36:11Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > She’s a professional troll. Why, exactly, would you book Ann Coulter for a speech if you have a problem with what you know she’s going to say? It’s all on record, it’s not like anybody can claim that they are surprised when she says things like this. > > What I can’t figure out is what motivates people to be like this. How can anybody go through life being nearly universally reviled? I don’t get what motivates people like this. It’s one thing to be hated for your opinion, it’s another altogether to make yourself hated by intentionally provoking people. It’s her bread and butter. She has a schtick that makes mucho buckos for her. When it stops working, she’ll try something else. If she thought she could make more money sucking up to the left, she’d do it. I don’t think she seriously believes half the crap she says. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/9 "2010-03-24T13:41:12Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > The fans may be few, but they’re what sustain us. > > Er… I meant her. Sustain _her_. I thought she was sustained by baby tears and kitten gizzards. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/10 "2010-03-24T13:43:46Z")
Not a single one of these professional rabble-rousers believe in their rhetoric. They are there for the paycheck. We must remember that these folks are _entertainers_. We can’t let these folks define policy, and unfortunately they (at the very least) influence the policies of the GOP. I don’t think it is overstating it when I say that Limbaugh and Hannity are the public faces of the neocon movement, and that the GOP is in a Faustian sense beholden to these guys. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/11 "2010-03-24T13:54:19Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > In fairness, Ann Coulter isn’t an “opposing point of view”. She’s a troll whose whole shtick is making outrageous statements. One of the few chosen public speakers who makes most of her fame not by making speeches, but having them cancelled. If that’s the case then it seems the crowd was most obliging. And I continue to say that silencing someone with whom you disagree by violent means, or the threat of violence is shameful. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/12 "2010-03-24T14:09:52Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I thought she was sustained by baby tears and kitten gizzards. and leave us not omit ripping the wings off of angels. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/13 "2010-03-24T14:11:37Z")
> [@lalenin](#): > > And I continue to say that silencing someone with whom you disagree by violent means, or the threat of violence is shameful. Uh-huh. Who did that in this case? ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/14 "2010-03-24T14:12:24Z")
I don’t think her fan base is as small as you think it is. I, for one, like her. Sure, she’s over the top, but I don’t really take her seriously enough to care about that. When I read her articles and listen to her speeches, it’s entertaining. What more do I need? ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/15 "2010-03-24T14:15:15Z")
> [@lalenin](#): > > If that’s the case then it seems the crowd was most obliging. Perhaps, and there’s another thread in the Pit about this (non-)event where the OP seems to make this point. On the other hand, if I may be cynical, I believe the organisers probably did hope to get an excuse to cancel the talk in order to scream about censorship. And in any case, if someone is there to make a speech you consider offensive, it is your democratic right to be there to demonstrate against it. That’s not “silencing” them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/16 "2010-03-24T14:16:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Houle had earlier sent Coulter a letter suggesting she brush up on the limits of free speech in Canada, adding that promoting hatred could lead to criminal charges. Yep, gotta recognize those free speech limits in Canada. Or else, promote hatred of the _right_ people. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/17 "2010-03-24T14:19:41Z")
I guess that depends upon what your definition of “fan” is. Is a fan someone who shows up repeatedly to demonstrate how much they hate her? Is a fan someone who buys her books to see what asinine thing she has to say this time? Seriously, I think she makes more off the people who hate her than the people that like her, which of course keeps her going and causes her detractors to wonder why she doesn’t just go away, when it’s their fault that she doesn’t. I can’t stand her. Too many people take her at her word, and that completely poisons the well for any conservative-type ideas that come up. Now all conservatives are loonies because people like her won’t shut the hell up. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/18 "2010-03-24T14:26:06Z")
Although Coulter is a troll, and is no doubt cynically playing up the expected protests for victimhood status, the university played right into her hands by sending her a pre-emptive letter “reminding” her of Canada’s hate-crimes legislation. This was IMO stupid, and handed her an issue on a plate. You don’t have to be a loony right wing troll to find the existance and sometimes rather selective enforcement of hate crimes legislation aimed at speech problematic. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/19 "2010-03-24T14:27:34Z")
> [@lalenin](#): > > If that’s the case then it seems the crowd was most obliging. > > And I continue to say that silencing someone with whom you disagree by violent means, or the threat of violence is shameful. shame on those University types for violently reminding the troll that she is in a different country with different laws that limit her ability to promote hatred against a group of innocent individuals! How violently she was treated! ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589/20 "2010-03-24T14:41:57Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > I don’t think her fan base is as small as you think it is. I, for one, like her. Sure, she’s over the top, but I don’t really take her seriously enough to care about that. But that’s the thing, you _don’t_ take her seriously. She says things that on the surface match your political philosophy, so you can just shut your brain off and laugh. (I say _on the surface_ because I’m quite sure you don’t, for example, believe we should invade “their” countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity; you can just claim over-the-top conservative humour licence.) Do you think Ann Coulter provides a valuable voice in the public debate? > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Or else, promote hatred of the _right_ people. > [@Malthus](#): > > You don’t have to be a loony right wing troll to find the existance **and sometimes rather selective enforcement** of hate crimes legislation aimed at speech problematic. (bolding mine) Both of you will have to spell it for me here, because I’m not sure what you’re talking about. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ann-coulter-you-really-arent-welcome-here/533589.md?page=2)