Ann Coulter

[Sonny]

Two publically elected officials in the state of NJ publically advocating for private bookstores and retail outlets to not sell a certain author's books seems to infringe on the 1st amendment to me. Maybe your mileage varies Hack.

Decide for yourself if public officials should use their office for this purpose:

No one in New Jersey should buy this book and allow Ann Coulter to profit from her hate-mongering. We are asking New Jersey retailers statewide to stand with us and express their outrage by refusing to carry or sell copies of Coulter's book. Her hate-filled attacks on our 9-11 widows has no place on New Jersey bookshelves."

Sounds like a ban to me.

[Tim Whitehead]

The fact that they are ASKING for a boycott, instead of IMPOSING a ban means that it is not a ban in any shape or form.

[Sonny]

The fact that they are ASKING for a boycott, instead of IMPOSING a ban means that it is not a ban in any shape or form.

I still don't think U.S. govt. officials should do this, in any shape or fashion given our first amendment rights. An advocate of true speech would agree with me.

[TexOle]

I do remember hearing that Bush had a higher GPA than Kerry. Bush was not a great student, but he did graduate. A GPA is a number. I am not sure how sold I am on the idea of a GPA. Then again I claim that for $120,000 you can buy a sheet of paper that says you graduated from college. That paper does not say much else. It does not measure intelligence or skills. It represents something greater that is a completely different topic.

[StrykerFSU]

Thanks TexOle...I had meant Kerry but had Gore on the brain.

[TexOle]

Glad I could be of help to you kind sir.

I am starting to find all of this humorous. I shall start a new topic.

[Hackalicious]

I still don't think U.S. govt. officials should do this, in any shape or fashion given our first amendment rights. An advocate of true speech would agree with me.

If elected officials abuse their position and call for spurious boycotts, they will be dealt with accordingly by their voting constituents.

It's laughable that some completely unknown assemblywoman from the middle of New Jersey is somehow impinging the freedom of speech of a writer who has sold over one million books, has a syndicated column, and who makes regular nationally televised appearances.

[Sonny]

If elected officials abuse their position and call for spurious boycotts, they will be dealt with accordingly by their voting constituents.

Somehow, I don't think you would grant the same "courtesy" to those that lean on the right side of the aisle.

[sohotrightnow]

I certainly would. The caveat being that I have yet to see a liberal publish a novel that is so full of hate and racism, as Coulter's typically are. If they did, I would certainly extend that courtesy.

[Sonny]

You guys crack me up. If a politician from the right advocated banning a liberal book, you guys would run down the streets of Berkeley naked, chanting about your First Amendment Rights. The roles are reversed and it's "hate and racism."

P.S. Where did Coulter's stray into racism?

rac·ism
n.

1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

[sohotrightnow]

You guys crack me up. If a politician from the right advocated banning a liberal book, you guys would run down the streets of Berkeley naked, chanting about your First Amendment Rights. The roles are reversed and it's "hate and racism."

Depends what the content of the book was. Show me a book where liberals called victims of 9/11 "witches" and "happy to see their husbands die" and I will gladly stand by in denouncing this person. Show me a liberal who devotes columns and/or interview sessions to denouncing Islam, supporting Apartheid, bombing Muslim nations, stating that Muslims should use flying carpets for air travel, suggesting that Mexicans build the wall along the border, suggesting that Timothy McVeigh should have blown up the NY Times Building, stating that Joe McCarthy was misunderstood and I will come out and denounce this person as these officials have with Coulter. I would say that the above qualifies as racist and hateful and not within the realm of political satire.

While Coulter has not devoted a book completely to her racist beliefs, there are quotes contained within her books which support the fact that she is a racist. Her columns and interviews are almost exclusively tailored to spewing hate against some group. Now, knowing the conservatives on this board, I am sure they are going to ask for sources. Do I really have to?

Oh, and by the way, I don't like seeing naked people in Berkeley either. Definitely not the type of people you want to see naked.

[JosueSays]

The fact remains, Sonny, that it isn't banning if they are ASKING for the books to be boycotted. It's entirely up to the retailers to sell her book, so it isn't infringing on any 1st amendment rights (if they were banning, I would disagree with them even though i hate Ane Coulter's guts). So why not stick to what's at hand, and not on some random assertion that the so unfair "left" only nag at the poor, defenseless "right"? Whether or not we'd parade down the streets of Berkeley naked if someone tried "banning" a liberals book doesn't change the fact that those officials are NOT banning the books so it isn't an infringement of the first amendment. Why not stop looking at things as either left or right, but instead of what's actually legal and illegal (it seems apparent to me that you are more interested in trying to prove that we of the "left" are biased instead of whether or not they are behaving unconstitutional...which they most obviously are not).

[grinderpete]

The thing that is so fascinating to me about this topic is how the differences in political thought are split according to geography. Most of the democratic views have come from west coast and the Northeast, and the republican views have come from the south and the middle of America. I have often wondered why the geography of the country affects the political biases we all have.

[sohotrightnow]

Well, I can't speak for the rest of the country, but in California, the coast is almost exclusively Democrat/liberal (Orange County and San Diego are two exceptions), and the further east one goes in California, the more Republican/conservative it becomes. A lot of this has to do with the varying economies, cost of living, and many other things. For example, The Dust Bowl and Gold Rush migration in the 1800s and 1900s contributed to the types of people and the types of industries that developed in California. Several places in Central California are no different than the Midwest and South in terms of political beliefs, education, and sustenance. Contrary to belief of many conservatives, California is not a state of "latte liberals."

[OAKS]

Urban vs. Rural for the most part...