Diversionary Tactics

March 22nd, 2007

Oooh, ooh, go get the lawn chairs and the chips and dip! There’s one of those old queen/new queen fights to the death going on over in the hateosphere.

Those were the days, my friend...

Sskeletal former neofascist pinup Ann Coulter and her up and coming anchor-baby rival Michelle Malkin are conducting the fight by proxy,the proxy being the once-powerful Matt Drudge.

As both women are unpricipled and hateful it’s all very catty and entertaining and is no doubt pushing up their hits. But, as is usual with wingnuts, at bottom it’s all about the money.

After Coulter’s ‘faggot’ comment at CPAC Malkin saw her rival wounded and attacked her without delay; not just because Republicans eat their own but because,as Malkin’s popularity with the provisional psychopathic wing of the Republican party is rising in contrast to Coulter’s, she’s also taking over Coulter’s syndicated column slots. That of course means more moolah for Michelle and husband/amanuensis Jesse and to fund Michelle’s vanity projects like the lame Hot Air vlog.

There’s more at stake here for both than just high-school bitchery:

Two More Papers Drop Ann Coulter Today: They Explain Why

By Dave Astor

Published: March 09, 2007 12:10 PM ET updated 1:30 PM ET

NEW YORK The Sanford (N.C.) Herald has become at least the sixth newspaper this week to drop Ann Coulter’s syndicated column following her March 2 remark concerning Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards that included the term “faggot.”

The DeKalb Daily Chronicle in Illinois, a Lee Enterprises paper, then became #7. That paper explained on its Web site today that it took issue with her syndicate, Universal, saying it had no intention of dropping Coulter because her offensive remark did not appear in a column. “That’s a lot like the Chronicle saying, ‘She didn’t say it in one of the columns we ran, so it isn’t our problem.’ Wrong. It is our problem, and not dealing with it is a cop-out,” the newspaper declared.

“So yesterday we called Universal Press Syndicate and ‘fired’ Coulter. What she said was wrong and hurtful and stepped way beyond the line of human decency, much less political commentary.”

[...]

Other papers dropping the conservative Coulter this week were the Lancaster (Pa.) New Era; The Oakland Press of Pontiac, Mich.; The Mountain Press of Sevierville, Tenn.; The Times of Shreveport, La.; and The American Press in Lake Charles, La.

Read whole story

A trumped-up public spat with Coulter is just what Malkin needs to finally step up to the throne of Bitch Queen of All Wingnuttia while there’s still a bit of money in it. Malkiin’s real advantage in this fight is her horde of smitten inadequates who’ll pile on the email pressure with their local papers.

The problem for Coulter is that that she’s playing by rightwing rules, and rigjhtwing rules say that once you get old and ugly then it’s curtains for you, sweetie. Nobody loves a harpy when she’s forty. The still youngish and attractive (if she keeps very still and doesn’t say anything) Malkin knows this; indeed her whole career is built on it. So Coulter’s bound to lose this one, and then there’s her prosecution for voter fraud…. With her star so precipitously on the wane’ she could almost be the Gloria Swanson of wingnuttery. You could almost feel sorry for Coulter.

Not.

To don my tinfoil hat fr a moment, I wonder if this isn’t about the hidden hand of the market as much as the hidden hand of Republican online psyops. What’s really interesting is how all this blew up just about the time Attorneygate was getting hot, nicely diverting away any wingnuts who might’ve been tempted to actually focus on what’s happening in Washington.

They know damned well that their supporters, given the choice between egging on a bit of brunette-on-blonde bitchslappery or facing their own accountability for having elected a bunch of crooks, would choose the former, no contest.

This leads me also to wonder about this big White House email dump that so many bloggers are poring over. Might this not also be a diversion? While the left is handily bogged down documenting the atrocities at the White House and Justice department and the right enthralled by fighting totty, what’s quietly being planned for Iran?

Categories: Blogs, Manufacturing consent, US politics, Wingnuts, Women

5 Comments

Curtis March 22nd, 2007
You’re absolutely right…kinda light the infamous eight federal prosecutors. It’s mildly entertaining, but not exactly of substance.
Alex March 22nd, 2007
Oh, grow up. For a start, US military readiness is near historic lows, or below them when it comes to land forces. For a second, do you really think “if it wasn’t for those pesky bloggers” is a serious concern in USN air tasking? “Damn, if we’d only released more documents as well as the chaff, we could have gotten away with it!”

And why would they want to distract the only people who would support war with Iran?

Getting to the substantive topic, anyway - *when* was that Mann Coulter photo taken? Looks 10 years younger.
Palau March 23rd, 2007
Alex: Telling smeone to grow up is not really the way to elecit a reaosned response, is it?

US military readiness may well be at a historic low but when has Bushco ever paid any attention to whether they actually have the resources to undertake military action? In any case, it’s ben reported that they’ve got special forces over the border right now, so that rather negates your point.

Re the Coulter photo, it’s from Free Republic and was taken, as far as I can make out, about 5 years ago. Coulter isn’t ageing well, hence Malkin’s increasing popularity.
Palau March 23rd, 2007
Sorry about the typos, I’m getting old and blind as a bat.
Alex March 23rd, 2007
It would negate the point if there was any evidence that it is in fact so. I don’t believe in superspy stories. (These chaps - wouldn’t they stick out just a tad in downtown Isfahan?) Anyway, it’s irrelevant, because *they don’t have the assets to do anything*.

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