Sticks and Stones and Derogatory Labels
In my previous post, I discussed Ann Coulter's recent comments about 2008 presidential candidate, John Edwards, in which she implicates that Edwards is a 'faggot'. Some people have dismissed the controversy saying her comments were meant as a joke. Here's Tom Cloud from Time Magazine:
She didn't say "John Edwards is a faggot." She would never say that — not because she respects the rights of gays to full equality before the law (she doesn't) — but because it wouldn't be funny. Coulter wants to make people laugh more than anything; she is, as I have argued here, a right-wing ironist and comedienne as much as she is a political commentator. [full text here]
Even Coulter herself seems to be claiming it was a joke … sort of. According to CNN.com,
CNN has reached out to Coulter's representative, and received no response.
But the New York Times reported that she responded, in an e-mail, "C'mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean." [full text here ]
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