Liberals Hate Context
Last night I saw a link to a clip of Ann Coulter apparently saying very nasty things about John Edwards. After watching it, I was fully prepared to write her off as having gone from being edgy, to going over the edge. The Internet is aflame today with liberals in shock and amazement at what Ann “said.” According to the, in this case, apt-named Crooks and Liars
And Coulter herself said, “if I’m going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.”
Based on that statement, it sure sounds like Ann has gone over the edge and should be denounced by everyone. I had my pitchfork ready to go.
But not so fast. Today, I found the full interview that provides the context for her apparently-insensitive statement. Go watch both and come back. I’ll wait.
[Time passes.]
Notice the really important line of context leading up to the “slur?” The full quote is
… but at the same time, you know Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack. So I’ve learned my lesson, if I’m going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.
That context changes things, doesn’t it? It always does.
Daniel:
Liberals have always been afraid of intellectual honesty - it seems to be one of their trademarks. It doesn’t help that we are now a soundbite society, so people are not looking for context. “Oh, she said that? She must be crazy!”
June 28, 2007, 14:14:54I tire of it, so I tend to not follow politics anymore.
Jason Kratz:
Is it ‘intellectual honesty’ to lump all liberals (or conservatives for that matter) together that way? I for one can’t stand Ann Coulter. She does absolutely nothing for political discourse in this country. However there was the issue that Elizabeth Edwards called into Hardball about (death of their son) to try to beat Coulter over the head with. The context of that mark, in my mind, made the attack by Edwards unfair. I don’t think Coulter was making fun of their dead son as seem to be implied. She was saying that it was ridiculous to keep using the dead son as a tool in a political campaign. Now, I am a liberal and I considered the attack unfair after seeing the context.
July 2, 2007, 19:30:58The problem with politics in this country is the ease in which people seem to be getting lumped into groups and cast as evil, unpatriotic, whatever. That does nothing to move the country forward.
Jason