Ann Lolter

So I was just glancing at the bestseller list on the back of the local rag today, and I saw a new book by that Ann Coulter thing you used to hear so much about but who had not crossed my mind for god knows how long before I saw this book on the list. It's called Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America. Naturally, it appears to consist of the usual wingnut madlibs. When I saw it, I couldn't avoid a li'l fit of giggling; I mean, sure sure, dehumanizing opponents, bad, all that stuff, but the extremely literal interpretation of the "each title must use a scarier word than previous title" mandate is just plain funny, and the sheer absurdity of it (seriously--how can anyone possibly interview her with a straight face?) really accentuates the desperation to stay relevant--pushing fifty, not gonna be able to rely on the alleged good looks forever (this is the first one where she doesn't appear, in ludicrous attire, on the cover). Where can she possibly go from here? Given that all her titles are already basically schoolyard taunts, I'm thinking something along the lines of Dick Shit: Fuck Cock Liberal Poop would be a winner. Actually, a more realistic option--at least once she realizes that she's never again gonna be remotely relevant or acceptable in mainstream discourse and decides to just suck out whatever last bone marrow she can--would be racist, misogynist, and/or queerphobic slurs (you may recall her referring to Arabs as "ragheads" and calling John Edwards a "faggot," which really turned out to be pretty much the opposite of his problem, but never mind--she certainly doesn't). I don't doubt that she'd be willing to stoop that low, but I do question whether any publisher that wants to be thought of as even slightly respectable would be willing to go there. Heck, maybe the "poorly-mimeographed leaflets stapled to telephone poles" medium is her best bet.

Another thing I really like is that I only happened to stumble across this title by happenstance. Otherwise, I still wouldn't know about it--and checking wikipedia, I see that I hadn't heard of the last two either. I don't know if you remember this, but Coulter was quite the hot topic back when Slander and Treason came out--there was enraged sputtering everywhere, and many long, detailed page-by-page refutations of her lies. But now...nothin'. Her attempts to rile up the proles become less effective by the year I mean, the book still is a bestseller--due no doubt to bulk buying and bottom-feeding right-wing rags pawning off free copies to subscribers--but the fact remains: nobody cares. Not that plenty of unpleasant people haven't risen, dung-covered-phoenix-like, to take her place, but I do find her increased marginalization highly satisfying.

Still…I also feel a certain measure of horrified empathetic pity. Crazy, cynical, or both--who knows? But I just picture her in her twilight years, friendless, alone, and forgotten, confronted with the sum total of her contribution to the world: a dozen odd books that use lies to make people she doesn't know hate other people she doesn't know. What a devastating moment of self-awareness that would be. 'Course, maybe she'll never have it, and she'll go to her grave entirely content with her lot in life. Either way, seeing a human soul destroyed like that--however complicit she was in that destruction--is a terrible thing.