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April 18, 2005
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Here's an article I wrote for our school paper. It's a point-counterpoint, so it will be balanced with an anti-Ann Coulter piece. (Ann spoke at our school this past Sunday.) I'll link to the actual column once it is published and put on the web. Special thanks to Pat for his editing.
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I refuse to defend Ann Coulter.
She doesn't need to be defended. If you are one of the few liberals to have read a complete book or article of hers instead of a quote devoid of context, only then may you argue with me. In her writing as well as her speeches, she proves her intellect and wit. Plus, when members of her audience interrupt, yell obscenities, or throw food, she refuses to back down.
Coulter is a strong woman. And this is why liberals have their panties in a wad: she is a conservative. An intelligent, witty, fearless conservative woman.
Liberals would love Coulter if she were one of them. They somehow take offense at her straight talk but have no problem with Howard Dean's unabashed ranting. Coulter isn't even considered mainstream, as the chair of a political party would generally be. And she doesn't scream, either.
Some attendees of Coulter's speech Sunday seemed unable to grasp Coulter's style. They seemed to truly believe that she was prepared to dial up John Ashcroft that very evening and report an un-patriotic student at St. Olaf College. After all, don't conservatives sick the (former) Attorney General on dissenters on a regular basis? Those who have deemed this a racist comment based on the ethnicity of the questioner would do well to examine their own assumptions; Coulter uses this line routinely when responding to queries from students of all races who refuse to relinquish the microphone.
Others in the audience simply embarrassed me. I did indeed realize beforehand that Coulter is a provocateur and therefore, by definition, would rile the crowd. But I was operating under the illusion that in our community, respect and tolerance would be shown even to a conservative. On the contrary, various derogatory terms resounded through the house of God even before Coulter uttered a word.
I don't claim to be a feminist, but I could not ignore the fact that the majority of these terms referred to women with poor reputations. Could it be that outspoken women are simply still not accepted in today's society? Impossible -- there are those admirable women such as Madeline Albright and Carol Moseley-Braun. But conservative women such as Condoleezza Rice, Janice Rogers Brown, and Ann Coulter are simply reprehensible.
I had the privilege to talk to Coulter after the event. In an attempt to reassure myself that she had experienced ruder audiences, I asked her if ours was at least better in relation to most colleges. I could tell that she didn't want to let me down, but she grudgingly admitted that the crowd at St. Olaf was one of the worse she has experienced. No, they didn't throw food, but they couldn't formulate a respectable question. Instead, they made statements and accusations, and on the occasions when they did pose a question, they would not allow her to answer it.
I had hoped that Coulter's incendiary speech would fan the flames of ideological debate on campus. Instead, all I have heard since the speech is labeling and name-calling. According to several students, some of whom didn't even attend the event, Coulter is a racist, a fascist, and a Nazi, to name a few. I suppose this proves her point that liberals are simply incapable of engaging in constructive dialogue, but I would have liked to believe otherwise.
Upon observing the reaction to Coulter's visit, I began to question the wisdom of encouraging PAC to bring her to campus. Maybe students on this campus just can't handle an unapologetic right-winger. Perhaps another motherly Linda Chavez-type figure would have been less traumatic.
Yet as a senior I have spent four years sitting through lectures asserting that the Holocaust never really happened. I have held my tongue when professors cracked wise about our phonetically-challenged President. I have asked myself the tough questions about my most deeply held beliefs. I have repressed my urge to fight back against graffiti and destruction and pure hatred.
Now perhaps the liberals can begin to understand how it feels.
"The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority."
-Ralph W. Sockman
Posted by Megan at April 18, 2005 10:30 PM
Comments
It's excellent. Thank you.
Posted by: Kristin at April 19, 2005 12:07 AM
that was awesome to read...you're a great writer, megan. and i am amazed at your courage to speak your mind. way to stick to it..
Posted by: Autumn at April 19, 2005 10:54 AM
Way to go, Megan!! Man, are you ever a writer. Loved how you pointed out all the left's hypocrisy. Wish I had been there to hear Ann, but I'm sure I would've cringed at the "questions" (i.e. diatribes), too. Thanks for being our conservative spokeswoman - you do us proud! Good luck with everything 'til graduation; we'll miss you!!
Posted by: Brittany at April 19, 2005 04:38 PM