Dear Ann Coulter
I can’t say I’m surprised by your declaration of democrats and liberals as a sleeper cell, but I must say I am disappointed. You are clearly intelligent, and have a panache for radical punditry, but here’s the thing: your broad generalizations of “Conservatives good! Liberals evil!” is disingenuous at best and unpatriotic at worst. By asserting that liberals are a sleeper cell which “wants America to lose” you imply that you have little faith in representative government.
Splitting America into liberal and conservative camps is simplistic and unfounded, and it works against the American ideals of our democratic republic. Rather than going through a long list of what you see as Democratic mistakes, your talents would be better used to discuss your conservative ideals and how they might be implemented in this new congress.
To be completely blunt, put up or shut up. If you have real ideas on how to improve our country, then let’s discuss them openly and honestly instead of shouting into the echo chamber. Let’s discuss ideas and solutions rather than question the patriotism of the other side.
To this end, we at BraveHumans would like to like to invite you to join us in serious and open discussion. We would be happy to listen your “conservative” ideas and express our own opinions on them. Your adoring fans are welcome as well. Surely we would all be better served by debate than by mindless punditry.
Be Brave. Be Human.
Brian
January 5th, 2007 11:47
What a joy to find such a congenial site. I happened upon your blog by way of your comment on my sister’s blog, The Median Sib. I appreciated your comment there and those I have read here. I hope you will visit my Limb occasionally.
http://www.aloneonalimb.blogspot.com
January 5th, 2007 20:03
Brian,
Ann Coulter, and those like her - James Carville, Paul Begala, etc. - are what I call the insta-rant crowd. (You must call out the folks from both sides of the aisle if you are going to call out Ann.) I believe thay are not the problem, but a symptom of a problem.
The problem is us, our dwindling attention span, and our lack of desire to discern to greater detail the information we allow ourselves to be fed. The emotional sound bites the insta-ranters provide feed our desire for heightened emotion, not for knowledge or understanding. Even if we disagree with them, we are emotionally satisifed - not pleased, but satisfied. We gave an emotional response.
So, how do you take authors like Coulter and Carville, neither of whom started out as insta-ranters, and bring them back to the intelligent debate in which they used to engage?
And, do they really matter? For the most part, they all fit nicely into one of the two major politicial parties. If we were really brave humans, wouldn’t we be turning them off?
January 5th, 2007 20:44
Terrell,
Thanks for the kind words. I don’t know that you will always find BraveHumans congenial, but I do hope you find it civil and open. Our goal want to create a place for the views of real people and honest civil discussion from all sides. So welcome!
I’ve been reading through your site, and those of some of your siblings. I assume politics is off limits at holidays, or you must have some very interesting discussions at the dinner table.
January 5th, 2007 21:05
Rick,
There is something deep seated about ideology as hammer. It feels so GOOD to whack the troll. Still my offer to Coulter is honest, since I really would be willing to engage her in serious discussion.
I agree we need to call them out on both sides. When the insta-ranters on both sides make broad accusations and glib responses we should take them to task. Over and over again. On a personal level it is easier to see the transgressions of the Coulters of the world than the Carvilles, so please help to keep me honest.
We could just ignore all the insta-ranters, but if we do that they win. Right now the right-left ideological poo slinging contests dominate the media. I don’t think we’ve lost the ability or will to engage in real discourse, it is just that the major media and stars of the blogosphere choose not to take up the flag.
This is exactly why several of us began BraveHumans. I would like to hope that serious civil discussion can gain a foothold in the blogosphere, and I would like to think that someday we will have a voice so loud the mainstream media is forced to acknowledge us. If we all spread the word, and keep blogging, it will happen.
Maybe our we should have a new tagline:
Be Brave. Be Human. Pass it on.
January 6th, 2007 01:01
Brian,
Amen! I am allowed to say that, aren’t I?
January 6th, 2007 20:48
Rick,
Absolutely! Amen!
January 17th, 2007 21:54
Newpapers, magazines, even authors don’t get into the limelight by being civil. I have several books to my credit, and they all sell or sold ok. But I’m certain that if I had been a lot more controversial, I’d be far more famous today.
January 18th, 2007 00:00
Of course the only way we change things is to show a better way. The shorter path isn’t always the best one.