Ann
Coulter vs. Arabs
April
27, 2004
By Scott C. Smith
In
a recent column, Ann Coulter expressed indignation regarding
an apparent Federal Aviation Administration policy not to
perform searches on more than two Arabs at a time. I was not
aware of this policy, but unsurprisingly, Coulter would like
all Arabs stopped and searched. You know, because they're
Arab.
I think Coulter is applying some sort of twisted logic to
this subject. Something along the lines of, "The terrorists
that attacked the United States on 9/11 were Arabs. Therefore,
all Arabs are terrorists."
In essence, Coulter is advocating racial profiling. Which
is an odd position for an attorney with a background in constitutional
law to take. Innocent until proven guilty? Not if you look
like you are an Arab.
It was John Lehman, a member of the 9-11 Commission, that
had brought attention to the policy that prohibits airlines
from searching more than two Arabs at a time. To this, Coulter
writes, "In a sane world, Lehman's statement would have made
headlines across the country� that it is official government
policy to prohibit searching more than two Arabs per flight."
African-Americans have dealt with this kind of injustice
for years. And while Coulter thinks racial profiling is sound
law enforcement policy, I have another word for it: racism.
But that's just me. And when you apply Coulter's logic to
other scenarios, the logic stops making sense.
For instance, The FBI has profiled serial killers and what
has emerged is that the majority of serial killers are white
males. Does that mean the FBI should stop every white male
in a particular city or region where a serial killer has struck?
Of course not. That would be stupid.
So, even though she supports a racist method of law enforcement,
it would not be fair for me to say Coulter was a racist. I
don't know Ann Coulter, so I can't say she's a racist. That
would be wrong. Maybe we can find some answers in her columns!
Here's a good one - September 25, 2002. Why We Hate Them.
Coulter writes:
Americans don't want to make Islamic fanatics love
us. We want to make them die. There's nothing like horrendous
physical pain to quell angry fanatics. So sorry they're angry
- wait until they see American anger. Japanese kamikaze pilots
hated us once too. A couple of well-aimed nuclear weapons,
and now they are gentle little lambs. That got their attention.
No love lost there, eh Ann? Maybe we should emulate the
policies of the Hitler-era German government. They didn't
like Jews very much, so they rounded them up and killed millions
of them.
Conservatives do a lot of whining about how liberals are
always quick to label conservatives as "racists" or "homophobes"
or "stupid." These assessments, at least for me, are based
on what I hear coming out of a conservative's mouth, or what
they write.
Actually, conservative hate-speak is very easy to pick up
on. Take Sean Hannity. He likes to begin sentences with statements
like "You liberals�" or he'll say "You and your liberal friends�"
The key is to take the word liberal and replace it with a
minority. Give it a try the next time you hear Hannity, or
some other right-winger, on television or read it in print.
If you can stomach hearing Hannity. Maybe you'll need to find
someone less annoying.
Speaking of annoying, let's get back to Coulter. In her
Sept. 4, 2002 column, titled Murder for Fun and Prophet (get
it? Prophet refers to the Prophet Muhammad. Hilarious!), at
the end of the column, Coulter dismisses the Muslim faith
as irrelevant:
Muhammad makes L. Ron Hubbard look like Jesus Christ.
Most people think nothing of assuming every Scientologist
is a crackpot. Why should Islam be subject to presumption
of respect because it's a religion?
That's right, Ann! Over one billion people around the world
are crackpots because they are Muslims. Idiots!
And let's not forget Ann's most infamous column, from Sept.
12, 2001. At the end of that column, she says:
We should invade their countries, kill their leaders
and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about
locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We
carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war.
And this is war.
Call me crazy, but I get the impression that Arabs and/or
Muslims are not Ann's favorite people.
For instance, in an interview with the UK Guardian
on May 17, 2003, Coulter said:
This is my idea�I think airlines ought to start advertising:
"We have the most civil rights lawsuits brought against
us by Arabs."
Oh, Ann, my sides are splitting! In fact, as a solution for
Muslims to use air travel, Coulter offers helpfully, "They could
use flying carpets!"
Flying carpets! Brilliant! Ann, you know, if the whole racist
pundit thing ever comes to an end, you'll have a career in
stand-up comedy.
We know Ann hates liberals, and it's pretty clear she hates
Muslims. And, apparently, Scientologists. I don't know what
Ann likes. My guess will have to be, hearing her own voice.
Or Sean Hannity's voice.
Scott C. Smith is a freelance writer from Beaverton, Oregon.
Scott's column, What's In Scott's Head, appears at several
progressive web sites, including the Democratic Underground,
The Smirking Chimp, Op Ed News, and Counter Bias. Scott also
writes for his web site, at ScottcSmith.net.
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