Comments on Search and Destroy: An Open Letter to the Human Rights Campaign New Y...

Well done Ted, well done.

2007-03-16T06:19:00.000-04:00

Well done Ted, well done.

I think I do get a sense of the utter disdain and ...

2007-03-13T17:10:00.000-04:00

I think I do get a sense of the utter disdain and contempt that conservatives have for liberals and progressives.
Does ANYONE think that Ann Coulter would cut any of us any slack?
Wonderful free country, free speech and right to switch my accounts from Amazon to Abebooks.com, I will go back to pinging Amazon and objecting that they are now the only advertiser left on Ann Coulter's site, no welcoming smile ,-)

It is our civility towards those who despise us, a...

2007-03-13T05:52:00.000-04:00

It is our civility towards those who despise us, and who arguably deserve our wrath in return, that marks us as being most profoundly different from them.

Or, if you like: the quality of mercy is not strained. At any rate, where it is strained, you can pretend that your clenched teeth are actually set in a welcoming smile.

I think the entertainment corporations are ditchin...

2007-03-12T21:18:00.000-04:00

I think the entertainment corporations are ditching Coulter because her and transparently poor effort to push their agenda. They dropped Ted for the exact opposite reason; because his expression of his opinions were effective and counter to their perceived interests. If she was perceived to operate in the same (boys only)echo chamber as Limbaugh, Savage or Beck, I doubt everyone would have dropped her.

Dear Mr. Ralls,I can certainly appreciate your rea...

2007-03-12T20:29:00.000-04:00

Dear Mr. Ralls,

I can certainly appreciate your reaction to the e-mail campaigns of Media Matters and Campaign for Human Rights seeking to reduce the number of newspapers carrying Ann Coulter, and the false air of authenticity her appearance in them provides. This is perfectly understandable, especially given your experiences with similar (although I would argue more sinister by virtue of their inherent deceptiveness) campaigns from the right against you.

I have to respectfully disagree with your couching your position in First Amendment, and even McCarthyistic, terms. Nor do I agree that these campaigns seek to "silence" Ms. Coulter. A staunch civil libertarian (and one who greatly appreciates your creative work), I would oppose any attempt at preventing her writing whatever hateful, dishonest, and loathesome bile she chooses to spew. However, I enthusiastically joined the campaign against giving her literary vomit the imprimatur of the institutions of establishment journalism.

In fact, you are proposal requires that MM and CHR and ordinary citizens voluntarily forfeit their own First Amendments by applying prior restraint rather than express their own opposition to the editorial decisions of those who have the power to make them, whether individually or by organizing to seek redress of their grievances with the press.

Having had your own ox gored (admittedly under circumstances I consider a travesty), in honesty, I have to admit that were I in your shoes, I would probably be inclined to take your position in this matter. I would only ask that you consider that there are some legitimate circumstances under which members of the public can and must challenge the media. Were I a newspaper owner or publisher, I might be tempted to increase my circulation by publishing, for example, a serialization of O.J.'s tome, publication of which in book form was cancelled, as I'm sure you recall, as the result of a similar public uproar to the one now playing out. If I were to succumb to such temptation, I would expect the public to, at the very least, lobby me vigorously to reconsider.

This may be a matter on which, as reasonable persons, you and I will continue to disagree. I felt compelled, however, to let you know that there are thoughtful and responsible individuals, like myself, who consider the publication of the work of the likes of Ms. Coulter, a professional purveyor of hate, in the pages of a newspaper to be rightly outside the scope of First Amendment guarantees.

Respectfully,

John-Mark Gilhousen

P.S. I greatly appreciate your creative work.

Simple way to increase Coulter's popularity by 10x...

2007-03-12T18:03:00.000-04:00

Simple way to increase Coulter's popularity by 10x: Try to ban her. I mean--the same thing happened to "Al Franken", and Bill O'Reilly did nothing but help him.

Gotta wonder at the cluelessness of people sometimes.

I understand your point Ted and the painful part o...

2007-03-12T17:56:00.000-04:00

I understand your point Ted and the painful part of trying to be better than they were to us, requires you to sort of look like you are defending Coulter. I could live with that since I think she can be funny and is usually trying to be provocative and succeeds. I also am not crazy about piling on and group behaviour in general when someone makes a mistake.
BUT where I don't agree is that I think you are seeing BOTH sides say THAT IS ENOUGH, STOP IT. And punishment is the way that works, Skinner was right, we just don't want to admit it.
Progressives need to mean up anyway, it is too bad but we have been trained by the best. Ann knew this day would come anyway. I don't wish her any ill but I never imagined it would be a pretty picture.
I appreciate your voice very much, don't stop. Thanks.

That's what conservatives say/said to justify shut...

2007-03-12T15:58:00.000-04:00

That's what conservatives say/said to justify shutting me down. They said I was "bigoted" against the military, 9/11 widows, Bush, etc. They may not be right that liberals control the media but most grass-roots conservatives feel powerless compared to a guy like me--and they'd love me to shut up.

Standing up for your opponent's free speech isn't nice. It's self-preservation.

I disagree. Why should we be civil to someone so b...

2007-03-12T15:48:00.000-04:00

I disagree. Why should we be civil to someone so bigoted? I'm sorry Ted, but most people don't have the financial backing to have their opinions heard by millions. Ann Coulter does, and I'll be damned if I'm going to sit back and be marginalized while assholes like her keep getting sponsors to help spread their racist and sexist ideas. Don't talk to me about freedom of speech while millions of Americans are yelling at the top of their lungs and still aren't being heard.

Amen, Ted.

2007-03-12T14:24:00.000-04:00

Amen, Ted.