SHE’S NOT ME: Don’t paint all of us with Ann Coulter’s tainted brush
The loudest, noisiest, most sensational and now, most repugnant, voices on the Republican side of the political spectrum are defining Republicans. I could blame cable television, but it is tough to blame cable for preferring long-legged blond female Republicans to balding middle-age guys like me. They sure make for better-looking TV…. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, I have to tell you: “I know some Republicans. Some Republicans are friends of mine. And Ann Coulter is no mainstream Republican. She does not define most of us. She is on the spectrum of political beliefs, sad to say, but she is not representative of the majority.”
Voices such as Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, Joe Scarborough, Bill O’Reilly, and Michael Savage (and I’m just getting started) have risen to prominence over the last few years not because of anything positive they have to offer or any coherent arguments they’ve made. The reality is that they’ve offered NOTHING positive, nothing constructive, and nothing that could even minimally be construed as making a difference. No, their fame and fortune is based on bashing those who think differently (Liberals), ridiculing those who dare to disagree with them (Liberals), and those who don’t buy into their smug, self-righteous ideology (Liberals).
It’s become clear over the past few years that mainstream Republicans by and large have no real problem with these trolls and the fear- and hate-mongering, race-baiting, and hatred that they spew by the boatload. The unspoken attitude seems to be that as long as they’re supporting Right-wing causes, it’s all good.
I’m curious; if the alleged “Liberal Media” is considered such a dire threat to Our Way of Life, then why aren’t the trolls on the Right with their own television shows and newspaper columns regarded in the same manner? Why? Because Conservatives are more than happy to allow these pundits to do their dirty work. They effectively propagandize the masses of knee-jerk Conservatives, and the GOP doesn’t have to spend any money to get it’s message out.
The fact that good and decent Republicans (and yes, they are out there) have maintainted a studied and deliberate silence when it comes to these hate-mongers can and should be taken as implied approval. You can bet that if there were Liberals out there preaching the sort of ignorance and hatred that is spewed by Right-wing pundits on a daily basis, most of us would be loudly and openly disowning them. We neither need nor want representatives who refuse to support our goal of tolerance and inclusivenss. Yet Republican reaction to Fraulein Gasraum, Fraulein Konzentrationlager, and others on the Right who peddle, hatred, ignorance, and vitriol has been…well, nonexistent…and should therefore be interpreted as tacit acceptance.
To me, Ann Coulter’s exercise of her right to free speech is the political equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded theater. She crosses the line of decency. To me, individuals who engage in name-calling and hate speech to get attention, sell books, increase speaking fees and feather their own nests, are speaking for themselves, not any political party.
My problem is the popular presumption that she represents the Republican Party. We all get painted with her tainted brush. As a result, the popular perception holds Republicans are against almost everything from abortion to homosexuals. And nasty about it to boot. I feel safe in saying that the vast majority — I would guess all but one — of Republicans is not against grieving widows created by the worst crime ever committed against America.
I once worked for a senior Reagan administration appointee back in the 1980s who used to say of the right wing — “they like to look good losing.” Translation: They’d rather go down defending their principles than by — as a democratic government is supposed to do — finding a compromise that makes progress for the majority.
That trend of digging in on principle started back then. And, 20 years later, all Republicans are defined by what I believe is a minority of Republicans.
And the biggest reason that Republicans have come to be defined what I have no doubt is a minority of Republicans is that good and decent Republicans have not spoken out, and their silence can and should be taken as tacit approval of the aggressive spreading of hatred and ignorance. If you don’t support what these trolls are selling and yet you’re not speaking out against them, then you are in fact guilty of allowing their ignorant, untoward demagoguery to become symbolic of the entire Republican Party. It’s your own fault for allowing the agressive spreading of ignorance and hatred to become what Republicans are now known for. So, yes, Fraulein Gasraum DOES speak for Republicans…until the Silent Majority stands up and denounces her and her compadres in no uncertain terms.
We’re waiting….
