Patriotism

Dennis Miller instructs the ladies on how to be an American. HotAir has the video.

RLC

When Race, Religion and Ideology Matter

John Leo at City Journal explains why one can't be too careful when reading or listening to the news:

Sometimes news stories omit important religious and political identifications, too. In Nashville last week, readers of the Tennessean were probably able to deduce the religious affiliation of a cabbie who tried to run over two Christian students after a heated discussion of religion. His name: Ibrahim Sheikh Ahmed. The paper reported: "Metro police spokeswoman Kris Mumford said one of the students is Catholic and the other is Lutheran. Mumford said that Ahmed's religion was not known." Maybe so, but many readers probably wondered: if the driver had been a conservative Christian trying to run down a Muslim, wouldn't the newsroom have summoned the energy to find out, and to confront Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the evils of Islamophobia?

Evidently, race, religion and ideology are only important to a news story when identifying them can make white male Christians look bad.

Leo's whole piece is worth reading.

RLC

Cheap Shot

I've written several times about the viciousness that resides all too comfortably on the left and how it is almost a uniquely left-wing phenomenon in contemporary politics. I say "almost" because from time to time someone on the starboard side of the ship will let go with something that's just plain gratuitously mean. It doesn't happen often, but it shouldn't happen at all, and it would happen a lot less often if Ann Coulter would just stifle herself when she feels the need to step over the line of "edgy and witty commentary" into the realm of just plain meanness.

Alas, she doesn't stifle herself often enough, and so conservatives are made to wince at episodes like this one reported by Hot Air:

Ann Coulter is speaking at CPAC as I write. As is typical, she gave a brief speech full of her usual witticisms, including a few brilliant attacks on Al Gore's green hypocrisy. All was good. Untill the last few seconds, when she launched into a joke about John Edwards. Here's what she said.

"I'd say something about John Edwards, but if you say 'faggot' you have to go to rehab."

I'm no fan of John Edwards, but that's just a stupid joke. It's over the line. The laughter it generated across the room was more than a little annoying.

Last year it was "raghead." This year it's calling John Edwards a "faggot." Two years in a row, Coulter has finished up an otherwise sharp CPAC routine with an obnoxious slur that liberals will fling at conservatives for years to come.

Thanks, Ann.

Coulter's penchant for the gratuitous insult is why we rarely cite her commentary anymore which is unfortunate because she is bright, usually right, and often funny. This sort of "joke," however, just confirms her reputation as a cheap-shot artist. She owes Edwards an apology.

RLC