Ann Coulter Bitching

Up 'til now, I've resisted the temptation to rant about Ann Coulter. That temptation has been great, as you can imagine if you know anything about the 'woman.' But I can no longer resist. She has touched on things near and dear to my heart.

Media Matters last week pointed me in the direction of a radio interview with Coulter on a Denver station. (Just so you don't miss it, Media Matters' headline today describes their efforts to induce her publisher, Random House, to investigate reports of plagiarism in her most recent 'book,' Godless: The Church of Liberalism.)

Here is the summary from last Thursday's Media Matters article:

Summary: On a Denver radio show, Ann Coulter told guest host Jon Caldara that he would have a "perfectly pleasant argument" if he discussed "Darwinism, gay marriage, abortion" or "anything" with a "fundamentalist" Christian such as herself. Coulter asserted: "Try talking with a liberal about a lit cigarette in a nonsmoking section if you want to see fanaticism." Moments later, Coulter claimed that "health fanatics, when it comes to smoking, encourage every form of polymorphous perversity," including "anal sex and fisting."

I loved Keith Olbermann's response. God, I just love Keith Olbermann! I remember watching ESPN during Mike's formative years and seeing him on Sports Center. He was hilarious then, just talking about baseball and professional tennis. (Speaking of tennis, how's that for a couple of hot pictures? To the right is Amelie Mauresmo being congratulated by her opponent in the Wimbeldon Women's tennis finals, Justine Henin-Hardenne. Amelie (left) is a total BABE, and she's an out lesbian. Check out those arms, that thigh! Yeah!)

Anyway, back to Keith Olbermann...his response to Coulter's diatribe was to name her The Worst Person of the Week, a distinction I'm sure she has garnered and warranted on many occasions.

Miss Coulter (By the way...if she's never married, doesn't that mean she's never had sex? If so, how does she know anything about fisting and anal sex, anyway?) As I was saying, Miss Coulter is certainly entitled to her opinions and, thank God, in America, is still entitled to express them. But why does she have to be the Howard Stern-esque shock jock of the Religious Right? Even Howard Stern has some familiarity and experience with that of which he speaks. Ann...don't knock it until you've tried it, Hon.

The program's guest host, Jon Caldara, lamented the trend toward smoking bans, claiming that an individual business owner should be able to determine whether he (she) would allow smoking at his (her) establishment. Perfectly reasonable theory. Miss Coulter seems to labor under the misconception that all liberals are pro-smoking bans. Well, this liberal happens to be a smoker and happens to agree with Mr. Caldara (with whom Miss Coulter agreed).

Why not let all the owners of those small, family-operated corner taprooms in Philly decide whether you can smoke at their bars? Whether an establishment is smoking or non-smoking could be prominently displayed so people could make their own choice about whether or not to patronize it. Potential employees would be alerted to a business's smoking status before being offered a position. That way, only those who chose to smoke or be exposed to smoke would be affected by it. Sounds like an all-around winner to me. Besides, everybody knows smokers tip better...ask any diner waitress.

Apparently the same courtesy doesn't apply to women (whose only desire is sovereignty over their own bodies) and to couples or groups, whatever their sexual or gender makeup, who choose to engage in activities, with an assumption of consenting adults in a private setting, which they desire and find pleasurable. So, it's okay for people to make up their own minds about some things they can do with their bodies but not others.

I don't want to have anal sex in a public forum...although if I did want to do that and there were other, consenting adults who wanted to watch, how is even that any different than adults being allowed to make their own decisions about patronizing a smoke-filled establishment? Really, I do not want to be fisted in the public square. But I do in the privacy of my home, car, vacation rental, airplane lavatory (whoops, did I just write that???). You get the picture. If a libertarian presumption of the right to privacy extends to smoking it should, in common fairness, apply to any activity legal, consenting adults choose to participate in, in a private setting, that doesn't cause undesired pain or harm to another. And the state should not be permitted to pick and choose which activities are acceptable and which aren't.

Surprisingly (or not), in the minds of Ann Coulter and her ilk, what's sauce for the goose (liberals) is not necessarily sauce for the religious ganders.

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