Does anyone care what Coulter says, or what her fans and enemies say?

One should have better things to do with ones time.

METHUSELAH, If one should have better things to do with ones time, why are you here?

Great blog David. Just keep in mind most liberals are and always will be stuck on stupid.

Forget the dip stick feminist's. The muslims will flog them when they take over.

ANN COULTER RULES.

There are many good points here, especially those dealing with the hypocrisy of some feminists.

But let's get real here. Ann Coulter would not be nearly as successful as she is if she was not pretty and -- regardless of the context of Mr. Carr's article -- it is not "sexist" to say so.

In fact, the notion of attractive women being in a position to use our looks as an additional asset to our skills is most decidedly empowering.

If Ms. Coulter was fat and/or ugly she would never have gotten away with all of those shocking books, articles, and remarks -- and it is very likely that she knows this and intentionally takes full advantage of it. Good for her!

I don't really like her writings at all, but I cannot help admiring her accomplishments.

Margaret,

I have two words for you... "Madeleine Albright." ;-)

David

Margaret,

I should also say that I appreciate your perspective. I will also respectfully disagree in terms of looks as key to Ann's success. If that theory were true, then you could take any attractive blond woman, give them a script, and they would become famous, correct?

The fact is, Ann is a very intense lady, and somewhat eccentric if you ask me. She doesn't seem to like the spotlight as so many other do. She seems to believe what she believes with a passion, and she has managed to build for herself an highly successful career taking on both conservatives and liberals who disagree with her.

She's an unusual person who defies every stereotype. And I can tell you that I admired her mind and read her columns regularly before I ever saw what she looked like. In the end, if I never saw a single picture of her, I would still be a fan, just as I've never seen a real picture of Peggy Noonan (just the WSJ sketch they have for her) and could care less what she looks like.

Again, thank you for your perspective and I hope to hear more of your thoughts on this.

Regards,

David

sr,

Thank you for your kind words and I agree completely in regards to your response to Methuselah. If he didn't care, he wouldn't post comments.

David

Margaret, speaking of fat and/or ugly Rosey thunder thigh O'Donald comes to mind. YUM.

And, while we're on this whole, bash-the-not-so-attractive-yet-highly-successful-women track, I will add two more words "Ellen DeGeneres."

She's not ugly by any means, but, again, no blond bombshell either.

David

Donna Shalala, Barbara Walters, Margaret Thatcher.

Maybe we should start a list somewhere? :-)

I did not mean to imply that Ms. Coulter's looks are the key to her success, only that they are a contributing factor, along with her erudition and writing talent.

Suffice it to say that smart women know how to use all of their assets to attain success. After all, Ms. Coulter doesn't hide her looks. Her make-up, hair, and clothes are always very glamorous and stylish.

She could wear minimalist make-up and boxy suits, and pin her hair up in a bun, but she doesn't because her pretty face and trim figure are a part of that unusual beingness that defies every stereotype.

Madeleine Albright, Peggy Noonan, Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres, Donna Shalala, Barbara Walters, and Margaret Thatcher don't try to shock and offend people the way Ms. Coulter does.

Even in this day and age, women don't get away with that sort of thing unless we're pretty.

Again, I'm going to disagree with you Margaret. First in that, the Times columnist I quoted, David Carr, very much believes that Ann's looks are the key to her success. You reiterated the very argument he made in that her beauty is a counterpoint to her sometimes harsh rhetoric, which Carr believes is the difference between success and a nut who lives in her Mom's basement.

You yourself said that, unless a woman is pretty, she won't get away with shocking people. Let me offer you yet another example, and that is Jeannine Garafalo. Again, Jeannine is not in any way ugly, but, again, neither is she blond and beautiful like an Ann Coulter. Yet Jeannine has cashed in on her harsh rhetoric in exactly the same way Ann has. Jeannine is a successful radio personality, actress, columnist, and pundit.

This is the early 21st century, and I say that Ann could look like Rosie O'Donnell and still have the kind of success of, well, a Rosie O'Donnell.

And, finally, Ann does not dress the way she does so that she can sell her looks. She dresses the way she dresses because that is the way she wants to dress! Sometimes she dresses professionally, such as when she is a guest on a talk show or part of a political roundtable. Sometimes she dresses elegantly, and sometimes she dresses in plain clothes.

What Ann doesn't do is dress herself up to try and sell her sexuality. She doesn't have to, she has more brainpower than just about any five other authors/columnists she is debating.

Thanks,

David

"Maybe we should start a list somewhere? :-)"

Well, she's pretty close to top of the war-wimps list at www.nhgazette.com/chickenhawks

One very important point, if I might butt in...

ann Coulter = not pretty.

However, doable after 4 drinks.

Yeah, I don't get all this talk about Coulter being pretty. It seems to come mostly from the left. Perhaps her creepy, unhealthily thin and soemwhat crazed look appeals to socialists on a subliminal level or something.

Dave

You have a lot of class, David. However, sex sells for a reason, even if there are rare men out there, like yourself, who can respect women's brains first and our bodies somewhere further down the list from that.

I'm not looking to pick a fight here, because I agree with you that Ann Coulter is -- or should be considered as -- an example of a feminist ideal.

Jeannine Garafalo is an actress, she's supposed to say shocking things and call attention to herself and her work. Women broke the "shock barrier" in films and television decades ago, but not in punditry, a la Rush Limbaugh (Remember when he was still considered shocking?), until Ann Coulter came along.

The truth of the beauty thing is that, ugly or pretty, what we look like plays a part of who and what we are. Smart women who are also attractive almost always know how to get ahead using all of our gifts.

The notion that it is anti-feminist to suggest that a woman's success can be partially attributed to her looks -- which wouldn't have done her any good in her particular field if she did not also possess above-average intelligence -- is an example of the sort of hyper-feminism that makes attractive women into the hapless victims of men's alleged lustful thoughts, thus demonizing and degrading men, and making said "feminists" into hypocrites.

I'm not criticizing Ms. Coulter for using everything she's got to get ahead. I'm saying, "You go, girl!" Break down those barriers! Show them all that women can do it, too. (And nevermind those envious, catty women crying, "exploitation!" They're just upset that they didn't think of it first and that Ann Coulter is thinner and prettier than they are.)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Dave.

Nonetheless, the archetype of the thin, blonde-haired woman with long limbs and pale eyes and skin sells lots and lots of stuff to people of all sexes and persuasions.

Margaret,

I would say the points you make apply then to both men and women. I remember a heck-of-a-lot of comments during the 2004 presidential campaign season regarding Kerry's handsome features. Including a comment from a women who is just as conservative as I am whom I use to carpool with.

So, in that sense, I think everyone uses all of their assets to sell themselves, and we all sell ourselves as we try and move ahead in our careers. In my mind, in regards to Ann, her beauty is incidental. She just IS a beautiful woman, she doesn't highlight her beauty, or try to sell herself on it.

Paris Hilton, on the other hand, made a career out of her beauty, and that is fine with me too. As you say, you use all your assets. It's just that different people lean more heavily on one asset or another, and that is the core argument I'm trying to make.

And neither am I trying to pick a fight. I'm just being stubborn. :-)

Thanks!

David

Michael Moore and Ann Coulter should get married and have a love child together. They both know controversy sells and both are shameless in their ability to create it and sell a lot. Each cares passionately their beliefs and whichever side you're on, if you are honest with yourself, you know I'm right.

BTW, I happen to love MM and think AC would've been right at home on Hitler's staff.

i have a question for straight dudes and lesbians regarding ann coulter.
do you find ann attractive? to me, she is kind of on the border.
there is a rumor in the gay community that she use to be a fairly well known nyc drag queen who has now gone through a sex change....thus the adams apple.

jack jett

Brad,

As you suggest in sort of a back-handed manner, believing passionately in what you do does not make you right. Hitler no doubt believed passionately in what he was doing.

And I would never say of Michael Moore, as you've said of Ann Coulter, that he would be right at home on Hitler's staff. People who say such ridiculous things are those who cannot, or will, not take the time to think through an issue or an argument to offer up an intelligent response.

If you are honest with yourself, you know I'm right.

Right?

yo, jack e. jett...where you been dude?! long time, no read...

Ann Coulter does not begrudge the 4 Jersey Girls their fundamental right of free speech. What she is against is the MSM's double standard in begrudging anyone who disagrees with their political viewpoint their fundamental right of free speech as well. The reason why you can't challenge their position is the fact that they have suffered greivous loss of spouses in the Iraq war. Because of this as Maureen Dowd of the NYT has stated it is blasphemous to challenge their political opinions. That is why they are the darlings of the Leftist anti-war media and that is why Coulter insists on her right to disagree with them in her own inimitable style. It's free speech, stupid.

We can argue back and forth all day about Ann Coulter's beauty or lack thereof. On one thing ,however, we must all agree: Helen Thomas is absolutely stunningly, drop-dead gorgeous,and this is certainly the key to her political success and fame, her brilliant intellect notwithstanding.

Mario,

I couldn't agree more. Next to Helen, Ann is just a dried up old hag!

David

helen thomas is hot! so is madeline. i would love to see both of them in a three way with bea arthur.

really though...ann coulter is a media genius. her career is based on making outlandish comments and sucking every ounce of publicity juice out of it.

she is madonna with the talent. she is rush with out the penis.

jack jett

As someone saying outrageous things to sell books, Ann certainly knows what she's doing.

Had she lived in Germany in the 1920's and 30's, yes, I do think she would have taken her hate agenda and jumped right on the Hitler bandwagon and sat by his side as his propaganda minister. She would have been excellent. Right David?

Well, there goes the dialogue--the "H" word just got introduced.

Brad,

I'm sure you're right. Now, can we get back to the whole Helen Thomas/Madeleine Albright in a threesome thing?

That conversation is more intelligent by far. Not that I needed that visualization in my head. :-p

David

"she is rush with out the penis."
jack e. jett

Exactly!! They're both phonies.

Great article............

This article has more to say about today's feminists than it actually does about Ann Coulter.

Feminism today has nothing whatsoever to do with advancing equality for women. It has everything to do with acting as a mouthpiece for the far left....look at your feminist organizations such as the National Org for Women and Feminist Majority............ they claim to be for woman's rights but you as a woman better not express your right to be pro, life, vote republican, or disagree with liberals if you want be treated civilly by these orgs...........


example.......when all of the women who calimed bill clinton had sexually harassed/raped them where were these orgs with support for these women? nowhere to be found..........

these groups idolize hillary clinton, a woman who stayed with a serial cheating husband whose affairs publicly and privately humiliated her just so she could ride his professional coattails..........that's their idea of a strong, independent woman? please!

these groups are nothing but far left political lobbies comprised of man hating, flannel wearing, bull dykes................


thank god society at large so far has relegated them to the statue of "lunatic fringe" as they are worthy of nothing else

Arch,

Thanks for your kind words and I agree, and a good part of my post was to reflect the way some feminist organizations have moved so far left that they are today barely distinguishable from a group like MoveOne.org. To belittle a successful woman like Ann Coulter because Ann insists on being her own person and not behaving as they think women ought to behave is a step back in time, not forward.

Now, I will disagree with the statement regarding their membership being nothing but man-hating, flannel-wearing bull dykes. I don't believe that, and, if you look around, you'll see that there are now some conservative feminists groups which have formed which are making their voices heard. Good for them and good for Ann Coulter for not allowing herself to be bullied into silence.

Regards,

David

Only problem with Annn, she's right about her message, she's right about what the liberals are, and she's right - get one of your lefty's to debate her.

Just to be fair - I am giving away free copies of Ann Coulter "Godless", to anyone who can tell me what her use of the term Harpies, means in the context of her book. At this time 27 copies have been given away and still counting.

This article equates Ann as feminist. Seems that what David Flanagan is insinuating is that what feminists wanted all along and got is the right to be conservative jerks or liberal whiners and get paid the same as men doing it. Sounds fair.

You want hard core feminism, try Andrea Dworkin, this is the femnazi that Rush warned you about. Ann cant hold a candle to Andrea.

So this article asks "why in the world would feminist organizations such as the Feminist Majority Foundation basically label Ann a right-wing radical?"

Gee, perhaps because she revels in polemic broadsides such as "Whether they are defending the Soviet Union or bleating for Saddam Hussein, liberals are always against America. They are either traitors or idiots, and on the matter of America's self-preservation, the difference is irrelevant."

I suppose we could all reduce ourselves to tearing into each other in this fashion but in so doing we would dehumanize not only our "enemies" but ourselves. Sadly, there are those who feel like they have to reply to such comments in kind, which only plays into the hands of the person making the comment.

On most online message boards, the practice of making deliberately inflammatory remarks to start a flaming row devoid of any rational response is generally considered "trolling," and members are admonished that the best way to deal with "trolling" is "don't feed the troll" -- don't respond to such a gambit (and certainly not in kind) -- simply let more pertinent discussions take its place.

This idea is not exactly original to online discourse, but it may prove a useful lesson when considering these sorts of remarks in general.

Man, people have to be pretty hard up to find anything physically attractive in that woman. She only makes matters worse when she speaks or writes. A truly ugly and contemptable human being. Talk about Godless. She wrote the book on that.

Even though the child Ann talks of my Kingdom, she is not of it. She does not represent me or my Father or anything that has to do with love and redemption. Forgive our lost child, and pray for her redemption.

P.S.

As Peter said to the disciples, rotate your tires regularly.

Great Post, I read a similair article recently

Ann Coulter is strong women who has the courage to speak her mind. Women everywhere should follow in her footsteps.

Many intelligent people can get their point across and not compromise their viewpoint just as easily without the vile and hatred that Ann Coulter spews.I truly do not understand her attractiveness.She is slim but rather bland looking.I suppose the spray of spittle from her
venomous verbal attacks makes her seem more attravtive to certain individuals.

Patsy,

If you abhor comments made by Ann, then you must also abhor comments that Michael Moore makes almost daily, or Chris Matthews himself for that matter who recently expressed the wish that the president might be assasinated.

Ann says some harsh things, no doubt, but she is one of only a few on the right who does this while there are legions on the left.