I have installed Google as my homepage, primarily for a nagging laziness as a result of the frequency with which I refer to the search engine. However, the main page has begun to include news headlines, both of a political and entertainment-related nature. Each time the page pops up, I scan over the headlines, a habit acquired as a result of my enrollment in an Advanced Placement Government class this year with high expectations of the ability to observe the events occuring in the world around ourselves.
Anyway, a particular headline caught my attention yesterday: 'Ann Coulter calls John Edwards a 'faggot'.' Certain that I was being lured into an article that was far more disinteresting than the title promised, I skeptically clicked the link. I was astounded to find that there was truth behind the headline:
"At the Conservative Political Action Conference today, which was attended by 2008 Republican Presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), former Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) as well as Vice President Dick Cheney, Ann Coulter referred to Senator John Edwards as a "faggot".
After being introduced by Romney, who said 'I am happy to hear that after you hear from me, you will hear from Ann Coulter. That is a good thing. Oh yeah!', Coulter took the stage and said: 'I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I — so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards.'"
The video can be found at: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/3/02/coulter-edwards/.
Now, I realize the sight from which I obtained the article happens to be one targeted at gay men, so naturally, it is biased towards Coulter. But really, the first thing I though about after seeing the video was one of apallment. Why hasn't this news been more widespread? Oh yeah, because politicians say dirty things about one another all the time. But usually it's a little bit more backhanded that Coulter's remark. Granted, she did not actually call him a 'faggot'; she merely alluded to it by negation.
Often, we emphasis the difference between children and adults. It is assumed that, with maturity, we learn how to better deal with differences between one another. Although this has long proved to be false, I continue to find myself disgusted by the childish way with which adults handle themselves. Of course, Coulter would not talk fondly of Edwards, but to insult him by using a discriminatory remark seems like something one might find if they happened to step onto an elementary school campus. But instead of calling someone "stupid" or "ugly", it has moved on to bigger and seemingly better, incorporating the differences of others as a means to insult.
I will not deny the fact that my anger at the issue is fueled by my liberal impulses. Some might claim that Clinton could call McCain or Romney a "rich, white asshole" and I would cheer accordingly; while that would be geared more towards my idealogical standings, I am merely frustrated at the omnipresent inability to maturely deal with one another throughout humanity.
Although I wouldn't object if a large bird let out a large stream of waste upon Coulter's head.
