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
But that's your MO, let people with at the very least a modicum of intelligence comment while you have nothing to say and watch them get banned if and when they go too far.
Hopfully they will eventually see that you use them because you have no skills to do your own dirty work
Your threat of having me run over by a train is not forgotten either.
I'm not going to go any further on this thread (It's about celebrating the life of the deceased) but your anti-freeper support here at FR is legion.
Thanks Ron and mine too!
So, how was Alaska? :o)
We had a packed news conference, lots of media
Plus the RadioThon that evening brought in over $30,000 to help Joe Miller.
And one FR member gave $500!
We Take on Lisa Murkowski in 1.5 Hours! "No Means No, Lisa" RadioThon *LIVE THREAD* ^
Thanks for posting that link jessduntno!
I was flying all day yesterday, three flights.
Oh, and the TSA were hilariously ineffective in their checking for danger. I'll have to post that story later on another thread
Yea, nailed Clinton didn't he?
Thanks for the post TaxChick!
You’re welcome. I don’t have to agree with everything a writer has produced to think he was talented and worth reading.
Great pics, thanks Rummyfan!
Oh yes, please post a thread about TSA.
I’m happy to hear you’e back!
These Sobran "ememies" are actually respected FReepers in good standing. They are Jews and pro-Jewish Christians. I pinged them because of their appearances on previous Sobran threads.
Not only once but THREE times.
The board was having problems at the time I was posting. The system kept timing out. The multiple postings were unintentional.
But that's your MO, let people with at the very least a modicum of intelligence comment while you have nothing to say and watch them get banned if and when they go too far.
Hopfully they will eventually see that you use them because you have no skills to do your own dirty work
Although I had heard of Sobran, I knew little of him, so I didn't comment on him. However, I'm not shy about voicing my opinions on other threads.
Your threat of having me run over by a train is not forgotten either.
That's really not what I said. I didn't make any threats. (Reference) I don't make threats. Also, I would never intentionally harm a person, or through inaction, intentionally allow a person to come to harm.
I'm not going to go any further on this thread (It's about celebrating the life of the deceased) but your anti-freeper support here at FR is legion.
I can handle your half-truths, Syncro. The problem is that many folks who read them accept them as truth.
Oh good lord leave ES alone
Hi mom
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