I have to say, the quote Bricker posted was moderately funny. Not pro comedian funny, but at least she tried to make a joke. Bostone’s was pretty weak though. Not a joke, more like “You’re stupid! Really really stupid!!”
No, because I don’t see how one follows from the other.
This is rather awkward, trying to defend writings that I have never read. But based on what little I know about her, I will take a stab at explaining what I mean. If Ann Coulter believes that liberal values by their nature are un-American or anti-American, or whatever, then it follows that she would believe that those who hold those values are un-American or anti-American, or whatever (remember, please, that I do not agree with this personally).
Therefore, your pedophile analogy doesn’t make sense to me, because it doesn’t follow to say that conservative values by their nature are indicative of pedophila. The example I gave earlier that some people think that conservatives are inherently selfish and don’t care about the poor is more analagous, because I can see where a liberal might believe, misguidedly in my opinion, that conservative values do not show consideration for the poor & downtrodden, and therefore it follows that those who hold those values do not care about the poor & downtrodden.
Incidentally, I find this accusation that conservatives to not care about the poor to be deeply insulting, and it’s not just one or two posters around here who have made it clear that this is what they believe about conservatives. Some are more blunt than others, true, but I don’t mind that.
I apologize for that. But I still think that it was an unfair challenge…
…because, clearly, there are some people who simply don’t find this type of humor funny, so what’s the point of me trying to help you see the joke?
I appreciate what you say here. I do get that people find her insulting. As I said in my response to Miller, I find the things people think about conservatives to be insulting, too. I just try not to take that kind of thing too seriously.
Some of them are funny. But then I get to ones like:
And then I conclude she is a racist cunt who should be shunned by all right-thinking people. Having lived in Beirut for 6 years, I know a hell of a lot of Muslim Arabs who are actually decent people, unlike Ann Coulter.
I agree, that is not the least bit funny, intelligent, or decent by any standards.
I didn’t say that they would. But I AM saying that if you don’t like her, then quit giving her publicity because it helps to sell more books. Don’t enrich your enemies, for pete’s sake.
Sure, but “Unamerican” is not the same as “treasonous.” A traitor is someone who falsely claims to support a cause, organization, or ideal while actively working to destroy it. I can understand someone who thinks that liberal ideals will lead inadvertently to the destruction of America, but Coulter is claiming, by refering to us as traitors, that that’s our specific intention. This is so far disconnected from reality and rational discourse that it’s functionally no different than calling all conservatives pedophiles: it’s either a deliberate lie intended to furher political discord in the country, an expression of vituperitive hate with no intention other than to wound, or the simple product of a deranged mind. And I don’t think that Coulter is crazy, so what I’m left to conclude is that Coulter does not come by these opinions honestly, but holds them specifically out of irrational hatred or base demogoguery.
And I will say, for the record, that I do appreciate jokes at the expense of liberals, and I can recognize the humor value in much of what Coulter says. However, the source of that humor defuses any possible enjoyment I could find in it. By way of analogy, I’ve laughed my ass off at racist jokes made by Don Rickles. The exact same jokes made by the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan would not be remotely amusing.
This woman is telling deliberate lies about liberals, and millions of people are listening to her, and your recommendation is to ignore her and hope she goes away? That is really spectacularly bad advice. Coulter isn’t getting rich off liberal outrage, she’s getting rich off conservatives who swallow her bile unquestioningly. Ignoring her isn’t going to get anyone to stop buying her books or attending her lectures, it’s only going to give the appearance that we cannot rebut her slanders. I don’t care if she’s rich, except insofar as her wealth is a reflection of the size of her audience. And the only way to reduce her audience is to highlight her lies, distortions, and out-right hatred. It is not to pretend she doesn’t exist and hope that the people buying her books figure out she’s full of it all on their own.
Meh, I’ve seen Lewis Black and Jon Stewart make jokes in that style, though certainly not about the same subject matter.
Still, whether or not she has the capacity to make jokes, though, the stuff she’s written that has no humor in it (and though it may be subjective, I like to think I can identify an attempted joke, even if I don’t think it’s funny) is pretty breathtakingly vile, even if it’s just for ‘exaggeration’. I can forgive nearly anything if I think someone’s funny, but it’s got to be proportional.
A joke that needs to be explained never gets a belly laugh. That does not mean the explanation process is futile.
The right really needs a Franken. And the left really needs a Limbaugh. (Nobody much needs a Coulter.)
Fair enough. I’m still not sure I agree with the conservatives-as-molesters analogy, but as I said, I’m not really interested in defending her.
You know, there isn’t. Not yet.
Board contest! 
I think the left has a Limbaugh. His name is Michael Moore. His TV Nation stuff was funny, but I don’t think he is any less of an ideological hack than Limbaugh.
Moderator interjects:
OK, I’m getting to see this kind of late, but I don’t understand why it’s in Cafe Society. Seems to me to belong to the Pit or Great Debates (since political)… I’m voting for the Pit.
I’m just a bit disappointed that the public faces* of the American right seem to be such talentless no-marks as Coulter and O’Reilly. Whatever the fuck happened to PJ O’Rourke? It’s possible to imagine having a beer with PJ, him being funny and clever and not batshit insane.
*as visible from here, anyway.
What bothers me the most about Ann Coulter is that she regularly drops in lines like these that are supposed to be a great example for creating some sort of unity within conservative Americans and really, all I see is the horribly mean, bigoted terms and ideas that she’s using to unite people who as individuals are probably not bigots. Are people actually proud of being insular, xenophobic, and unable to understand another person’s POV?
Even when Coulter makes a joke, sometimes it’s really hard to tell whether she’s joking all the time or just spouting off more hate, and it’s really disheartening to know that there are tons of people who like her enough to make her so popular. We have enough people in this country that don’t understand the hyperbole injected may not be literally what she’s intending to say, and I’m certain that at least a couple of people buying the books are taking her literally.
A meeting of the minds? Not much of a meeting. Coulter, I believe, is a fairly bright individual. Fred is so stupid that when he opens his mouth, my ears pop.
Well, I was kind of done with this, anyway, but now that it’s in the Pit, I definitely am. I was already catching enough flak when it was in CS…I’m not about to end up being the one pitted over this!
Come out and say it. Take it to the pit if you want. But don’t try to be subtle and cute about it.
edit: Wait, this is the pit now? When did that happen?