Monday, October 8, 2007

Thank You Jim Lehrer

Ann Coulter is coming to Tulane. A one-night thing, nothing more, and she was invited by a student group.

She bothers me on a fundamental level, and I said rather loud and un-nice things about her at people who said she was the proverbial shit. It isn't really a dignified thing, and as someone who holds compromise and intelligent discourse as the highest political ideals, I can't say I'm fond of this. I've said to several people I'd prefer Ahmadinejad came, but then I'm reminded of the shambles that Columbia made of his visit, refusing to either provide a forum for discourse with a very important world leader, or by providing a snub to a man considered one of the greatest threats to the current world order.

I cannot stomach a debate that is holier-than-thou-isms, and I realize that this statement is itself, hypocritically, a holier-than-thou-ism. So, to be more effective, I am deeply troubled and fundamentally concerned that debate in the halls of academia is fostering a petty sensationalism and functions on exclusionary principle. And, let me be honest, I would be mildly less miffed if Michael Moore came, but I would be just as annoyed at the vapid following and the unquestioned obedience people give to their chosen radical. This isn't intelligent, informed discussion, and this isn't what I like about politics. This isn't discourse, and I refuse to boil it down to some petty slogan along the lines of "this is recourse".

I'm not sure what to do. If I go, I can attempt to have a discourse about what she said. If I don't, I can go to a park and play frisbee at night with decent people.

huh. Looks like my mind is made up.

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