Degrees from Cornell and the University of Michigan. Recognized as being among the 100 top public intellectuals by the influential Judge Richard Posner (at least that’s what it says on her site). With these credentials we might expect something more from Coulter than this sort of commentary regarding a highly-controversial issue (See: Archive > Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Don’t Call Our Troops Homophobes):
“Maybe we could have an all-gay service! They’d be allowed to wear camouflage neckerchiefs (a la Paul Lynde) and camo capri pants. To avoid any sexual harassment claims, they’d have to have their own barrack, which we could outfit with a dance club, a cosmo bar and a counseling center called “The Awkward Place.” Their band would mostly play show tunes, and soldiers captured by the enemy would be taught to reveal only their name, rank and seasonal color analysis (“I am Private First Class Jeffrey Smith and I’m a ‘winter.’”) They wouldn’t be allowed in combat, however, for the same reason women aren’t –- it takes them too long to get ready.”
These lines were drawn from a post in which she is trying to tell her readers that most combat soldiers are opposed to knowing whether or not their comrades are gay, and therefore, their opinions should influence DADT policy decision-making (as opposed to those elements in the military trying to be reasonable and progressive). She seems sympathetic to the fighting man, who’s trained to kill, trained to deal with the stress of combat. So it seems reasonable to ask this question: If a soldier cannot cope with knowing a fellow in his unit is gay, how is he going to cope with the stress of getting shot at? And if one is getting shot at, who really cares if the guy who’s covering you is gay? Nothing build group cohesion like a dangerous enemy. Coulter, the intellectual, should be telling these men to examine their stereotyped beliefs and giving them the tools to get past them.
We should expect more indeed. What a disappointment. Don’t bother reading her books because a thorough perusal of her Website will show that she’s anything but a reasonable, caring, thoughtful person. She’s smart, to be sure. But not smart enough to be anything more than just another big-mouthed pundit. Coulter’s a mean, small-minded, thoughtless person peddling pubescent vitriol to her cohorts in the right wing. They can have her (as long as they promise to keep her). The only thing she’s got going for her is that she seems to leave God out of it. She appears, at least, to not be another Christian fundamentalist who uses religion to justify prejudice.
