May we disagree?
Irv writes:
I’m not going to look too “deeply” at the way Coulter is dressed on the cover of Godless. I like what she says, how she says it, and I don’t think she is dressed inappropriately.
I think you are extremely intelligent, and very persuasive in your writing (I’m new to VFR), but I think you’ve gone a little overboard with Ann’s look. In the eye of this beholder, there is nothing un-God-like in the picture that adorns the cover of what I think is a very important book. Life is never going to be perfect. Support her. She does not go too far in the way she presents herself to the world. She is more physically attractive than the average person, and she is proud of it… WITHOUT overdoing it. I think she displays good taste. Taste is taste … we’re all different.
LA replies:
Thank you for the good thoughts about VFR.
On Coulter, I don’t see this as a matter of a team that we must “support.” This way of thinking is what has, frankly, destroyed rational and critical thinking among conservatives during the Bush years, turning the conservative movement into a bunch of cheerleaders. Ann Coulter is a writer and tv personality. One can praise and agree with some things she does, and criticize others. You and I have a different view about the significance of the cover photo. I think it’s significant and harmful, you don’t. Please note that notwithstanding my criticisms of Coulter I have read parts of her book and said that I found them terrific, just as, for example, I have criticized Robert Spencer for what I see as his underlying liberal assumptions (and for his personal attacks on me), while praising him for his commentary on jihad.
I repeat: I reject the notion that the way to respond to Ann Coulter, or any other writer, is either to “support her,” as you put it, or not to support her. Ann Coulter is not a candidate for office. She is not the leader of some organization or movement to which I belong. She is a writer and commentator.
Irv replies:
I used the word support not in the sense of “team” or “candidate” but to refer to the import of what I FELT after reading your commentary on her book. I thought you were “unssupportive” or “not supportive enough” over something I look at as minor. You are a purist, and I applaud you for that. Me, I just want to help turn the tide in America so it will be a better place for my kids and grand kids than it is today. Ann Coulter helps in that goal.
By the way, I’m telling everyone I know to go to your site. I feel the same way about you that I do about Coulter. Hey, maybe I do want to be part of a team? I know that by myself, I’m totally impotent.
LA replies:
Touché.
However, I’m not saying that people should not “support” the people or causes they support. If you feel that way about Coulter, or about me or any other conservative for that matter, that’s fine. I personally have never seen Coulter in that light. I find her a mixed figure. For example, she casts everything as conservatism/good versus liberalism/evil, whereas in fact today’s conservatism is itself largely liberal, a fundamental problem that I don’t think she has ever acknowledged. Also, I have never felt that she personally was a good symbol of conservatism (however defined). But that’s my opinion. Also, since I have virtually ceased watching tv, I may not sufficiently appreciate her effectiveness in confronting liberals in that medium.
Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 20, 2006 10:17 AM | Send