Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Why is our AG praising Ann Coulter?

OK, here's where I draw the line, Troy King. I know you're proud of your job as Alabama attorney general, and though I think many people are better qualified for that office than you, I was perfectly willing to give you a shot at doing the job. I was even willing to write off your terribly bigoted and hateful comments about gays in the early 1990s -- you once suggested that "many homosexuals would mislead society into believing that three men, an armadillo, and a houseplant create a functional family" -- as the naive ramblings of someone who had not yet seen scientific research indicating that sexual orientation is genetic, not a choice.

But you topped yourself Tuesday night in a speech in Tuscaloosa. Not only did you brag that Alabama was the first state to refuse to recognize gay marriages after the Massachusetts high court legalized them -- "Yay, we're the best at discriminating against people for who they are!" -- but in that same speech you also approvingly cited the work of hard-right "commentator" Ann Coulter, one of the most vitriolic, hate-filled dividers in our nation. (I put "commentator" in quotation marks because her "comments" are little more than a string of personal attacks and straw-man arguments strung together into some barely coherent sentences. Here's an example of the garbage she tries to pass off as legitimate political observation.)

Mr. King, you should realize that a woman who refers to Democrats, who constitute more than a third of your state's population, as the "Spawn of Satan" is not someone with whom you should associate yourself. A woman who writes and profits from books riddled with factual errors and distortions that hurt people is not someone with whom you should associate yourself. A woman who asserts that almost half of all Americans are traitors just because they disagree with her political views is not someone with whom you should associate yourself.

I'll remember your sad display of pandering at election time, Mr. King. I gave you a chance, and you blew it.