The Pendragon's Hall

The Pendragon returneth, full of wrath. The media is having its usual circus with the Coulter-Edwards controversy. I may have my own issues with Coulter at times, but the crucifixion is entirely unmerited. It is amusing to note that Coulter's famous comment, "I'll just say that I wish Edwards had been killed in a terrorist attack," was not only taken out of context, it was misunderstood. It really wasn't about Edwards--it was about the media. Coulter was making the undeniably true point that she is not allowed to mock Edwards or to call him on the carpet on some issues, but that Bill Maher can say with a straight face that if Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack, the world would be better off. Fine, said Coulter, "I'll just say next time that I wish John Edwards had been killed in a terrorist attack." Immediately, people began to mutter that she wanted Edwards dead. That's not at all what she said. She merely noted the disparity between freedom of speech for liberals and for conservatives. Coulter says a lot of harsh things, but one never gets the idea she hates liberals or wants them dead, or injured, or anything else. That's the crux of this issue: liberals hate conservatives' guts and want them silenced at any cost. Hillary Clinton's embrace of the wrongly-named "fairness doctrine" is nothing more than the latest chapter in a decades-long movement to squash freedom of speech in favor of the liberal monolith. They are not content to have dialogue with conservatives--they want them silenced, preferably dead. Lest anyone accuse me of "the paranoid style of politics," the Pendragon begs leave to note that no respectable pundit suggested they wanted Al Gore or Bill Clinton dead. Coulter argued in her first book that Clinton's crimes were so heinous, the only debate should have been over impeachment or assassination, but that is not the same thing. Coulter probably can't even lower her IQ enough to respond to her critics. A play on words is lost on these people. The impression right-wingers took away was that Clinton was undeniably guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and deserved impeachment. But left-wingers can only see things when they're spelled out. Go...away...and...leave...us...alone. Hang in there, Ann! All it means is that your message is hitting home.