Heckling causes Coulter to cut UConn speech short

[Thom Little]

Conservative columnist Ann Coulter gave up trying to finish a speech at the University of Connecticut on Wednesday night when boos and jeers from the audience became overwhelming.

.......

"I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am," Coulter told the 2,600 people at Jorgensen Auditorium.

Coulter's appearance prompted protests from several groups, including Students Against Hate and the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center. They criticized her for spreading a message of hate and intolerance.

.......

In her speech at UConn, Coulter called Bill Clinton an "executive buffoon" who won the presidency only because Ross Perot took 19 percent of the vote. She called California Sen. Barbara Boxer a good candidate for the Democrats because "she is a woman and she's learning disabled."


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CT_COULTER_PROTEST_CTOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-12-07-22-29-42

[glitch]

1. Probably because it happens so rarely.

"I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am," Coulter

[swag]

2. Dupe

the cool guy beat me to it.

[WildClarySage]

21. Ann is dreaming. There is no one stupider.

[Orsino]

24. That's why she has to scour the country.

Keep chasing that dream, Ann.

[Erika]

3. It is the republicans who started hate and division in the U.S.

They are reaping what they sowed as they try to take our country into partisanship and hatred. They are trying to divide the world also.

Coulter was also the one who said we should give Muslims the choice to convert or to die, and kill their leaders.

She's a 44 year old anorexic bleached blonde who tries to dress as a sexy 17 year old while pitching a conservative tone. Pathetic and sad.

But she loves ripping off the conservatives by telling them they are the victims of everything anti-American. It helps her sells books.

[Carolab]

4. And speaking of learning disabled, vis a vis Perot

Bush had alienated much of his conservative base by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes, the economy had sunk into recession, and his perceived best strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East following the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War. Clinton successfully capitalized on these weaknesses by running as a centrist New Democrat and won the presidency. (Perot's campaign was actually labeled by some as being more liberal than conservative—including plans to significantly raise the gasoline tax and to oppose the NAFTA free-trade agreement.)

Hey, Ann: Remember "It's the economy, stupid"?

[bluedeminredstate]

9. She's only 44?

Jeez, I thought she was a very inappropriately attired 58 year old.
Well, I know I feel better. I mean to think I thought she was a COMPLETE whorish fishwife... you hate to be unfair and all when it comes to slutty.
:eyes:

[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maddy McCall]

74. No. You provide a link.

As a sister of to someone who is gender dysphoric, it really pisses me off to see posts like yours.

First of all, your comment about "how to dress appropriate" is offensive. But most of all, SO WHAT if she did use to be a man (yet to be proven--you are probably referring to that stupid parody site. Sadly, you aren't intelligent enough to recognize satire)?

There are hundreds of reasons to despise Ann Counter. Yours is stupid, and only exposes your own intolerance.

[StClone]

16. Coulter's Schtick ages

The main reason Coulter is popular with the Right is her so called "gifts" -- sexy young intellectual attacks the Left. When this hag ages she know she and he act will by whithered and the need for a wealth lardered away to sustain her otherwise useless existence will be indispensable.

[calimary]

48. That is absolutely true. She started getting "face time" on TV because

she said things that were provocative and outrageous (always good for luring all those viewers who also slow down and gawk at roadside car wrecks), and she's an "attractive" blonde. She photographs well with that skinny face and sunken cheeks that let the proverbial bone structure come out more visibly. And so often, she's swept that long blonde hair down, around, and over one shoulder - VERY provocative in the styling department, and again, photographs well.

Consider this as you scan the TV/cable channels: Almost too predictably many spokesblondes for the wrong-wing are just that: blonde - laura ingraham, coulter, monica crowley, some bimbette named kelly ann I-forget-her-last-name, ad nauseam. Blonde somehow is presumed to read better on camera. Notice if you will, all the blonde anchorettes out there, past and present - paula zahn, rita cosby, judy woodruff, deborah norville, laurie dhue, but they are ALL OVER. Look at your local news team and find the lead female anchor - invariably blonde. Even katie couric has lightened up. I'm surprised connie chung hasn't hit the dye bottle. There are exceptions, but the prevailing majority of leading women on TV are blonde or blonde-ish. Look at Baba Wawa. Hence, coulter.

Further, the republi-CONS, early-on, recognized the serious gender gap problem they STILL have, to this day, and evidently decided (I'm just judging by the evidence I see playing out onscreen for several years now) that the thing to do was find blondes, school them a little on the talking points, and get 'em out there on camera. Preferably young blondes. And, since the Pox "news" people (roger ailes comes to mind) appear to like women on camera who also have large bumper-car lips - laurie dhue for one - that they can slick up with all kinds of heavy lipstick goo, I'd bet you good money that they have research telling them this appeals to viewers - especially male demographics in which Pox is undoubtedly strong. I suspect guys like roger ailes have an inflatable doll complex, anyway. Anyway, I'm guessing the GOP thought it'd be good to have nice-looking young blondes out there parroting the party messages because of their being easy on the eyes and camera-friendly. That increases their visceral appeal factor, so the unsuspecting viewer, who's being played like a violin, makes a subliminal (subliminable? :P ) connection that it's all good. Nice-looking lady on there, what she's saying is automatically going to go down easy with some viewers, who are more likely to stick around and watch if there's somebody speaking who's nice to look at. This is TELEVISION, after all, and most of America, I think, is visually-oriented. So the pretty blonde chickadees are out there appealing to the men on a sexual basis, appealing to the women (supposedly) because - oh, look, Maizie! SHE'S a republi-CON on there. The republi-CONS DO like women - I mean, look! Yes, Virginia, they even have FEMALE spokespeople! That certainly must prove that their message is good for women, doesn't it? The subtext is that the GOP is so into women's issues that they have all these women out there speaking for them. YOU, the viewer, make that connection without even realizing it.

ann coulter is significant because out of all of them, she has been elevated to something of a first-among-equals status with her books that, I believe, are mere props issued by wrong-wing publishing machinery to give her clout and resume credits. They build her a "credibility" as a "best-selling author" when, frankly, I suspect people like richard mellon scaife and others buy her crap by bulk and provide cases of it to republi-CON fundraisers who either give it away to donors or offer it for sale at partisan gatherings for more fundraising. I mean, limbaugh had his own version of that - when he did a TV show, he had a set FILLED to the rafters with stacks of his books. That was the backdrop - stacks of his books. Well, they had to be procured from somewhere, so evidently his producers or backers made big bulk purchases to fill the set behind him, and then he of course gets credit for those book sales and it makes him look as though he's a best-seller, too. It's all RAWTHER ingenious, actually.

But coulter's gonna find that as she ages, it may well be difficult to get more "face time." Probably why she's out on the speaking engagement circuit, now, because she's NOT getting so much airtime anymore - too much bad reaction from viewers. And she's also going to find that as she ages, she'll face that age-old choice many women face: where you have to choose between your face and your ass. If she chooses her face and remains skinny so she can show off those long skinny legs in those short skirts to appeal to those horny old GOP viagra-mongers, she'll wind up looking like a hag. Frankly, I think she's well on her way there now.

Fine by me. The name "skeletor" becomes her.

[bluedeminredstate]

63. Excellent post.

You nailed it. Nothing else to add here...
Better late than never to tell you, but I just read this.
:)

[calimary]

70. Thanks!

Until recently, when the grays took over, I was a lifelong brunette, and I was acutely aware of how blondes got ahead quicker and more easily in local TV (which then led to national TV for some of them), while us brown-hairs were usually passed over. I once interviewed katie couric just a year or so after she inherited the "Today" show and I thanked her for proving that blondes don't get EVERYTHING. She gave me a resounding, sisterly high-five. She replaced TWO blondes - Deborah Norville, who - the rumor circuit loudly huffed - replaced blonde Jane Pauley because Norville appealed to Dick Ebersol and the other NBC (male) brass at the time as "younger and blonder." BTW - that was the quote that was used, that I still clearly recall from one TV critic's assessment as Norville went on as "Today" show cohost, and proceeded to go straight downhill.

But it's TRUE. There's Diane Sawyer (who wouldn't have gotten halfway as far as she did, as quickly, if she weren't photogenic and blonde. "Very compelling to watch" is how they described her, as she was gaining ground. And Leslie Stahl. And Joan Lunden, who helmed "Good Morning America" for so many years before getting her own stuff. And people like Mary Hart and Leeza Gibbons. Shit, most of the anchorwomen in our market (here in L.A.) are blonde. It's a RARE brunette who gets promoted that high, and I've yet to see a redhead. There are also many women of color, but among the anglos (anglas?) it's about 95 percent blonde. The only woman who seemed to buck the system for awhile at NBC was Maria Shriver, aside from the hapless Connie Chung, but then, Maria Shriver had her own built-in (or should I say inbred) celebrity - even before Arnold. But just about everybody else is blonde. It just reads better on camera, especially when most of the news executives calling the shots and making the hires are men. I often wonder what my career might have been like - if I'd just gone ahead and dyed my hair blonde.

I do not know this for certain, but I'd bet you hard money that some GOP elders like roger ailes and other media manipulators got together, especially once they were corralled by Rupert Murdoch to put the Pox "news" network together, and it was decided that pretty young blondes were the way to go to attract viewers, especially among men who might be more receptive to a conservative "macho" shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later yee-haw cowboy tough-guy presentation. Just look at the demographics - the republi-CON party and its candidates poll better with men than with women, hence the "gender gap" that was in play even during Reagan's era.

I apologize to the many men here on DU who tend to think with the head above their shoulders than with the other head farther down-range. The marketing types and GOP merchandizing people and media manipulators have probably focus-grouped this to death, and I'd bet you hard money their research says "Get Blonde Girls." They're being used. And they don't even realize it. They're mere devices. In a way, they're political inflatable dolls.

I suspect if you watch ann coulter, she'll get more and more shrill and more and more outrageous and more and more horrendously incendiary as she ages, because she won't photograph as well as the years pile up. And like any pseudo-savvy media whore, she's gotta stay in the headlines some way or other, doesn't she? That'll be the only way available to her - to get attention. Which is fine because the louder and shittier she gets, the less popular she becomes, and soon, she'll talk herself out of a lot of speaking engagements, because more than a few bookers at campuses and elsewhere are bound to want to shy away from a lot of negative publicity and protests and nasty, messy public scenes. They won't want the bad publicity that she will bring with her, and her market will dry up. It just won't be worth the hassle, or the costs they'll have to cover for crowd control and added security everywhere she makes an appearance. Except maybe in radio interviews or TV phoners with a photo put up onscreen that was taken ten years earlier. She'll rail and rage on for another coupla years, and keep on ramping it up to get noticed until people tire of the screeching harpie provocateur-for-provocation's-sake schtick. I think she's well on her way there now.

[belle]

67. She does kind of have the "aging crack 'ho" look pretty nailed down...

[Bhaisahab]

72. brilliant analysis! n/t

[Mad_Dem_X]

30. Whenever I hear a repuke say

that dems are "hateful" I want to tell them that they are the ones spreading hate and mean-spiritedness, we're just calling them on it.

As Truman once said (and one DUer has as their sig line): "I don't give them hell. I give them the truth, and they think it's hell."

[dchill]

55. You are exactly right - "hate and division"...

Coulter knows exactly what she's doing, and it's all about selling books. Like the other "conservative" pundits, she is as anti-American as it gets.

[President Kerry]

77. those books are bulk-bought by some fatcats to move them up the

hmm "best-seller" (hahahaha) list. If her BS actually did sell, the US could be declared collectively dangerously insane.

[drhilarius]

5. "I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am,"

Was she speaking to the UConn Boxes of Rocks Student Union?

[trogdor]

31. The football team?

Maybe the Alpha Rho Epsilon (APE) fraternity?

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. It probably isn't safe for coulter to make public appearances

there are people who actually pay attention to the shit she slings and get offended by it.

[DBoon]

7. Ann Coulter does not "give speeches"

She performs in a strange type of theater. Part of her theatrical performance is the audience's reactions.

Heckling her off the stage isn't "censorship", it is part of the theater.

Think of it as like an old hard-core punk show, where the audience would jump up on stage and spit on the musicians.

[Fuzz]

18. Bingo! With one exception.

The old hard-core punks didn't bitch and moan about those who responded.

[silvermachine]

39. Interesting observation...

...you know I've always thought that we on the left played somewhat of a role in making Coulter a household name because we rise to the bait with her more often than we should.
When she first started getting media attention some years back, I thought she was so pathetic and absurd that no one could possibly take her seriously and she would just fade away into the shadows much like her earlier RW prototype, Susan Carpenter McMillan.
I felt that even responding to her inane pronouncements was beneath us and was exactly what she wanted to have happen as part of her schtick. Trying to get us to match her level of vitriol is precisely what she wants, resulting in coverage of her as a sort of media sideshow which face it, is the only real way she can sustain her career. It certainly won't happen if judged on the merits of her skills as a journalist.
The best drubbing of Coulter I've ever seen was done by Joe Conason on (I believe) Hardball some years back. After hearing some of her more outrageous pronouncements, he calmly asked her to provide some facts or attribution for her outlandish claims and all she could do was turn beet red, stammer and yell. It was priceless.

[antonialee839]

47. Conason did the same thing to Ed Klein

on the Al Franken show. If the Coulter smack down was anything like the
Klein smack down, it must have been like a little slice of heaven.

[silvermachine]

51. Yeah, it was pretty sweet...

...and I was already a fan of Conason before seeing him completely dismantle her.

[msongs]

8. she is the jerry springer of the repubs party - all about PR and money

and ratings and such. works for her apparently because it gets so many people riled up and generates
her a ton of publicity.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[stickdog]

10. Stupider? That's not even a word, stupid. (nt)

[xchrom]

15. lol --

:rofl:

[deminks]

17. ROFL. That ranks up there with "moran"

"Stupider than Mann Coulter" is a phrase that should stick.

[eppur_se_muova]

65. That's even more stupider!

[Shakespeare]

53. AND by choosing that comparative word.....

...she's just admitted that she's stupid.

[Gelliebeans]

78. Thank you for pointing that out

I was looking for someone who thought that also. ;)

[wasp in a wig]

11. what the hell is Ann Coulter doing at a university

anyway ? For that matter, why is she a guest on 'news' programs ? How can anybody take her seriously ?

They might as well invite Howard Stern.

[Robeson]

13. Agree 100%.

[devinsgram]

20. What were they thinking

0f when they invited her to speak? How stupid was the university? Evidently they wanted a near riot on their hands. Most be Joe Lieberman's alma mater.

[alarcojon]

62. My thoughts exactly

At my university, right-wing students and their behind-the-shadows backers have been whining for years that the speakers we bring to campus are too liberal and that we need to balance this out with an equal number of conservative speakers. Some schools succumb to this constant pressure.

But to me, a speaker at a university should be able to provide some intellectual content. Ann Coulter cannot do this. Plus, her fees are exhorbitant - so much for the "common woman in touch with the masses" bullshit.

[SomewhereOutThere424]

12. LOL

Does anyone realize Ann just admitted her former life as a man with this statement?

"She called California Sen. Barbara Boxer a good candidate for the Democrats because "she is a woman"

Pot.Kettle.Black.

[keopeli]

14. Because one is polite doesn't mean one is honest. But, honesty is kind.

The young Republican's retort against the protesters was to say that the woman deserved to be heard. That would be the polite thing to do. But sometimes being passively polite is inappropriate. For instance, when someone is robbing a bank that you are in, being polite suddenly loses it's meaning. In that situation, an intervention would be seen as heroic.

The problem is that the protester's message is not clearly conveyed by the media.

The problem with Ann Coulter is that her lies are couched as the truth, which has been made abundantly clear, at least in terms we might expect a University to understand. She lies and nobody calls her on it.

The debate format is much more civil for this sort of exposition, not a graduation speech. What sort of message are you giving your students as they commence with life? Is it that we want the next generation to know how to lie very well?

To call this "hate" speech is emotive, but not to the point.

These are lies. Yes, she is hateful, too. But, these are lies that she tells.

edit: syntax

[trogdor]

32. I guess if Heinrich Himmler were to speak there...

...the YR's would insist he had a right to be heard, too.

[Autobot77]

41. Fuck these assholes

This really pisses me off.For the last 5 years the repukes have been running around labeling anyone that disagrees with the GOP ideology as "unpatriotic" or a "traitor" or worse "helping the terrorists". Were the repukes respectful when antiwar speeches were given at thier commencement? Hell no, not only did they shout them down, but they rushed onstage and tried to physically remove the mike. Now when some GOP bimbo comes and spews hate speech they demand she be heard? If you REALLY thought that opposing viewpoints should be heard you should not have spent so much time suppressing them. So you are going to let them heckle her and you are going to enjoy hearing it while lying in the bed you so carefully made for the past 5 years. Eat shit and die, GOP.

[ChrisK]

19. I know I'm alone on this but..I kind of feel sorry for her.

Just look at her...all she really wants is attention and she seems to not get enough of it no matter how inflaming her statements are....how sad for any one human to need THAT much attention.

One day she will fade away like her hero Senator McCarthy..minus the alcoholism..sad really.

[Dances with Cats]

23. How do you figure "minus the alcohol"

I hear she drinks like a fish and chain smokes like a fiend. Not to judge, I don't mind if she shoots up. I'm just saying. And paris Hilton needs attention, too. What is WRONG with these vapid swizzle sticks???

[wordpix]

42. i don't feel one bit for her sorry ass-she deserves all the boos she gets

[belle]

68. Ech. Maybe in a Gollum sort of way, but honestly, right now...

she's still hateful and damaging enough that I can't muster up any pity. Maybe after she finally drinks and/or pukes herself to death, alone and forgotten, I might summon up a small twinge.

But no more than that.

[Dances with Cats]

22. I hope someone gave "Stan the Man" a tissue

in case his feelings got hurt....

[Dr.Phool]

25. Ann Coulter to audience: "You're stupider than I am"

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/08/coulter.row.ap/index.html

Ann Coulter to audience: You're stupider than I am

Thursday, December 8, 2005; Posted: 8:11 a.m. EST (13:11 GMT)




STORRS, Connecticut (AP) -- Conservative columnist Ann Coulter cut short a speech at the University of Connecticut amid boos and jeers, and decided to hold a question-and-answer session instead.

"I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am," Coulter told the crowd of 2,600 Wednesday.

Before cutting off her speech after about 15 minutes, Coulter called Bill Clinton an "executive buffoon" who won the presidency only because Ross Perot took 19 percent of the vote.

Coulter's appearance prompted protests from several student groups. About 100 people rallied outside the auditorium where she spoke, saying she spread a message of intolerance.

"We encourage diverse opinion at UCo

[SpiralHawk]

26. "Executive Buffoon" She's confused again

That can only be George AWOL Bush.

Get your facts straight, Annie

[Canuckistanian]

27. Intelligent discourse....

... Anne Coulter style.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Atman]

29. $16,000 is good money for 15 minutes of booing.

Sign me up! You can even lob a couple of tomatoes at me. And I won't insult the audience.

Finally, something to be proud of CT about...we booed Coulter off stage! Gotta love it.

[wordpix]

43. UConn paid her $16K? Link, pls. I am going to write UConn and the

legislature about that, if true. What a waste of my CT tax dollars.

[Atman]

50. I don't have time for a link...I'm a local, it's been all over the papers.

Check the Hartford's Courant's web page. The fee is part of what the student protest was about. UCONN only pays $10,000, tops, for speakers, but they made an exception for Coulter. Why her? I can understand maybe if Jesus spoke or something, by why does Coulter rank this high to set such a precedent. And, it isn't our tax money. This is entirely student-run. She was paid for out of student's special events fees. Some worthwhile program will likely miss out on funding because Coulter took such an outlandish fee for 15 minutes of booing!

[Gyre]

34. The fact that anybody would pay her that amount of money

is prima facie evidence that they ARE more stupid than she. So I agree with her.

Gyre

[belle]

69. There is that.

:eyes: Being a repulsive blowhard sure pays well these days...

[olddad56]

56. If they are bothering to listen to her, maybe she is correct.

[XNGH]

59. Hard act to follow

I don't Ann ... you're a hard act to follow

[AngryAmish]

33. Why is she allowed to speak anywhere?

And why isn't she in jail for advocating hatred?

[superconnected]

35. Good point. Were any of the nazi propagandaists ever arrested?

They should have been.

Sure there's free speech in America, but this woman has suggested muslims convert or be killed. That's inciting violence.

[AngryAmish]

61. PJ Wodehouse was not arrested

But he was "encouraged" to emigrate. An American guy named Joyce was hung for treason (by the english) for being a nazi propogandist. Colture is no different.

[Miss Chybil]

36. Who hires this woman to speak at universities?

It's a waste. If it's the Young Republicans, they should do something more constructive with their money, like feed starving people, or something. What a shame.

Edited because I can't type this early in the morning.

[superconnected]

37. "I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am," Cou

She really is an idiot.

Oh, excuse me, I already knew that. But I mean, she really really is an idiot.

[6000eliot]

44. She must have trouble finding them.

[NorthernSpy]

40. "Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment" -- Coulter, 10/20/05

http://www.alligator.org/pt2/051021coulter.php

She also criticized the media for being liberal and Democrats for whining about their rights under the First Amendment.

"They're always accusing us of repressing their speech," she said. "I say let's do it. Let's repress them."

She later added, "Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment."

Man Coulter wants to repress us? Fine. We should take that as license to repress him right back. Since Man doesn't respect our right to speak, we shouldn't respect his right to speak, either. What happened at UConn should happen everywhere Man tries to open his sour little mouth.


I salute the hecklers!

:toast:

[wordpix]

45. for this, she's paid thousands? What a fine American (NOT!)

[truthisfreedom]

46. the mistress of insults is nothing more than a comedy act with an over-

grown adam's apple. ann culture is a life support system for bad breath.

[warrens]

49. ah, my alma mater

CNN has a poll, who is stupider, ann the man or the students. Ann is winning in a walk, at 67 percent when I voted.

[KamaAina]

52. "I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am,"

I can only think of one offhand.

S/he must be spending a lot of quality time with King Dumbass** himself...

[olddad56]

54. She is 'appearance challenged' or ugly as we used to say...

Not to mention being an nazi idiot.

[wordpix]

58. her evil shines through

[WhiteTara]

60. wow and she has terrible grammar

on top of it all. Glad to see that the kids in Connecticut can't be fooled by such a hate monger. :woohoo:

[eppur_se_muova]

64. Kick Ann Coulter! Nominate for Top Three Conservative Idiots

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2299424&mesg_id=2299424

(cross-post)

...Wow! Give that woman(sp?) the John Bolton Medal for Diplomatic Politesse! Way to go, Ann! With another Top Ten Conservative Idiots coming up, I'd like to nominate Ann for the top THREE slots -- win, place, and show -- so she can quote her favorite hero and say "I never expected to get the trifecta". OK, some of these are old quotes, but they are, sadly, literally unforgettable.

[Triana]

66. my mom was watching

I was on the phone w/her and she was laughing her a** off! Good enough for Annthrax...the snarling pointy-nosed beyotch.

[goforit]

71. What a whimp!!!

A prissy one at that!!!

[truthisfreedom]

73. mann "coulter of corruption"

[maxrandb]

75. Where were her big, strong, strapping

College Republican goons? Weren't there any of these guys around to protect Ann from these wimpy, pidgeon chested LIEberals? I guess they were all in Iraq fighting for our freedoms! :sarcasm:

[formercia]

76. Coulter isn't even human

It's a satanic golem conjured out of the cesspool of an insane asylum.