L’Affaire Coulter

National Review Online ^ | 10/3/01 | Jonah Goldberg

[uncitizen]

Lately, Ann's gotten a little too big for her britches. She thinks the media attention she gets is evidence that she is saying something profoundly important when in many cases she is being used because she is a drop dead gorgeous conservative woman (making the liberal women look all the more ugly). The boob job was my first clue that this attention is going to Ann's head. This "let's Christianize them" thing pushed the envelope too far. i don't think Ann realizes there are limits on what even she can say and get away with. Jonah Goldberg is kind of a punk, but i think he's not out of line on this one.

[Mr. Lucky]

Were there any lingering doubt that Jonah were a girly man, this column would resolve it completely.

[Neets]

SB..now I see why you picked that name.

That is probably one of the most succinct and articulate summation of my exact feelings...

Thank you.

[francisandbeans]

At first I thought your screen name was an oxymoron...

Thanks for proving me wrong :)

[jeffo]

If you read her entire article, it is very, very apparent that Ann wrote this column with the grief over the death of a friend still tearing at her heart. If this is anyone's fault it is NRs for not editing or delaying the piece to allow her to calm down and focus. They allowed her pure "stream of consciousness", still dripping with agony, hurt and shock, to go out. And it was probably on purpose. In my opinion, they took advantage of her emotional nature to create an excuse to get rid of her.

Ann Coulter is, in my opinion, still the most honest - and best looking - voice for true conservatism in this country.

[FormerLib]

>>>The attempts at self-justification on both sides just make them look small. <<<

Hear hear!

[Twins613]

Poor little Jonah. First Coulter accuses him of being a "girly man" and then he comes right out and proves her right.

Well said. A gentleman, or by translation an organization worthy of respect, rises above -- or at least responds above Goldberg's "thin blonde line".

There was a chance to try and heal here. Personally, I think NRO missed it, and thus a chance to rise above. Ronald Reagan's unwritten law has been violated in spades and I'm not happy with either side for doing it.

And I don't necessarily disagree with Coulter's column, either.

[Map Kernow]

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Ann lost a friend in the WTC or the Pentagon.

She did, Barbara Olson was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon; they were friends.

In fact, I believe that the "invade 'em and convert 'em" comment was made at the end of a eulogy to Barbara--anyone with half a heart and/or brain could tell that not only was Ann writing tongue-in-cheek, but from a grieving heart as well.

On another note, having re-read Goldberg's column, I think I've seldom read such a catty collection of sanctimonious cheap-shots outside the liberal press. If this is how Goldberg presents his side of the story, Ann's characterization of him as a "girly boy" is devastatingly appropriate.

[ConsistentLibertarian]

Stupid people have a hard time recognizing stupidity. I know that sounds like a truism. But how many truisms can explain so much?

[sam_paine]

Golberg writes, "she failed as WRITER,..." and then goes on to explain his failure to edit/halt the first piece with this sentence fragment: "Our bad."

I HATE this popular rap-speakism, "My bad." What the hell kind of lazy wanna-sound-like-the-ghetto idiot uses this phrase??? NRO editors, apparently.

[Big Bunyip]

(I was returning from my honeymoon)

Wonder who caught little Jonah's bouquet at the reception?

[RasterMaster]

I call her "Susan Ostrich"....I wish she'd bury that ugly mug in the sand somewhere.

[Untouchable]

Sorry, Ann has always irritated me and Jonah has always amused me. My bad.

[Clinton's a rapist]

Jonah Goldberg has some nerve to criticize Coulter as a writer. His columns are self-indulgent and dull, and I have given him too many chances already.

Quite. Am I the only one tired of Jonah's sub-par Gen X references, or hearing about the dust bunnies under his mom's sofa, or the dirty magazines under his mattress, or the snot on his doorknob, etc., etc., ad nauseum? Still, his writing isn't quite as awful as that of William F. Buckley, so there is still something to be said for it, I suppose.

[Samizdat]

And Vince Foster still lies mouldering in his grave, murdered by bill and hitlery clinton and nobody gives a damn. Not the girly-boys at NRO, that's for sure.

[Bob J]

Not only is this "tit for tat" article completely unprofessional, but Goldberg's weak assertion that NR was "too busy" to properly edit Ann's article and his inability to manage the situation properly indicates a lack of resources to serve as managing editor.

[walden]

NRO is the most consistently thoughtful writing around-- my best favorite. I usually hit it with my first morning cup of coffee, before even the WSJ.

[VOA]

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Ann lost a friend in the WTC or the Pentagon.

I was only listening in a piece-meal fashion, but I think I heard on the Michael Medved
Show yesterday (Larson is filling in) that Coulter had lost a friend at the WTC.

But I've yet to see or hear a confirmation.
Maybe our web of Freepers will step up and help us out with some facts on this aspect.

Just personally, her column was too extreme.
But if I was her boss and she had a graceful explanation that it was born of
personal loss and she crafted a good apology to offended readers...I'd not let her go.

[NeoCaveman]

I'm not touching that one.

I'll touch Ann's but not Jonah's