Miasma at the CPAC

The latest belch from mentally ill attention-seeker Ann Coulter has succeeded in getting some attention. At the end of a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, she said, “I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I -- so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards.”

Some have demanded that every major rightist figure attending (including Deadeye Dick) publicly condemn the remark. Which is fine. Of course, what we’re missing here is that a certifiable nutcase continues to be invited to speak at the CPAC. It’s not as if Coulter’s behavior is a mystery. So really, they’re getting exactly what they want to hear.

A spokesman for Mitt Romney (one of the attendees) said, “It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect." What? I don’t understand. Romney went on the 700 Club to tell Pat Robertson that Rudy Guiliani is pro-gay marriage and therefore a bad candidate. And he doesn’t like civil unions either. So gay couples can just go to hell, really, which is where Robertson thinks they’re going. How can Romney then claim that all people should be treated with dignity and respect? Can you believe in a person being made a second-class citizen and at the same time say that you treat them with respect?

Actually the preceding paragraph could have been shorter, to wit: “Romney went on the 700 Club.” That’s enough right there to prevent his name being used in the same sentence with the word “dignity.”

The Editor & Publisher article detailing Coulter’s psychotic effusion informs us that the remarks “also drew disapproval from some popular conservative commentators… Michelle Malkin expressed disapproval.”

Here’s what Malkin actually wrote: “Would you want your children hearing the word ‘faggot’ spoken in such a casual and senseless manner? Would you like your first-grader or three-year-old running around the halls of CPAC singing ‘faggot, faggot, faggot?’"

You see, there were children at the CPAC. It’s about the decorum of the language, not the meaning of the word. Michelle Malkin, just like every other rightist, consistently opposes gay rights. Her supposed disapproval of the word “faggot” is mere window dressing, a strategy of trying to appear civilized and mainstream while practically and in every real sense supporting the denial of equal rights to gays.

Our media-drenched culture is hyper-sensitive about words, while at the same time virtually oblivious to the actions that give them meaning. A white comedian yells “nigger” on stage, and there’s outrage. Bill O’Reilly calls the citizens of New Orleans who were stranded during Katrina “thugs” and the “urban menace,” and there are no consequences. Senator Jon Kyl blithely says that New Orleans residents should not receive aid because they should have bought insurance, and there is no outrage. Republicans know a thousand different ways to say “nigger” without actually using the word, and they get away with it. The same is true of “faggot.” Every appeal to the “base,” every cynical use of gays to stir up right-wing voters (on an issue that really doesn’t significantly affect most straight people's lives the way Iraq does, or our lousy health care system) is really the word “faggot” whispered into the ears of a bigoted voting bloc.

And it has results. Not only do Republicans win votes, but gay men and women are bashed and murdered by haters who are being given tacit permission to do so by people like Mitt Romney, John McCain, Sam Brownback, Pat Robertson, and George W. Bush. So any and all disapproval of the word “faggot” by Republicans or right-wing gasbags like Malkin should never be taken seriously. If they faced no opposition, you would not hear a peep of disapproval from them. In fact, you would hear far worse coming from their own big mouths.

Ann Coulter is a slime-oozing bubble rising from the id of the American right wing. I hope she continues to embarrass her employers as long as possible. The more offensive the better, I say. And if she goes down, there’s still Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and other assorted troglodytes to carry the banner. This is the true face of conservatism, people. Don’t be fooled by the polite coded bigotry of the country club Republicans who mouth the words “dignity” and “respect” but practice manipulating and dividing us with hatred and ignorance. Just turn to wingnuts like Coulter for the truth. They represent the reality of right-wing rule.