It increasingly looks like Ann Coulter is going to ride out this controversy. She’s getting support from some Jews.
Susan Goldberg writes: For all of those folks outraged at Ann Coulter’s “f-ing Jews” Tweet during the last Republican debate, I have one simple question: Where were you in 2007 when Ann Coulter expressed the belief that Jews needed to be “perfected” into Christians? There are two cardinal sins goyim can commit: Using the phrase “f-ing Jews” and proclaiming a belief that Jews need to convert to Christianity. Ann has broken both. So, what’s the difference between 2007’s offense and today’s?
…But that was then and this is now, an era in which we receive and express outrage in 140 characters or less. Which is why the 2004 study illustrating a link between illegal immigration and anti-Israel views tweeted by Ann was sadly ignored. An essential point missed because, like, what does Israel have to do with Mexico? Most conservatives are too busy connecting Ann with Donald Trump and Donald Trump trends higher than Israel and Mexico combined.
Which leads one to ask, was Ann’s “f-ing Jews” a clever way to address the Republican/Israel/immigration trifecta by feeding off of the buzz created by Trump’s anti-Semitic supporters? Perhaps. The woman is in tune with the conservative world, after all, and let’s admit her timing couldn’t have been more precise. As a Jew I’ll agree that the phrase “f-ing Jews” is the equivalent of the N-word: You just don’t say it. To paraphrase Walter Sobchak, 5,000 years of persecution, you better believe you don’t drop the term “f-ing Jews.” But, I’ll also agree with my fellow Jewish conservative Ben Shapiro: Ann Coulter is still a better supporter of Israel than the pro-Obama Jewish hypocrites currently mocking her. And that is another point lost in the mire of the f-bomb.
I don’t agree with Ann’s support of Trump. But I can’t think of one single conservative with whom I agree on everything, because that’s what adults do: Critically think, not idol worship. Which is why Sarah Rumpf’s echo of the conservative declaration “Ann broke my heart” is especially absurd…
Jonah Goldberg’s essay at NRO “encouraged and emboldened” Twitter users with anti-Semitic views. Does Rumpf, an avid anti-Trumper, believe Goldberg should’ve just kept his mouth shut and played nice, too? What kind of Coulter fan is Rumpf, anyway? One that watched her Barbie in sexy heels on mute for the past 15 years?
I once observed that Ann’s “sarcastic jabs often got her into more trouble than her actual argumentation.” The problem isn’t Ann, it’s us. Instead of using jabs to make an argument, we’ve traded in arguments for jabs. Ann is not made for those who’ve pandered down the Twitter hole. Nor is she designed for those seeking to worship idols instead of cultivate their own opinions. Conservatives who aren’t afraid to think critically can still pull the meat from the fat of Ann’s arguments. Did Republican candidates pander to the same old tropes in that debate? Yes. Are they ignoring the realities of immigration policies, in particular the impact they have had and will have on American political attitudes towards Israel? Yes. So, what’s your f-ing problem, again?
Despite what my PJ colleague Rick Moran thinks, Ann is far from over. She not only took advantage of the Right’s seedy underbelly of anti-Semitism, she called attention to their faux anti-Israelism to boot, and all while addressing the issue of illegal immigration. And in the world of social media, we would have missed all of that if she hadn’t Tweeted about the “f-ing Jews.” That’s sad commentary, indeed. For the rest of us that is, not for Ann.
