07/03/06 -
The Fulford File: “There Shall Be Closed Borders”, by James Fulford
07/02/06
- Economists On Immigration: What's The
Matter? by Steve Sailer
Godless Reignites Catholic Student’s Faith in
Ann Coulter
By Athena Kerry
In March, we began hearing it everywhere. Fluorescent
flyers were taped, tacked and stapled all over campus.
On them was a picture of Ann Coulter, arms folded, above
a simple war-type declaration:
THE RUMORS ARE TRUE.
Ann was going to speak to us! The
topic: "Exposing
the lies of the liberal left".
Rapidly, the campus was divided
into two fiercely-opposed factions: those who accepted
this shocking development, and those who
wanted her to be, as someone in my class put it
unblushingly, “gotten rid of”. Each side took
turns telling the other how
intolerant it was. Chalk outside the auditorium read
both “STOP ANN’S HATE” and “VIVA FREE SPEECH”.
There were
violent arguments in the classroom (see above). I
must have received 20 email petitions to keep Coulter
from coming. The $25,000 paid out by College Republicans
to secure her was investigated by the faculty.
[VDARE.COM note:
our
writers are available at a
somewhat lower rate!]
There were reports that her invitation would be
withdrawn.
But it wasn’t. And the auditorium
was packed. If we could make it through the throngs of
students outside, waiting to see if they could score any
extra tickets, our bags were inspected and we were told
“no blocking the view, no causing a scene”. Yeah,
right.
Clearly, the biggest fraction of
the crowd were non-supporters. The low rumble of the
audience got louder as the minutes ticked on. Ann was
late. But then, when she walked out onto to stage, there
was an audible gasp—she was
SO thin.
Especially in contrast to the David
Hasselhoff-type
security guard standing some distance behind
her—distinctly attractive, if I do say so—waiflike Ann
was startling.
Needless to say, the faculty, staff
and the extra city cops whose job was to keep
protestors under control were a joke. After
announcing that any mischief-makers would be escorted
out of the building, the deans did little more than
stand around.
Maniacal feminists and
Muslim activists (yes!—at a
Catholic university!) screamed curses and insults,
set off a stink bomb, blocked views, turned their backs
and moaned
loud fake orgasms. Meanwhile the “authorities”
prevented any of the College Republicans from taking
matters into their own hands.
Ann’s
response was to provoke the liberals further with
characteristically Coulter insults. (“Wide load!”
she called repeatedly when confronted with the
protestors’ backsides). ) Then she invited them to step
it up a notch by announcing: “It’s in my
contract that if you get too bad, I will leave.”
Needless to say, the protestors
promptly got worse. And then Ann did leave—even
skipping out on the high-security book-signing to which
she had previously agreed.
I have to say that this really
disappointed the campus’ already severely outnumbered
conservatives. They imagined Ann Coulter to be made of
tougher stuff. Why encourage misbehavior among the
liberal banshees, only to sweep off without even a
hat tip to her sponsors? They put up with just as much
abuse (if not more) in order to get her on campus at
all. If she had spent half as much time actually giving
her speech as she did yelling “Wide load!”, she
could certainly have gotten through the whole thing.
Also…I admit it: I was, well,
irritated by the way she ignored the (quite numerous)
conservative women who were on her side. It only took a
few instances of Coulter calling on all the
“conservative heterosexual MEN” to quell the
protesters before we women realized we had two choices:
either assume the
roles of men (who is the feminist here?) or simply
sit down and let the protest rage.
I went to the speech eager to hear
Coulter’s wit and
sarcasm (and, yes, hyperbole) engaged in a tough but
interesting topic—one that I would certainly not hear in
any classroom. Instead, I saw Coulter lower herself to
the standards apparently set by foul-mouthed juveniles
and then flee in a way that she would undoubtedly
criticize as “womanish” in her opponents.
With this in mind, I approached
Coulter’s new book,
Godless: The Church of Liberalism with some
caution. My faith in the Blonde Defender was shaken. I
was hesitant to let down my guard again. I didn’t want
to be suckered in by her right-wing rationality, witty
pot-shots at
Michael Moore and little black dress.
But what can I say? She’s good!
In Godless, Coulter
documents what many conservatives already feel: that
modern liberalism is a godless state-endorsed religion.
Using this general attack on liberalism as a structure
from which to launch more focused assaults, Coulter
addresses sex education, crime, abortion, the
“Jersey Girls” (VDARE.COM contributor
Peter Gadiel wants us to point out that the
“Jersey Girls” are not connected with his
9/11 Families For A Secure America), the Iraq War
(she’s for it), public schools, AIDS, race, IQ, and
evolution.
Coulter describes example after
example of liberalism reacting to rational thought and
objective science with censorship and
witch-hunting in order to maintain its national
hegemony. In the case of AIDS and DDT,
anti-discrimination and hyper-protective pretenses take
precedence over human life. In the case of
criminal punishment—especially with regard to
Willie Horton—dangerously
ineffective “rehabilitation” and
anti-racism take precedence over the reality of
crime prevention (and, ultimately,
human life.
And she certainly entertains. Some
choice bits:
From a VDARE.COM point of view,
it’s interesting that, while Coulter unflinchingly
addresses controversial issues like
racial differences in IQ, she conspicuously avoids
all mention of immigration. For example, she dedicates a
good portion of a chapter to outlining
crime statistics in various cities around the U.S.,
making very clear the many failures in liberal criminal
justice. A short rundown of the
crime statistics associated with
liberal immigration policies would fit have fitted
quite easily into this discussion. She doesn’t mention
it.
But VDARE.COM editor
Peter Brimelow is quoted (“a ‘racist’ is ‘someone
who is winning an argument with a liberal’”—Page 69)
And Ann has begun
speaking out on immigration in her columns recently,
opposing the Kennedy/Bush Amnesty/ Immigration
Acceleration bill and citing Brimelow’s
1992 National Review cover story from which
VDARE.COM is lineally descended.
Coulter-watchers have been
anticipating this eagerly since the few but telling
references to immigration in her 2003 book, Treason.
She could make an immense difference to the debate.
I admit it’s a little odd to read
some of Godless’s more sermon-ish parts.
Coulter’s arguments are interesting and solid, but let’s
just say she’s not the first person I would turn to for
spiritual guidance—even if she were wearing that
cute cross necklace she sports in Godless’s
jacket photo.
But don’t be inadvertently
influenced by the
extraordinary loathing she inspires. This is a
serious book, very cleverly and thoroughly done. I
genuinely enjoyed reading it. My once-shaken faith has
been reignited—even if from now on I’ll stick to Coulter
on the page, not Coulter on the stage.
Athena Kerry (email
her)
has just graduated from a Catholic university somewhere
in America. We will post a photo when her father gets
around to developing them.
If you want to email or
print out, format by clicking on this permanent URL:
http://www.vdare.com/kerry/060704_godless.htm
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