This is the part of the internet experience that I really hate.

[avevale_intelligencer]

Ann Coulter, a conservative journalist in America, has apparently broken her jaw and had to have it wired shut. (This is the most impartial report I could find on the incident.)

I am absolutely appalled at the crowing I have seen on the Net about this. So far only one person on my flist has, shall we say, indulged, but one is more than enough. (And no, I am not linking to any of it. It's easy enough to find, gods know.)

I pride myself on being a liberal, because I believe that liberalism embodies, among other things, the values of compassion and empathy towards people who are suffering, and I believe those values transcend political divisions.

IF SOMEONE IS IN PAIN YOU DO NOT FUCKING WELL GIVE THANKS. You do not express the hope that her pain will continue. You do not liken it to divine justice, for God's sake. That's THEIR line.

At times like this, I see what conservatives mean about liberals. We are hypocrites. We are stinking hypocrites if we allow ourselves to rejoice in the suffering of a single human being, and if we do then we deserve to be exposed in the fullness of our hypocrisy and take the full force of all the ammunition we have thus freely given to our opponents.

If anyone who reads this has, even for a moment, reacted to the news about Ms Coulter in the ways indicated above, I beseech you in the bowels of Christ to think again and be better than that. She is mistaken in many of her beliefs. As are we all. That does not in any way make it good that she should suffer.

I wish Ms Coulter a speedy recovery from her injury, and the rest of us the strength to resist temptation.

EDIT: apparently the latter wish is not required. Oh well, that puts an end to all the "from 52 to 48 with love" crap, I suppose. Back to business as usual, and when they're down, kick 'em hard. I should have known better.

Comments

[the-gwenzilliad.livejournal.com]

I'm uncomfortable with these kinds of reactions, as well. If I were living in the US still, I'd welcome the opportunity not to have to listen to Ann Coulter not because she'd broken her jaw but because someone at her tv/radio network or indeed the general public decided to no longer support her crackpot views. That would be a real win, not a human being breaking her jaw.

[gingicat]

This. If someone were methodically poisoning wells the way Coulter methodically poisons minds, we'd send them to jail.

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

I have not made fun of her nor would I do it. That said, you need to know who this is. This isn't any right-wing pundit. This woman made fun of the wives of 9/11 victims in very rude and cruel ways (questioning if they were perhaps glad their husbands had died so horribly so they could be in the "limelight"). She will make the most absurd and vicious accusations against anyone not politically aligned with her. She is as close to a monster as you can get and still be human. I loathe her.

I wouldn't make fun of her pain but I certainly can forgive those who do. She is a special case.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

I know who she is, and I understand your feelings, but I'm not so secure in my moral standpoint that I feel I can afford to make special cases. Hence my simplistic opinion on prop 8, which, to me, is a huge example of making a special case.

There are lots of people I loathe, and I feel I'm justified in my loathing, but they're still human beings, and if they're in pain I can empathise. And I'm sure if I were a prominent figure in anything and I fell over and broke my jaw she would be very happy about it, and quite possibly say so in public, because she doesn't empathise, or only empathises with people who are like her. But that's one of the ways I've grown used to distinguishing between the people at my end and the people at hers, and it worries me when that distinction gets blurred.

Making fun of a political figure who doesn't know enough to do his or her job, or hasn't prepared sufficiently for a public appearance, is one thing. Making fun of someone because she's going through more pain than I've ever known is, to me, another.

But I'm glad you aren't one of those who did.

[lexin.livejournal.com]

Making fun of a political figure who doesn't know enough to do his or her job, or hasn't prepared sufficiently for a public appearance, is one thing. Making fun of someone because she's going through more pain than I've ever known is, to me, another.

I disagree, I think they're both equally cruel. To laugh at (rather than with) the first is mean - they're human beings suffering acute embarrassment, the sort of thing that wakes you out of a nightmare, like being expected to sing in public when unprepared. That they're a public figure is just a side issue.

Making fun of someone who's in pain is cruel.

Making fun of Ann Coulter's revolting beliefs...I'm right behind that one. Bring it on.

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

She's a public figure. The people she picks on are often not.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Making fun of her beliefs is something I can get behind as well. And in my first case, I feel that (a) their embarrassment is self-inflicted and could have been avoided, and (b) I've been embarrassed more times than I would even bother to try to count in my life, and I got over it. One of my characters once said that "embarrassment is the universe's way of telling one to re-examine one's choices," and in many cases I would agree with him.

[lexin.livejournal.com]

their embarrassment is self-inflicted and could have been avoided

Wellllll...it's occasionally (partly) my job to try to help a public figure to save face, and it's not always their fault. Usually it is, but not always.

I feel particularly sorry, at the moment, for the poor bastard up uploaded the wrong file to the Treasury internet site, for example. Been there, and while I haven't actually done anything quite like that, I've been around when someone else has, and it's not pretty.

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

I think you'd have to live in the US to understand the hell we've gone through for eight years with these people -- this harpy heading the pack. The suffering that average people have gone through, she has made money from. A friend of mine had a cousin murdered in the Unitarian Church attack spurred on by these creatures.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Then she and her kind should have been implicated as an accessory before the fact. Isn't incitement/conspiracy to murder a crime over there? They should have been subpoenaed.

I am not in any way supporting anything she says, does, thinks, wears or has had intimate contact with. I am saying that crowing because she has had an accident is both mean-minded and politically stupid.

And I think I do understand the hell you've gone through, which is why I have got so wound up about the politics of a country I don't even live in, and why I've been so vocal in my anti-conservative posts. I don't think conservatives should ever be let anywhere near legislative or executive authority, and the fact that democracy allows that to happen is, I think, one of its weaknesses. But that is irrelevant to the fact that someone, a human being, was hurt through (as far as I can gather) no fault of her own, and people who I believed knew better are pointing and laughing, just the way her kind would if it happened to Keith Olbermann or somebody.

But, if that's okay with everybody, then I guess I'm just making a fuss about nothing as usual.

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

I don't know what's right for everyone. I'm not perfect myself. I just deal with my own life and my own issues unless it's going to directly impact another person. Ann Coulter has placed herself in the line of fire. She did it to herself. Would I break her jaw? No. Would I laugh at her pain? No. But do I understand the very human compulsion to do so? Absolutely I do. Beyond which fact, unexpressed anger becomes depression and depression kills people. Better to express it.

And no, we don't have hate speech laws -- I'm very much in favor of free speech ... however that goes in both directions.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Making fun of someone because she's going through more pain than I've ever known is, to me, another.

I'm sorry--is there some reason to believe that she is in terrible pain? Is a broken jaw seriously more painful than, say, a broken arm (which I've had twice, both times as a child, and while the initial break I'm told provoked wails and tears I don't remember the healing process as being particularly painful--just annoying and itchy)? If a broken jaw is painful for longer than usual for a broken bone, is there some reason to think she doesn't have access to medical care, including adequate pain relief?

I expect the original fall probably hurt, but maybe we don't want to get carried away on this. I would mostly be worried about her getting adequate nutrition with a wired-shut jaw; she's already terribly thin. But even that doesn't worry me particularly; I'm sure her doctor is keeping an eye on it.

In the meantime, I'd enjoy the quiet, but I've never actually *heard* her, and as far as I know, her typing fingers are just fine. It's symbolically somewhat amusing, and groups of people who seen her repeatedly advocate legal attacks on their rights and physical attacks on their safety are more amused than others. It seems to me they have some right to be.

Of course, my views may be shaped by the fact that the gentleman who brought a shotgun into my church, killed two people and wounded six, apparently numbered Coulter among the authors he took inspiration from. (shrug)

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

Amen ... if you'll excuse the expression.

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

As I've said before - I don't know who this woman is, but from reading the comments here, she sounds thoroughly loathsome, irresponsible, possibly even evil.

But on the other hand, what's so big and clever and morally upright about crowing because she's injured? It's just childish.

If she is evil, then show her up as evil. Demonstrate that she's an accessory to murder. Put that energy into getting her put on trial for incitement to murder and whatever else she has done.

Far better to give all that energy to countering what she says and does, rather than showing one's weakness by indulging in the less glorious aspects of playground behaviour.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I'm not crowing because she is injured. Nor am I saying it's big and clever and morally upright to crow because she is injured.

I am just saying that: 1) as far as I know there is no reason to believe she is presently in terrible pain, 2) I don't see how having her jaw wired shut will silence her in any way except symbolically, and 3) I don't see why any and every single liberal who is not perfectly compassionate with a bitter self-appointed enemy of all liberals somehow discredits the liberal movement.

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

No one is posturing that they are big and clever and morally upright except perhaps those who would condemn people from another culture for the righteous expression of anger regarding something that happens in their culture. Unless you live here you cannot fathom the hatred that is spewed at us from the far right. Why not let us decide how to deal with it?

No matter what it is in your eyes, it's honest anger and venting it is healthy. I'm not going to police peoples' heads.

[batyatoon]

I live here, and I agree with Nyrond.

Just sayin'.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

If she is evil, then show her up as evil. Demonstrate that she's an accessory to murder. Put that energy into getting her put on trial for incitement to murder and whatever else she has done.

Far better to give all that energy to countering what she says and does, rather than showing one's weakness by indulging in the less glorious aspects of playground behaviour.

Well, here's the thing: we do that, many of us, some privately and some in public. Ann Coulter steadfastly refuses to listen to views from another perspective. She does not, to be brief, behave like an adult.

She is regularly shown her evil. She then ignores what she's shown and goes on to yet another speaking engagement, talking about how Liberals Are Always Wrong About Everything And How They Are Evil Too. I am not exaggerating for effect; if anything I might be understating her basic message.

She spouts opinions. Her opinions are generally vile, pandering to fear and hatred. Her opinions frequently do not fit facts. She makes a living doing this, a very comfortable living. Facing facts could end that comfortable lifestyle.

Would I wish her to break her jaw? Heavens no. Do I enjoy that she has? No, but I do feel Schadenfreude. I will accept my feelings for what they are, and that's fine. Ann Coulter does not take up many bytes of my capacity.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry--is there some reason to believe that she is in terrible pain? Is a broken jaw seriously more painful than, say, a broken arm (which I've had twice, both times as a child, and while the initial break I'm told provoked wails and tears I don't remember the healing process as being particularly painful--just annoying and itchy)? If a broken jaw is painful for longer than usual for a broken bone, is there some reason to think she doesn't have access to medical care, including adequate pain relief?

Speaking as someone recovering from a jaw fracture, it hurts long after the wiring comes out because you have to use your jaw every day for things like eating, drinking, speaking, coughing, and so forth.

I've never broken an arm, but I did break my leg once, and this has been far worse.

As for whether to feel sorry for her, well...nah. :-)

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

Never heard of the woman, but I do tend to agree with you. It's at best a graceless manifestation of Schadenfreude. And at worst, as you say, evidence of hypocrisy.

[nelladarren.livejournal.com]

I think spite doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. (It's been claimed that you don't have a word for Schadenfreude but that's not true...!)

Sometimes if we feel that people "deserve" something and we've accumulated bad feelings for them for some time yet it's really like opening a vent and letting off steam before the gauge gets into the red.

Bad things happen to good people. So it's really nice to witness if they happen to bad people, too. You know I don't believe in "divine justice" because there are no Gods, but I can appreciate a funny coincidence like that woman having her mouth closed shut, or (my last case of severe Schadenfreude) that Austrian Nazi demagogue politician Heider dying because he DUIed his car too far to the right side.

Yes, funny. I didn't kill him. I didn't make him drink and drive. All his fault and it wouldn't have been funny had he killed anyone else in the accident. But as it is I say "Yay, bastard got what he deserved." and yes, I smiled.

I think it's absolutely o.k. to vent off about these things on the internet and not to suppress them. In my eyes that'd be hypocritical.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

If you genuinely feel that way, then certainly you should say what you feel and not lie.

[nelladarren.livejournal.com]

I just gave it some more background thought on my way to the pharmacy and back:

My general attitude toward a stranger in a mishap is sympathy. I absolutely loath those "You've been framed"/"funniest home videos" thingies - it's not funny to see someone run against a lamp post.

So people don't have to *deserve* my sympathy (because that's what I actually thought I'd write), they automatically get it.

But they can *un-deserve* it by being mean and bad. We have a saying, "Wer austeilen kann, muss auch einstecken können" - "Those who can hand out/administer (criticism, spitefulness, mischief...) also have to accept/take it."

So if someone hogs the spotlight demeaning people - they then had it coming.

I have cried tears for the suffering and dying of strangers. And in other cases I feel good because of some coincidental universal justice being served.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

I'd say that pointing out the irony of a talker-for-a-living suffering this injury, with perhaps a dash of schadenfreude (considering how many "shut up"s she's issued), is to be expected.

I haven't, fortunately, seen any wishes for worsening of health, or exacerbating her pain. Those are simply Right Out.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Word.

This is pretty much my position - the comments I have seen have been pointed in their irony, and happy that Ms Coulter has been silenced. It's not a case of crowing over her injury - just laughter at the irony and much relief.

Most humour is cruel. Even - or particularly - in real life.

As for Ms Coulter, I really and honestly couldn't care less that she's in pain. She is not a nice person.

[hurdle1gal.livejournal.com]

I know of Ann Coulter's reputation and can understand why there is all the crowing. But this is the first I've heard about the accident so I don't know all the details.

However, if I can deduce this all correctly, it's liberals and anti-conversatives who are doing all of the crowing at Coulter? Aren't these the same people who Coulter talks about? And therefore, doesn't this just add more "fuel to her fire" AGAINST these types of people, so she'll continue her commentary when she gets well and people will continue to hate her for anything she says? If anything, the crowers are bringing it about to themselves by keeping the mutual hatred alive between these parties... and it won't stop until a) they get along or b) they ignore each other.

Just my train of thought... (shrug)

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

And mine. I can't even believe that people are arguing this. And I'm a little narked at the "if you don't live here you'll never understand" as if I were some unlettered savage who'd never heard of fascism and couldn't conceive how irritating it can be to be harangued by an idiot who's got hold of a microphone.

I don't believe I'm exceptionally big or clever or morally upright. At least...I didn't...

No, that can't be right. It must be me that's wrong. It always is, with things like this.

[hurdle1gal.livejournal.com]

It ain't about being clever or big or morally upright. It's more about understanding cause and effect, a simple sense of observation with trying to understand it with a bit of logic. If you can break it down in this sort of way, then you can look back with your eyes rolled back and wonder why human society has resorted to this result.
Kinda like the Nyrond way, no? ;-)

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

You are not always wrong with things like this. You are not always right either. You are, from what I can see, quite thoughtful in this arena. That mindfulness is important.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

I find it somewhat unnerving to have something in common with Ann Coulter besides our both being female U.S. citizens.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

And you have my sympathy and best wishes for a quick recovery, as does she. So that's two things. :)

[billroper]

Side comment: Coulter is not a journalist, because she doesn't actually do reporting (biased or not). She's a commentator, or editorialist, or pundit, or something like that. She traffics in opinions.

Other than that, I agree with you. And I agree with you with all the political leanings reversed. So do the conservative columnists who I respect.

Just for the record.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I remember having a similar reaction when I was ten years old and the kids in my rather progressive school were crowing at the news that President Reagan had been shot, and saying they hoped he died. My best friend and I just looked at each other, appalled. We didn't like Reagan, we didn't want him for President, but we didn't hope he died. We didn't hope anybody died.

I've modified that position very, very slightly over the years: there have been a few people at whose death I felt a kind of exhausted relief, that they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone anymore. But that's wanting them out of the way, not wanting them to hurt, which does no good for anyone at all. I loathe Ann Coulter, but I hope she gets through her injury with as little pain and as swift and good a recovery as is possible.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

And that's how I feel.

[eleri.livejournal.com]

I am not an enlightened being, I'm human. And as human, I feel empathy for another human in pain. However, as a normal, everyday human with human foibles, I think pointing out the comic justice involved in someone who has make a lifetime of hurting other with her words having her jaw wired shut is a perfectly fine thing to do. Has nothing to do with being a liberal, or having to prove myself 'better' morally that someone else, it's being able to point at something and going "Yup, karma's a bitch, aint it?"

[howeird]

While wishing her a speedy recovery , may we at least smile inwardly at the irony?

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

I can't stop anyone from doing whatever they wish. It's clear that while some people share my reaction, others don't.

[akicif.livejournal.com]

I've a horrid feeling that the folk who think it's funny are the same people who consider the evils of the American prison system to be a selling point....