Ann Coulter’s Roots Show: True Elitism
As Thomas Frank demonstrates in his book, What’s the Matter with Kansas?, grassroots movement conservatives have been conditioned to hate — yes, hate — all things “Liberal,” specially the uber-caricature that conservative demagogues (like Ms Coulter) have drawn of “Ivy League Liberals” or, more broadly, of “Elites” imperiously ruling from their Liberal urban centers, far removed from the “heartland” — where real, salt-of-the-earth, Americans live. And, yet, as Mr Frank writes, while grassroots conservatives go on loathing these phantom “Elites” of their imaginations, the real elites — the corporatists, fascists and fundamentalists religious demagogues — lie, deceive and condescend to their blind flock of conservative followers, whom remain ever obedient and distracted.
And now, Ms Coulter — the product of an “Elite” education herself –, the poster girl for wingnuts everywhere, and one of the loudest mouth pieces in today’s conservative movement, strays from the script and let’s her true roots show:
Harriet Miers went to Southern Methodist University Law School, which is not ranked at all by the serious law school reports and ranked No. 52 by US News and World Report. Her greatest legal accomplishment is being the first woman commissioner of the Texas Lottery.
I know conservatives have been trained to hate people who went to elite universities, and generally that’s a good rule of thumb. But not when it comes to the Supreme Court. [Emphasis added.]
Of course, such a revelation about Ms Coulter’s true allegiance and character is not enough to bring her down from the pedestal that conservatives have sat her on. Because, as Ms Coulter alludes to, and as Mr Frank wrote, grassroots movement conservatives are true believers, and there’s just no way in hell that their prophets and messiahs can be shown to be infallible — Ms Coulter writes:
Unfortunately for Bush, he could nominate his Scottish terrier Barney, and some conservatives would rush to defend him, claiming to be in possession of secret information convincing them that the pooch is a true conservative and listing Barney’s many virtues � loyalty, courage, never jumps on the furniture …
Clearly, Ms Coulter is not a grassroots movement conservative, she’s a political opportunist, a true elite and a fascist, fully aware that her vile rhetoric against Liberals, Democrats and Progressives is merely means to power — which she’s willing to deploy in the aid of her class and her ideological peers.
Like Mr Bush, with his most recent Supreme nomination, whose shown himself to be more interested in advancing cronyism and corporatism — with some imperialism thrown in for good measure –, I wonder if Ms Coulter and Mr Bush have gone too far this time in letting everyone see what their true colors are? Here’s Ms Coulter, again, thumbing her nose at those silly salt-of-earth types, which should let the business of ruling and of deciphering the law to their betters:
One Web site defending Bush’s choice of a graduate from an undistinguished law school complains that Miers’ critics “are playing the Democrats’ game,” claiming that the “GOP is not the party which idolizes Ivy League acceptability as the criterion of intellectual and mental fitness.” (In the sort of error that results from trying to sound “Ivy League” rather than being clear, that sentence uses the grammatically incorrect “which” instead of “that.” Web sites defending the academically mediocre would be a lot more convincing without all the grammatical errors.)
[...]
To be sure, if we were looking for philosopher-kings, an SMU law grad would probably be preferable to a graduate from an elite law school. But if we’re looking for lawyers with giant brains to memorize obscure legal cases and to compose clearly reasoned opinions about ERISA pre-emption, the doctrine of equivalents in patent law, limitation of liability in admiralty, and supplemental jurisdiction under Section 1367 � I think we want the nerd from an elite law school. Bush may as well appoint his chauffeur head of NASA as put Miers on the Supreme Court.
Now, grassroots conservatives are truly upset over the Miers nomination; because, as we’ve seen, movement conservatives expect their loyalty over past decades, but specially to the current occupier of the White House, to be reciprocated — and they’re simply tired of waiting. If the nomination proceeds all the way to Senate hearings, and if Ms Miers conservative bona fides are not made clear at that point, the gig may be up for the elite in Republican circles — and, yes, this is a big “MAY BE UP,” as I think that conditioning is not easily over come… besides, where would grassroots conservatives turn to… Roy Moore and a third party?
Of course, if grassroots movement conservatives are not interested in the third party route, they can do what Ms Coulter would have Ms Miers do — just go away and stop presuming that such a salt-of-the-earth type could ever hope to sit where only ivy grows:
[S]ome jobs are so dirty, you can only send in someone who has the finely honed hatred of liberals acquired at elite universities to do them. The devil is an abstraction for normal, decent Americans living in the red states. By contrast, at the top universities, you come face to face with the devil every day, and you learn all his little tropes and tricks.
Conservatives from elite schools have already been subjected to liberal blandishments and haven’t blinked. These are right-wingers who have fought off the best and the brightest the blue states have to offer.
[...]
However nice, helpful, prompt and tidy she is, Harriet Miers isn’t qualified to play a Supreme Court justice on “The West Wing,” let alone to be a real one.
[emphasis added]
You can find Ms Coulter’s column here.
