Posted on 10/06/2010 3:03:36 PM PDT by RonDog
NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE
by Ann Coulter
October 6, 2010My friend Joe Sobran died last Thursday, and the world lost its greatest writer.
To my delight, some obituaries noted that he had influenced my writing style. I only wish I had known he was so close to the end so I could have seen him again to let him influence me some more.
The G.K. Chesterton of our time, Joe could deliver a knockout punch with a single line. Many of his aphorisms were so catchy that everyone repeats them now without realizing their provenance.
It was Joe who came up with the apocryphal New York Times headline: "New York Destroyed by Earthquake; Women and Minorities Hit Hardest."
Joe created the phrase "strange new respect" to describe the sudden warm admiration the media have for any conservative who becomes a liberal.
In the '80s, Bill Buckley suggested that AIDS sufferers be required to get tattoos on their buttocks to protect other gays. As all hell broke loose over his proposal, Sobran simply suggested that it might borrow from Dante: "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."
I've recently been telling a friend who talked me into agreeing to an interview with the Times that I wouldn't be mad at him no matter what the Times does to me because "your enemies can never hurt you, only your friends can." I remember now that it was Sobran who told me that, years ago, in reference to his treatment by Buckley.
Ironically perhaps, I've often used a Sobran observation to explain why I have a greater affinity to Israel than to the Muslim world after 9/11: Watching a death-match fight on Animal Planet once, Joe said he found himself instinctively rooting for the mammal over the reptile.
Joe was comically immune to group-think. Every Christian should be, but with Joe it was nearly pathological.
A Shakespeare expert, Joe became convinced that the real author was Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Among his vast trove of evidence were the sonnets, some of which clearly expressed love for another man.
When Joe was writing what became "Alias Shakespeare," he used to tell me he was going to title the book: "He's Here, He's Queer, He's Edward de Vere!"
Reading through some of his columns after he died and being reminded of what an eloquent writer Joe was, I realized that the best tribute would be to quote him extensively.
As Joe himself said: "I note that my enemies have written a great deal about me, yet they rarely quote me directly. Why not? If I am so disreputable myself, I must at least occasionally say disreputable things. Is it possible that what I say is more cogent than they like to admit?"
Joe's quotes are much better when you're reading his columns and a beautifully turned phrase sneaks up on you, but here are a few good ones, even in isolation:click here for the REST of Ann's column this week
>>>That’s ironic, all right, seeing as how Sobran hated Israel and evidently blamed it for everything wrong with the world
As a supporter of Israel, I believe that Sobran’s criticisms of Israel were wrong.
But, occasionally, Sobran had some nice things to say about Jews. Bill Buckley wrote a book in 1992 opposing anti-semitism. But it was written in a PC manner, that was similar to the appeals we have today on the need to oppose Koran burning. Coulter’s column quotes Sobran’s reaction to the book:
“......On Buckley’s book “In Search of Anti-Semitism”: “Its real message is not that we should like or respect Jews; only that we should try not to hate them. But this implies that anti-Semitism is the natural reaction to them: If it’s a universal sin, after all, it must be a universal temptation. ... When he defends Jews, I sometimes feel like saying: ‘Bill! Bill! It’s all right! They’re not that bad!’”.......”
Sobran’s residual popularity among many social conservatives, stems from his passionate opposition to abortion. He made the pro-life case more effectively than any conservative intellectual in American history. In 1983, he wrote a collection of essays in opposition to abortion, titled: “Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions – Human Life Press – 1983”
...Ann Coulter is gay.You forgot the "/sarc" tag.
See also, THIS review of Ann's recent appearance at Homocon:
HomoCon Aftermath: Joseph Farah Owes Ann Coulter a Major Apology
2010 September 29
by Calvin Freiburger-- snip --
...Well, the speech that will live in infamy has come and gone, and I hate to say I told you so...
...but it turns out that our Conservative Chessboard Queen did exactly what any reasonable person familiar with her record should have been able to predict: she laid out the natural common ground conservatives and gays ought to share, while unapologetically making the case for preserving traditional marriage...
Click here for more
As a supporter of Israel, I believe that Sobran’s criticisms of Israel were wrong.I agree with you on both points.-- snip --
Sobran’s residual popularity among many social conservatives, stems from his passionate opposition to abortion.
It is becoming increasingly frustrating for me to discover that people whose opinions I REALLY respect -- like Sobran on abortion -- can be so COMPLETELY wrong on so many OTHER issues that are also very inportant to me -- like his positions on Israel.
QUOTATIONS FROM CHAIRMAN ANN October 5, 2010, 10:08 PM IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ... - VIDEO: Ann Coulter on O'Reilly, 10/4/10
Note: This one one of the OVER TWO HUNDRED videos of Ann now posted at:
Let me know if you'd like to be added to the Ann Coulter ping list.
The irony is that Sobran’s antisemitism pushed him into conspiracy theories. Sad.
But then sense of humor at FR on some subjects is so microsopically small that I hereby belatedly apply the tag ...
/sarc
:o)
I guess that we’re all human. Too bad.
Thanks RonDog!
LOL!
Ironically perhaps, I've often used a Sobran observation to explain why I have a greater affinity to Israel than to the Muslim world after 9/11: Watching a death-match fight on Animal Planet once, Joe said he found himself instinctively rooting for the mammal over the reptile.
Bingo! I'll have to look up Sobran's writings.
;)
Years back, there was an exchange between Sobran and Charlton Heston about the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. It was one of the great moments of the “National Review.”
Ahhh, the days when that was a good magazine, and the “Southern Partisan” was still publishing, and “American Spectator” was in the big newsprint folio, perfect for two catz to nap upon ...
Thanks for filling in for Syncro.
Another great column by Ann, celebrating Joseph Sobran’s life rather than mourning his death.
You’re welcome!
My friend Joe Sobran died last Thursday, and the world lost its greatest writer.
Oh! First I've heard of this. I remember reading him years and years ago, when I got National Review.
Joe Sobran, The Reluctant Anarchist.
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