Upon reflection, I've decided that I'm very sorry. You are actually doing a lot for the conservative movement. Just as NAMBLA is doing a lot for the cause of gay rights.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 03:46 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Robert Bluey suggests that we "declared war" on Ann Coulter this week, in the blogger letter-writing campaign that originated at The American Mind. I don't know whether I quite see it that way. I don't have any problem with Coulter earning a living; I just don't agree with the American Conservative Union giving her the platform that it does at CPAC, and I'm very disappointed in their response to our letter.

The left votes with its wallet when it buys books by Noam Chomsky; the right votes with its wallet when it buys books by Ann Coulter.

On the right, as on the left, sometimes—as we used to say in my Marxist days, and in technocrat circles—"the masses are asses." People liked VHS videotape and DOS computers. And they like Ann Coulter's style of discourse, just as they dig Howard Stern.

I just don't have to agree with it. And I don't have to think Coulter represents inteligent right-of-center thought (though of course I know she's bright: that's actually one of the irritating things about this phenomenon).

I'm actually thinking of taking the opposite tack, and waging my own style of protest: I'll cover it when she makes a good point, and I'll mostly ignore her when she spouts off silly, offensive shit.

It's like training a dog, you know?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 03:11 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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She has some further remarks here.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The destructiveness of Ann Coulter's speaking style is impossible to miss.

And, yes: I've heard her kooky defense of her remarks—that "faggot" didn't mean "faggot," because Edwards "clearly isn't gay." (And we were supposed to know she felt this was clear . . . how? Are there no family men out there who turn out to be gay?) It reminded me of the tortured reasoning Bill Clinton used to defend some of his more outrageous remarks—ones that he at least had a reason (however wrong) for making.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:17 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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From Kevin McCollough.

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Please sign on—via comments, and cross-posting—and spread the word. Enough is enough.

Conservatism treats humans as they are, as moral creatures possessing rational minds and capable of discerning right from wrong. There comes a time when we must speak out in the defense of the conservative movement, and make a stand for political civility. This is one of those times.

Ann Coulter used to serve the movement well. She was telegenic, intelligent, and witty. She was also fearless: saying provocative things to inspire deeper thought and cutting through the haze of competing information has its uses. But Coulter's fearlessness has become an addiction to shock value. She draws attention to herself, rather than placing the spotlight on conservative ideas.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2006, Coulter referred to Iranians as ragheads. She is one of the most prominent women in the conservative movement; for her to employ such reckless language reinforces the stereotype that conservatives are racists.

At CPAC 2007 Coulter decided to turn up the volume by referring to John Edwards, a former U.S. Senator and current Presidential candidate, as a faggot. Such offensive language—and the cavalier attitude that lies behind it—is intolerable to us. It may be tolerated on liberal websites, but not at the nation's premier conservative gathering.

The legendary conservative thinker Richard Weaver wrote a book entitled Ideas Have Consequences. Rush Limbaugh has said again and again that "words mean things." Both phrases apply to Coulter's awful remarks.

Coulter's vicious word choice tells the world she care little about the feelings of a large group that often feels marginalized and despised. Her word choice forces conservatives to waste time defending themselves against charges of homophobia rather than advancing conservative ideas.

Within a day of Coulter's remark John Edwards sent out a fundraising email that used Coulter's words to raise money for his faltering campaign. She is helping those she claims to oppose. How does that advance any of the causes we hold dear?

Denouncing Coulter is not enough. After her "raghead" remark in 2006 she took some heat. Yet she did not grow and learn. We should have been more forceful. This year she used a gay slur. What is next? If Senator Barack Obama is the de facto Democratic Presidential nominee next year, will Coulter feel free to use a racial slur? How does that help conservatism?

One of the points of CPAC is the opportunity it gives college students to meet other young conservatives and learn from our leaders. Unlike on their campuses—where they often feel alone—at CPAC they know they are part of a vibrant political movement. What example is set when one highlight of the conference is finding out what shocking phrase will emerge from Ann Coulter's mouth? How can we teach young conservatives to fight for their principles with civility and respect when Ann Coulter is allowed to address the conference? Coulter's invective is a sign of weak thinking and unprincipled politicking.

CPAC sponsors, the Age of Ann has passed. We, the undersigned, request that CPAC speaking invitations no longer be extended to Ann Coulter. Her words and attitude simply do too much damage.

Thank you,

Credentialed CPAC 2007 Bloggers

Sean Hackbarth, The American Mind
James Joyner, Outside the Beltway
Steve Verdon, Outside the Beltway
BoiFromTroy, Boi From Troy
Joy McCann, Little Miss Attila
Kevin McCullough, Musclehead Revolution
Fausta Werz, Fausta's Blog
Patrick Hynes, Ankle Biting Pundits
Ed Morrissey, Captain's Quarters
Jane Stewart, See Jane Mom
Alexander Brunk, Save the GOP
Mark Harris, Save the GOP
Ace, Ace of Spades HQ


Other Right-of-Center Bloggers
N.Z. Bear, The Truth Laid Bear (CPAC Blogger of the Year)
Glenn Reynolds, InstaPundit
Joe Carter, Evangelical Outpost
Amy Ridenour, National Center Blog
Owen Robinson, Boots and Sabres
Michael Demmons, Gay Orbit
Mark Coffey, Decision '08
Russell Newquist, The Philosopher's Stone
Marshall Manson, On Tap
Rob Port, Say Anything
Matthew Johnston, Going to the Mat
Timmer, The Daily Brief
Rick Moran, Right Wing Nuthouse
Dustin Gawrylow, Free Republicans
Dan, North Dallas Thirty
Nate Nelson, Reality Mugged Me
Christopher Fotos, PostWatch
Soren Dayton, EyeOn08
Greg, Rhymes with Right
Jimmie, The Sundries Shack
John Tabin, JohnTabin.com
Dave Burris, First State Politics
Dan McLaughlin, Baseball Crank
Peter DiGaudio, Texas Hold 'Em Blogger

UPDATE: The first half-dozen signatures have been added. I'll be adding more as they roll in today (and as my travel schedule permits).

UPDATE, March 6th: Another shipment of signatures just arrived. I'll probably do my final update later in the day today.

UPDATE, 3/6 9:35 a.m. Eastern More names--they just keep rolling in.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 06:01 AM | Comments (40) | Add Comment
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A total f-word.

Actually, I agree with most of what he posts there.

His point that faggot can be a general slam against a man's masculinity is interesting: I find myself wondering how I would have felt if the term Ann Coulter used had been pussy rather than faggot. I certainly fought for a while against those who used the former term as a synonym for "wimp," but as a happy owner of a real pussy I eventually decided that particular organ shouldn't be the standard-bearer for power projection—either in geopolitics, or anywhere else. So, okay: I accept pussy as an indicator of all-yin-no-yang.

But at this point it is broadly acceptable for a woman to show masculine traits in a way it still isn't for a man to show feminine ones. Those who call Ann Coulter a "tranny" are still not putting her down to the same degree as she is putting Edwards down by calling him a faggot—or a pussy, for that matter.

But the term used was, indeed, faggot. And, yeah: I got the cultural allusion to the Grey's Anatomy actors. I'm certainly not interested in a world wherein we have n-words and f-words and all other kinds of words to which we've given so much silly power that we cannot even utter them. I'm more of a J.K. Rowling person: his name is Voldemort, dammit; don't make things worse than they are.

But the primary meaning of that word is still "male homosexual"—on this continent, at least. And if I were Edwards' wife, I wouldn't be happy with its use in that way. (If I were his campaign staffers, I'd be milking Coulter's remark for martyr points and cold, hard cash. And, of course, that's exactly what they are doing.) This kind of usage doesn't do much for our outreach to the gay community, whom most of us want to live with in some kind of harmony (whether that happens to be expressed in civil unions, or gay marriage, or good old-fashioned discretion on everyone's part). What's the argument here?—"Sure we call you faggots and lezzies. But at least we don't want to stone you to death like the Islamofascists do, so come to Momma." That's appealing.

If we concede that transgression for its own sake is always courageous, and therefore acceptable, even laudable, then we are the conservative equivalent of those who promoted Piss Christ. Because it ultimately doesn't matter what line was crossed, and for what motivation: the virtue lies in crossing it. Supposedly.

That's not virtue. It's crass egotism. Or, in Ann's case, a desire to make money by feeding off the darker side of human nature. I'm not necessarily against that in and of itself: Jerry Springer's made a handsome living doing just that. But this impulse is the antithesis of conservatism, and its practioners do not speak for me.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 05:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Listen. I was going to head down to the National Gallery for a couple of hours—do you want to go?"

"I'm awfully busy," he responded.

"What are you—glued to your laptop over there? You're going to stay online until the moment you leave to catch your flight?"

"I have responsibilities! To my readers, and to my incredible ego."

Posted by: Attila Girl at 06:29 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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. . . has his extensive CPAC coverage in one long post, here. There's a nice little love letter to Ann Coulter at the end of it:

Since insults have become the currency of political discussion, I suppose I can play, too. You will notice that I placed Coulter's name at the very bottom of those listed on the tombstone image above [on the cover of the latest New Individualist]. In retrospect, however, I owe a profound apology to the others named on it. It was a gross presumption to include Coulter, since, after all, the tombstone is supposed to memorialize the ideas of those listed. And Ann Coulter is nothing but a right-wing attention slut whose arguments fall shorter than her hemlines, and are even less interesting.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:40 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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. . . from Erick at Redstate:

If Brownback, Huckabee, and Gilmore expect to be viable, they will need quickly to make the case that one of them is the anti-Rudy, not Romney. The only way to do that is to go after each other and tear down Romney, while indirectly tearing down Rudy. And when they do? Look for Newt to step in around the end of September -- the 12th anniversary of the Contract With America. The others will be out of money, broken, bloodied, and bruised. And Gingrich will have a front door to claim himself as the anti-Rudy. After all, he did get 14% of the vote at CPAC in a race in which he is not even a candidate right now.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:08 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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For 2007 it's N.Z. Bear, one of several California bloggers who were present this year.

I got a few minutes to speak with him yesterday, and he's so sweet and unassuming—as many of the top bloggers are.

This guy is making a difference, in so many ways: James Joyner covers some of his achievements.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 06:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sean has the results here. Basically, if one calculates first choices, it's:

1) Romney
2) Giuliani
3) Brownback
4) Gingrich
5) McCain

But if the first and second choices are calculated together, we end up with
1) Giuliani,
2) Gingrich,
3) Romney

The Attila poll, based on the men's speeches, aplomb in handling questions, and skill in courting the bloggers, comes out:

1) Giuliani
2) Gingrich
3) Romney
4) Brownback

Ranked according to electability, however, it looks more like:

1) Giuliani
2) Romney
3) Brownback
4) Gingrich.

I essentially agree with James Joyner, who suspects that "Gingrich is carrying too much baggage to be elected."

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If I hear the term "Reagan Republican" one more time, I'm going to puke.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:09 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Although it doesn't quite capture the bitterness that leads some people to label Romney "Flipper," dressing as dolphins and handing out flip-flops.

Nor the shrillness of people calling out to Michelle Malkin in the hallways: "Michelle! Expose the flip-flopper! Take him down!"

It would really, really suck to be famous. By the way.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:54 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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. . . that Governor Romney came by to talk to us down at Bloggers' Row. There is something hilarious about the fact that no one who isn't a blogger really knows who's big and who isn't, candidates included. There's a "just in case" tendancy to treat us all like rock stars, because who knows what someone's traffic is without checking? And all these websites have such funny names that none of them sound serious to begin with.

Both Sean and James came up with challenging questions for Romney, which he sidestepped with practiced ease.

That doesn't mean I don't like him; this is the kind of things all politicians do. To answer a question like James' "how, specifically, would you go about cutting the budget?" is to risk making a mistake, and it's early in the day.

But I do take back my previous negative post about Romney. I don't think he has Giuliani's charisma, but he has some. What I do not like is the reflexively self-destructive impulse to nominate someone who has no chance whatsoever of winning.

Because, you know: the more conservative, the better. The more like Ronald Reagan.

Everyone here is a "Reagan Republican." It's just that the phrase has about as many different meanings as there are candidates.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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. . . can't leave poor Ann Coulter alone:

SheÂ’s now on non-speaking terms with any gay and lesbian friends.

Paging Al Rantel.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:51 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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for President!

"I'm running," he tells me.

"Will you be at the bar tonight?" I ask.

"No—I mean I'm running for President," he explains.

"Explatoratory commitee?"

"Not yet."

"Are you accepting campaign contributions?" I ask.

"Definitely."

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:42 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Marshall:

Americans do not like to be told to shut up.

McCain-Feingold told Americans to shut up.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:49 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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It is not actually a corner. Nor, literally, an alley. It's actually a long table with too few power outlets, a modest number of internet connections, and a bunch of extremely dorky people typing away on keyboards, waiting for either (1) happy hour to start, or (2) Ann Coulter to say something inflammatory.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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. . . Romney is doing very well, and the crowds here are glued to the monitor to almost the same degree that they were with Giuliani.

On a personal note, I regret to say that I have failed to provoke a fistfight between the Brownback supporters and the Romneyites—despite whispering vigorously to each side about how the other side regards them as whores.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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