First, when I heard what Ann Coulter had said on national television and written in her book, I winced. But I figured no one would make much of it. She's pretty crazy after all, and has made a career out of being completely obnoxious.
Then I saw her on the front page of our tabloid press. Then I saw her all over the news, in fact, Google turns up around 500 hits since her infamous television appearance.
Then I read that Hillary Clinton is commenting on Ann Coulter, she said, "Perhaps her book should have been called 'Heartless."
Then I read that John Kerry wrote in his Huffington Post blog today, "my first reaction was pretty much unprintable."
Then I read a gazillion blogs about how much we all hate Ann Coulter.
And of course, the world has a right to be outraged, when someone says things like, "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much," and calls the grieving 9/11 widows "The Witches of East Brunswick."
There's only one problem with all of this vitriol. It is exactly what Ann Coulter wanted. You and I may not agree with her, but she's not stupid.
And here's the proof: Coulter's new book was Amazon.com's most popular selection Wednesday night and it was number one when I wrote this. Check it out. And you guys all made that happen.
Most people in journalism know that three things sell books and newspapers: Sex, violence and conflict. Coulter has got the sex thing down; she's got the conflict going, and, soon she'll get to violence and beat up a journalist on national television.
And you all will be writing about her again, which is exactly what she wants, while she laughs her head off checking her latest Amazon.com ranking.
4 comments:
I'm glad you wrote this, and not me. I was going to write something similar on my own blog, but in keeping with the theme, I decided that A.C. did not deserve the attention. Maybe if we all ignore her, she will go away, but I doubt that will happen. When is our society going to stop rewarding people who are merely crude, cruel, and hateful?
What is perhaps most troubling about L'affaire Coulter is that she is profiting, handsomely if obscenely, from her vitriol. It seems that our public discourse has become so debauched that there is no possiblilty of ever again having a Joseph Welch moment. This is more than sad. It makes me fear for the society my grandchildren will live in.
AnRoistac
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It's hard to know how to handle Coulter in the media. Perhaps a one word comment, along the lines of "Tsk" followed by a head shake; or "Not again! (groan) Isn't she done yet?" and then pointedly ignoring her. It is important to ignore her, but unless you first indicate disgust and THEN ignore her, she can pretend we just didn't hear.
Maybe she is just so right it hurts. Peace
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