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03 Mar 2007 01:33 pm

The Right Vs. Coulter

Dreher lets her have it here:

Hard to imagine Russell Kirk (or Ronald Reagan, for that matter) standing before an important conservative gathering (or any gathering), and denouncing someone as a "faggot." That tells you something about the state of the Right today.

Reynolds here. Ed Morrissey here:

Bottom line: Coulter's remark was indefensible. She had the right to say it, but that doesn't make her right for saying it, and she deserves every bit of criticism she's getting.

This response seems to me to capture the underlying truth:

I tend to look at someone like Ann Coulter as a barometer of the country’s general political direction. When she could make wry observations about some of the unfortunate tendencies of liberals (and their fellow travelers) and sell a million books, you knew that the conservatives were in ascendancy. When she has to call candidates rude names to get some lukewarm attention, it would seem that the liberals are on the rise.

I hope that conservatives finally repudiate Coulter for reasons other than opportunism. The issue is not that she makes other conservatives look bad; it's that she is cynical poison for any serious political movement. Conservatism should be about expanding opportunity for all, not restricting opportunity for the already-marginalized. That it has morphed from one to the other is a sign of something deeper than cosmetics and manners. It's time to acknowledge and deal with that.

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