At the risk of thrashing a departed steed (apologies to Leesburg letter writer Jim Newcombe), I find it sadly necessary to make one more pass at the Ann Coulter nonsense.
Put down your crayons, letter writers. No need to get into a snit. I think this will be something upon which we call can agree.
I don't really think this boils down to a conservative/liberal thing. I think it's an issue of civility.
What Coulter said was uncivil. It was offensive and it was unnecessary. It didn't help frame any debate. It didn't help make a point. All it did was shock people into making a huge deal out of it, which, frankly, is precisely what Coulter hoped it would do.
She is, after all, a best-selling author. She knows how to gain market share. She knows how to get interviews on all the talk shows. Her rants against liberals have made her a household name - not to mention a mountain of cash.
For the record, here is the exact quote from her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference:
"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I - so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards."
That's the quote that generated all the controversy.
The Human Rights Campaign at hrc.org is an organization that identifies itself as "working for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equal rights."
On their "action page" was the following:
Stop Ann Coulter's Politics of Hate
Send a clear message to Lee Salem, Executive Vice President and Editor, Universal Press that providing a platform for Ann Coulter to spout anti-gay rhetoric by syndicating her column must stop now.
Talking Points
Coulter's use of the demeaning and harmful word "faggot" is so beyond the pale that anyone who uses it should not be given a platform as a respected voice in the political discourse of our country.
"Faggot" is a loaded word. It is a weapon used to demean and wound our community.
The news media has a responsibility to not simply become an avenue that allows Ann Coulter the opportunity to broadcast her vile slurs.
Below this was a well-written form letter meant to be sent out to newspapers who carry Coulter's column, and the company that syndicates it.
Frankly, it was a pretty impressive, well-organized campaign because we here at the little old Times-Union wound up getting more than 5,000 e-mails.
Of course, none of them were from subscribers, and what they were complaining about never appeared in our newspaper, but that's O.K.
I agree that "faggot" is a bad word. It's an anti-gay slur that should put up there on the taboo shelf with the "n-word."
I agree that Coulter's use of it is offensive and lacks civility. I have no problem with hrc.org's efforts to drag us all - kicking and screaming in some cases - toward more civil discourse and tolerance.
Every free speech advocate would agree that Coulter has the right to use that word, but most also would agree that it's offensive and should be avoided.
Having said all that, here's where it gets a bit dicey, and where I have trouble understanding.
Here are a few more quotes to consider:
"I was a made man at 15 years, cuz momma didn't raise no faggotty queer."
Or:
"Let me break it down for you he's about to attack you, still standin' here faggot? You must want me to smack you."
Perhaps:
"You faggots keep eggin' me on 'til I have you at knifepoint, then you beg me to stop?"
Maybe:
My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge, That'll stab you in the head whether you're a fag or lez. Or the homosex, hermaph or a trans-a-vest, pants or dress - hate fags? The answer's "yes."
The first quote comes from Ant Banks featuring King Tee. Next is DMX. The last two are from Eminem.
I have to be honest. I don't really know much about hip-hop and rap music, but when I perused lyrics, there were literally hundreds of examples of the use of the word "faggot." And trust me, the passages I quoted are the mild ones.
I chose examples where the new "f-word" wasn't preceded by the old "f-word." But most times, they were used together.
See, here's the huge disconnect for me.
Coulter makers her stupid little offensive comment in front of a few hundred conservatives at some conference that was covered by C-SPAN. Who watches C-SPAN?
But the media picks up on it and the next thing you know I've got 5,000 e-mails in the Times-Union inbox from hrc.org accusing Coulter of hate speech and demanding her ouster from our newspaper.
Meanwhile some of the most offensive, hateful, spiteful, vile, denigrating, homophobic speech ever uttered is being produced and sold to millions of impressionable young people in this country every day.
Seems to me the venom on those CDs being foisted on the youth of America is far more detrimental to society and an atmosphere of tolerance than some dumb columnist blathering on at a political conference.
Shows how much I know.
I clicked around on the hrc.org Web site for awhile. I couldn't find any references to hateful lyrics.
Record producers don't get thousands of angry e-mails from hrc.org. The artists don't get thousands of e-mails. Record shops don't get thousands of e-mails. I don't hear of anyone organizing boycotts of Eminem's CDs or picketing stores that sell them.
Seems like one type of hate is acceptable while another isn't, depending on who's talking.
There are people seething over Coulter's comment and demanding her column be removed from syndication. Yet I guarantee you some of those very same people own every CD Eminem has produced.
These people are vilifying Coulter and admiring Eminem for the same behavior.
That's just a big bowl of wrong.
It would be nice if stuff like this would all just go away, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. That's not how we roll. If anything - as a culture - we're trending toward less civility.
Hey, this is America. We have an inalienable right to be offensive. We shouldn't be surprised or alarmed when people exercise that right.
