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Coulter on Campus
Posted Saturday, February 11 2006 10:44:08 am
Inflammatory conservative pundit Ann Coulter came to campus Friday night, with much hype and little controversy as she lambasted the media and Democrats, while also taking on current issues such as Muslim riots and wiretapping.
She criticized media outlets, including fellow conservative Bill O’Reilly, who refuse to show the cartoons that have caused riots throughout the Muslim world.
“Somebody ought to tell them that those interviews with porn stars and prostitutes aren’t high on Christians’ lists or favorite viewing on O’Reilly,” said Coulter. “I think these people are pussies.”
She ridiculed the New York Times for committing the “treasonable” offense of revealing the Bush administration’s covert wiretapping program while refusing to reprint the cartoons that depict the Prophet Mohammed as a terrorist.
“It is absolutely going to make it harder now for the U.S. to catch terrorists planning to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge or flying planes into the World Trade Center,” she said of the Times’ story revealing the terrorist surveillance program. “Maybe we’re taking care of things in Iraq, but I’d just as soon be keeping an eye on anyone in this country who has al Zarqawi on his speed dial. That’s what we were doing and now, unfortunately, now anybody with al Zarqawi on his speed dial knows the U.S. is listening to him.”
Over 300 hundred students attended the event, sponsored by the GW College Republicans. Dozens more were turned away despite the use of both the Continental Ballroom and the Amphitheater in the Marvin Center. Many students were upset that there was not enough room to accomadate the large crowds.
The conservative columnist drew hundreds of students of all political ideologies who hoped to both cheer and jeer at her remarks. Several student organizations threatened protest and disruption prior to last night's speech.
Surprisingly to some, however, the GW crowd was mostly respectful, with very little confrontation between Coulter and the majority-liberal campus.
One left-leaning student said he was “disappointed” by the small amount of controversy in Coulter’s remarks.
“We expected more of a challenge,” said Rick Thide ’09, who sat in the back of the room with a friend who equally disliked Coulter’s views.
“I would have liked a little more controversy, a little more liberal questions, because that’s what makes the event good,” said GWCR Chairman Jeff Holth ‘06. “But I thought it was a good combination of good questions and a solid audience.”
Coulter began with 30 minutes of prepared text in which she derided Democrats and liberals in gay marriage, family values, their position on the war in Iraq and the media.
The heat was added during the question and answer session, when some of those less supportive of Coulter and her views were allowed to talk back.
At some of the more contentious questions, Coulter savvily averted answers, cutting the question short or just simply moving on with a satirical joke thrown in.
The most heated discussion came after one student cited comments Coulter made in the past labeling Islam as a “car burning cult.”
“I’ve been skeptical of the claim that Islam is the religion of peace and I think the evidence is going my way this week,” she said. “Either that or it’s another example of Scandinavian humor falling flat,” referring to the cartoons, which were originally published in Denmark.
Coulter predicted that Republicans would lose seats in the upcoming midterm elections, saying that the “historical odds are overwhelming.”
“Bush picked up seats in his first midterm election…. You don’t do that twice,” she said.
She said that despite former President Ronald Reagan’s popularity six years in, the Republicans still lost Congress.
Coulter also admitted a lack of enthusiasm for President Bush, saying that “he’s no Reagan.”
“They’re never quite what we want,” she said of Republicans and their presidents. “We have to keep them in line. Reagan was just a dream, but we’re used to it.”
“He’s no Ronald Reagan,” she added, “but who is? Maybe Dick Cheney.”
UPDATE from the NewsBlog:
A handful of student protesters greeted Coulter outside of the Marvin Center both before and after the event. They shouted slogans such as “It’s bullshit! Get of it! This bitch is made for profit!” and “Racist, sexist, anti-gay! Right wing: make it go away!” Video was captured by the left-leaning weblog bradblog.com.
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