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March 6th, 2007

She said (he said, too)

Ah yes, it has now become infamous. Conservatives make a misstep in a speech, and they get hounded beyond all belief. Thanks to the Mainstream Media, it’s been mentioned consistently these past few days.

Yes folks, Ann Coulter called Democrat Senator and presidential hopeful John Edwards the F-word at last weekend’s CPAC Convention while telling a joke. Not the F-bomb, the F-word. If you’re still completely clueless, it’s a term that has been associated with the gay community, and is a variant on the British slang term for cigarette (“fag”). I would tell you the word, but seeing as how I work for a politically correct media source, and being the kind person I am, I’m going to let you figure it out by yourself.

A quick recap on some bigger news sources that have covered the Ann Coulter debacle:

-Reuters
-Dallas Morning News
-CNN
-Houston chronicle blog
-The New York Times

Of course the Democrats have to jump into action and denounce Ann Coulter for what she said. Howard Dean put it so eloquently:

- “There is no place in political discourse for this kind of hate-filled and bigoted comments. While Democrats and Republicans may disagree on the issues, we should all be able to agree that this kind of vile rhetoric is out of bounds. The American people want a serious, thoughtful debate of the issues. Republicans — including the Republican presidential candidates who shared the podium with Ann Coulter today — should denounce her hateful remarks.”

Clever usage of words there, Mr. Dean. I especially like it when you used the term “hate-filled.” Such is the case with another person in the media over the weekend:

Bill Maher, host of the HBO program “Real Time,” was disappointed that the attempted assassination of Dick Cheney last weekend failed. That’s right, he was implying regret that the assassination attempt on the Vice President of the United States of America failed. How is this not hate speech?

Needless to say, Maher’s comments received practically no media attention. How much attention did he receive?

-Newsmax
-Newsbusters

Please note, neither of the two above sources is considered mainstream press. Yeah, that doesn’t smell like bias…

But wait, this isn’t the only slip of the tongue by Mr. Maher (you know, fool me once… fool me twice…). Maher has also said:

-That America is a “pitiful, helpless giant… because it’s a stupid country filled with stupid people.” -That George Bush “is a Gilligan who cannot find his ass with two hands.”
-He even called the heads of the RNC “gay.”

The list goes on.

So, Ann Coulter makes an ad homonym attack, and the Left cries outrage. Bill Maher wishes someone was killed, and uses a slightly less offensive term for a homosexual, and he gets hardly any mention at all. Which is worse, really: Name calling or wishing for someone’s death? Borrowing a bit from DNC head Howard Dean, I believe Democrats should denounce his hateful remarks!

So we’re supposed to take offense when a conservative pundit makes a lowbrow attack on a presidential candidate, but when liberals call Bush “Hitler,” wish that assassination attempts on Cheney succeeded, and write movies on how Bush should be assassinated (Last year’s movie “Assassination of a President”), there is no condemnation.

Oh right, and don’t forget throwing Oreos at Michael Steele and having Democrat Sen. Byrd say the n-word on television. Little condemnation. It’s clear-cut hypocrisy. Tell me you don’t see it now.

Heck, I’ll be nice. When I get an apology for these Democrat faux pas, I will apologize for Ann Coulter’s remark. Until then, stop calling the kettle black.

Actually, this gives me a good quote to conclude with. What’s that you said, Mr. Dean?

“There is no place in political discourse for this kind of hate-filled and bigoted comments.”

Sorry Bill, even Howard Dean got it right this time for once.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Editable Constitution. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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10 Responses to “She said (he said, too)”

jon b March 11th, 2007 at 9:16 pm

You can’t possibly believe what you’re writing here, can you? Did you just write this in an effort to initiate discussion? The media is so ultra biased toward the right that it sometimes makes it difficult to try to figure out what really is going on. If Ann Coulter were representative of my views and values, I’d change my way of thinking….I wouldn’t ever want to be associated with her hate and disrespect.
Michelle March 12th, 2007 at 12:40 am

Not to nitpick, but the film you mentioned was actually called “Death of a President”. It got pretty awful reviews overall and was not well-received, even by many liberals who condemned it for its seemingly obviously bad tast. Also, according to the makers of the film, the point of it was not that “Bush should be assassinated”, as you suggest. Jim Slotek wrote for the Toronto Sun that director Gabriel Range said, “”I would hope having seen the film you wouldn’t think I’m in favour of Bush being assassinated.”
I thought this was amusing, too…in the same article mentioned above, Slotek wrote that “the biggest irony may be that the Bush White House okayed the president’s “closeup” in the film” (”Furor over fake doc…”, 2006).
I know this isn’t the point of your blog, but I just wanted to mention this (FYI).
Tom March 14th, 2007 at 4:04 pm

Well, at least I’m getting comments finally. My apologies to calling the movie by the wrong title.

But JonB, you can’t be serious when you say that the media is biased to right. Mainstream press has a clear left wing agenda!

Does this mean that you associate with Bill Maher’s views of hate and disrespect then?
Vimal March 21st, 2007 at 10:51 am

I can see your argument, but you don’t give any context about Maher’s remarks. Coulter used one of the ugliest, bigoted words in the English language to get a rise out of her right-wing audience. And sadly, they loved it. Maher, on the other hand, is a comedian. That shouldn’t absolve him from all responsibility. Just something to consider.
Also, do you really believe the word ‘gay’ is only ’slightly less offensive’ than the word ‘faggot’?
Tom March 21st, 2007 at 4:06 pm

Vimal, remember that Coulter is also a comedian, like Maher. He has had several incidents where he’s had a faux pas, and has had no action done against him.

And yes, I do believe that gay is less offensive than the word faggot. If you want to use a non-offensive term, go with being PC and call them homosexuals.
Tom March 21st, 2007 at 4:13 pm

Please remember, Vimal, that Coulter’s faux pas occured during a comedy sketch, just like Maher’s. If Maher gets absolved, so should she.
Keith March 22nd, 2007 at 6:32 pm

Tom,
I’m sorry but as a fellow blogger here, I cannot allow such inaccuracies to go unchallenged. The comments made by Bill Maher in question were found by the “liberal media” by reading a transcript, not by watching the show, and were taken wholly out of context. If they, or you, had watched the episode live on HBO, you would realize that Maher was using hyperbole to make a point about free speech. He even joked at the time that the right-wing blogs were going to take what he said out of context and go after him. I enjoy reading your blog, but in this case, your whole argument is undermined because the claims you are making are entirely inaccurate. Any comments from any transcript can be taken out of context and then shown on national TV to make that person a pariah. You’re a good writer and you’re doing a good job, just check out your stories a little bit more next time before you join in the ostracizing of someone who has done nothing wrong at all. Thanks,
Keith
Tom March 23rd, 2007 at 1:44 am

Keith,
You are correct in your accusation that “comments from any transcript can be taken out of context and then shown on national tv to make that person a pariah.” But you need to realize that Maher has had a history of snide comments, just like Coulter. However, since Maher is attacking the Bush administration, he will either 1) get little or no media attention, or 2)be lauded and glorified, because somehow what he said makes sense. From what I can gather, the former occured.

Again, thanks for the comment! You’re blog is looking purdy too
Ryan Speaker April 3rd, 2007 at 10:53 am

It’s true, I watched the Maher’s show live, and he was talking about free speech, and said the right-wing press would take it out of context and come after him. Maher has also defended Coulter’s comments on no less than three shows: his own, The Factor with Bill O’Reilly, and Larry King Live. He said he doesn’t really defend the use of the word, but saw she was making a joke, even if it was a bad one, and people shouldn’t get so upset.

Also, you site only two sites that covered Maher’s remarks. I don’t have any examples from print (which is fine, because only 23% of Americans read a newspaper anyhow,) but it was mentioned at least two different timed on The Factor, at least once on Hannity and Colmes, Larry King Live, and CNN Headline News. I know this because I saw the pieces, and even have a few of them saved to my computer.

“Death of a President”: I’ve seen it, I doubt you have. It’s not the best film, but it’s okay. And the assassination occurs in the first 15 minutes or so; most of the time is spent on finding the assassin and geopolitics. I’d encourage you to watch it.

You really ought to be more caarfeul in your reporting, especially because people might give you cred for simply being hosted by the Collegian.
Tom April 5th, 2007 at 11:26 am

Ryan,

thanks for clearing that up! As you no doubt know, I’m still pretty new to the whole journalism experience. Hopefully I’ll be more on target next time.