The Right Argues Wrong

So Ann Coulter put her foot in her mouth. Again. In a big way. Again.

Nothing new to that story of course. Her previous book was a defense of Tailgunner Joe McCarthy and he's probably the one person more in need of an unmarked grave than Lincoln Stern. This time she lashed out complaining that there isn't a response to the greiving widow being brought out. And I thought about that and went, "there's something not quite right there, but I'm not sure what it is."

I know the answer. What's wrong with that is those nice folks over on the right (like Ann, and Pat Robertson, and Jerry Fallwell, and Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity, and well, just about anyone on Faux news) don't make a good argument. The argue all the time. The bitch, moan and scream at the top of their heads that whatever they see as wrong is ruining the country, and blast the hell out of anyone on the other side as some kind of loony hippie. And there's where they go wrong. Their method of argument is to ignore whatever the other side is saying, and simply go after the PERSON on the other side.

Al Gore is a raving tree-hugger. Bill Clinton is the anti-christ. Jimmy Carter is the stepson of Joe Stalin and Emma Goldman.

They never bother to actually deal with the real issue, and that's why they've managed to horribly fuck up everything they touch. Their debating skills are indicative of their reasoning skills. This is why Ann Coulter is going after the 9/11 widows and orphans. Because she doesn't have an answer to what they're saying.

It's "Thank You For Smoking" writ large. It's the negative campaign as response to everything. It has worked in politics to a point, but at some point the bills come due. Well, they're due.