I’m sure Ann will say something again that will allow people to vent their spleen at her. Until then, thanks to everyone who came by.

SD

But good fucking god, tragedies like that happen very often. People die, war happens, famine & hunger strikes but guess what people….LIFE GOES ON!!!!

You guys talk about 9/11 like it was the worst tragedy in history. What about the Rwanda genocide? Tsunami? The Louisiana floods? The Armenian Genocide?

Yeah I guess people only care when the shit hits closer to home!!!!

I do not propose non-response (of any kind) to A** C****** in the expectation, or even hope that she disappear from the scene.

On the contrary, I wish her a long and productive life putting herself and her fulminations right in the public eye, the public ear, the public face.

Absent engagement from opposition, to whom does she speak, on whom does she have impact, in whom does she shape new perceptions, new conclusions, new positions?

Her supporters, believers, fans, followers are long lost to reason; they look to her not for any new thought but just the comforting, reliable, re-affirmation, re-packaging and recharge of already entrenched angers, envies, resentments, prejudices, hatreds.

Left to stew in their own corrosive juices they and she will continue – as is common in “greenhouse effect” situations – to reinforce their own extremes.

Already her outbursts – no matter how nakedly cynical, no matter how obviously calculated to generate publicity, book sales, speaking engagements – have gone beyond the more structured racism and jingoism of such demagogues as Patrick Buchanan to enter the even more poisonous realm of the late unlamented anti-Semitic conspiracy-theory enabler Father Coughlin. Unopposed, to what depths wills he sink in ever more desperate efforts to gain more attention, to maintain the notoriety she courts as validation?

Unopposed, unengaged by us, she will more and more stand in the public eye as spokes-raver for the anti-democratic right in the United States. Let her.

Let her rave from every platform possible, as often as possible.

Unopposed.

Let the RIGHT find out THEY have to deal with her. And with the perception that THIS is what THEY are about – hatred, rancor, conspiracy theories, demagoguery.

Lyndon Johnson once said of a trouble-maker in his own party, “It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.”

That’s not always true, is it.

Let A** C****** piss up THEIR tent.

While we watch from a distance – and enjoy the spectacle as the right begins enjoy to grasp the fact that THEY are going to have to do the cleaning up.

Not OUR problem.

Just stop talking about A** C******.

Really. Stop altogether.

The best way of dealing with the phenomenon is silence and dismissal.

Don’t buy her books, don’t read her work, don’t review it, don’t discuss it, don’t discuss her. If you happen to be a professional member of the chattering classes, don’t appear with her on talk shows, don’t engage her in debate, dialogue, arguments, faces-offs or whatever. And when the subject of A** C****** comes up – disregard it. If asked about her, ignore the question calmly; wait patiently for the next question on another subject. Pressed for an opinion, yield none. Charged with being “afraid to engage” the issue, smile and wait. The best public statement on A** C****** is DEAD AIR.

Make some.

Then, move on – and leave her ranting to her choir.

More even than on the cheers of her sad supporters, the creature lives for and feeds on the outrage of the easily-baited.

And no productive purpose is served by feeding its need for that attention.

Don’t be so weak as to succumb to her provocations. You have better uses for your time and energy.

We all do.

MOVE ON.

And when others raise the question of what to do about A** C****** … say, “nothing.”

Or … just say nothing at all.

SD

But there is such a thing as responsible journalism. We have to question what the purpose of a person’s words are, what they seek to elicit. In all her books and media appearances, Coulter is seeking to inflame, incite, insult, and most importantly, to divide. She’s not presenting her ideas in a reasonable, respectful manner to try to persuade. She cannot write or speak without frequently resorting to ad hominems. She seeks to strengthen the “Us against Them” mentality with every word she writes or speaks.

But as much as I hate the way she expresses herself, I would never deny her the right to do so.

My response to this story is now also HERE AT BLOGCRITICS. It has an open comments thread, so do feel free to jump in- the water’s fine.