Fresh Air, Anyone?

John Hawkins: Now I heard that you wrote an impassioned defense of tailgunner Joe in the book. Is that case? If so, why do you think Joe McCarthy has gotten a bad rap?

Ann Coulter: I know he got a bad rap because there are no monuments to Joe McCarthy. Liberals had to destroy McCarthy because he exposed the entire liberal establishment as having sheltered Soviet spies.
-From an interview in Right Wing News

Yeah, that’s why those “pinko commie” fellow senators censured him including stating the following:

“[McCarthy] repeatedly abused the subcommittee and its members who were trying to carry out assigned duties, thereby obstructing the constitutional processes of the Senate, and that this conduct of the Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. McCarthy, is contrary to senatorial traditions and is hereby condemned.”

Extremist wacko Coulter is on the cover of Time Magazine this week perhaps because of one of the premises of the lead-in to the article about her:

“She is quite possibly the most divisive figure in the public eye.”

While I can’t fault Time for trying to sell magazines, I wonder about this placement only a week after the cover was of the late Pope, and while picking a new Pope seems to be the big news this week.

One has to be vigilant. Education about, and awareness of, the blistering irrational speech in the air is important to maintain vigilance. The scary part is, how many of our fellow Americans are cheering on this kind of vitriol? Just when you thought Tom Delay was making bizarre inflammatory remarks in front of the NRA gathering last weekend, up comes Ted Nugent to one-up him:

“With an assault weapon in each hand, rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent urged National Rifle Association members to be "hardcore, radical extremists demanding the right to self defense."
Speaking at the NRA's annual convention Saturday, Nugent said each NRA member should try to enroll 10 new members over the next year and associate only with other members. ‘Let's
next year sit here and say, 'Holy smokes, the NRA has 40 million members now,' he said. ‘No one is allowed at our barbecues unless they are an NRA member. Do that in your life.’ "

Then, if you’re Jewish, or any of a number of minorities other than white Christian, you might also want to watch your back as others who share Coulter’s outrageous viewpoint keep the fire fanned:

“After tangling with Bill O'Reilly last week, Rabbi Jack Moline became a target of attacks by right-wing radio talk show hosts. The leader of Alexandria's Agudas Achim Congregation represented the Interfaith Alliance on Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor, calling the decision to lower U.S. flags to half mast to honor Pope John Paul II unwise. According to a transcript, Moline -- who twice expressed sympathy for the pope -- argued that the flag lowering could lead to other religions insisting that their leaders be similarly honored…a few hours after his appearance, he [Moline] began to get telephone calls -- such as one telling him that "it's too bad you weren't alive in the 1930s." Additionally, nationally syndicated right-wing radio hosts Michael Savage and Matt Drudge, as well as New York-based Mark Levin charged that the rabbi would be "responsible for an upsurge in anti-Semitism." "I was surprised by the vehemence with which my Jewishness was attacked," said Moline, saying the experience left him wondering whether Jews may overestimate their comfort level in the U.S.” (Washington Jewish Week, 04-14-05)[From an Interfaith Alliance Email]

All that hatred out there is enough to make your eyes water.