On Monday, a fellow opinion columnist wrote about how he felt Ann Coulter should be a guest speaker on campus. While I would concede there is a need for more conservative speakers, I could not disagree more. Coulter is the last conservative speaker we need.
Coulter has produced so much political controversy over the years it is nearly impossible to just pick a single quote or situation. For the sake of time and column space, we can focus on one of her most well-known qualities, namely, her xenophobic and racist remarks. The previous column mentioned how those words were thrown around too much in media, and sometimes they may be; but if it waddles and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck.
Let’s start with a tweet from Monday, wherein Coulter linked an article from The New York Times citing a study on the rise in death rates for middle-aged white Americans with only high school educations. The researchers did not have a definitive answer to why this is, but they argued it is most likely a mix of financial instability and increased drug use. But Coulter, in her infinite wisdom, had a simpler answer: It was immigrants who caused the economic strife in this group by stealing their jobs.
During the second Republican presidential debate, Coulter live-tweeted throughout the event but started to get fed up with candidates talking about Israel. She wrote a tweet utilizing the F-bomb while asking how many Jews were in this country. Coulter did not apologize for that tweet and actually defended it.
And let’s top it off with this almost "Onion"-like blog post about soccer. "Any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation’s moral decay." In a follow-up post where she criticized those who would dare criticize her, she said the only real risk of death in a soccer game was when "some Third World peasant goes on a murderous rampage after a bad call."
This is not political correctness run amuck: This is calling a xenophobe a xenophobe when he or she espouses xenophobic rhetoric. The cognitive dissonance is almost ironic. If Coulter is meant to be a provocateur, a title often attributed to her, than she should get used to the "liberal media" criticizing her. In truth, that’s how she makes a living. When she is provocative she gets airtime on news networks, her books go to the top of The New York Times bestseller list and she gets invited to universities. It should come as no surprise that I actually found my fellow columnist’s article on Coulter’s Twitter when I was doing my research.
This is someone who does not need to be anywhere close to our campus. This is someone who profits on divisiveness and hate, a massive contrast to our speakers like Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Jim Obergefell. Both of these men created change in this country not by dividing and conquering but by uniting and fighting on behalf of equal rights for the many. Yes, attending a university is about learning and understanding different points of view, but those points of view ought to be well informed and geared toward actually garnering constructive discussion. What it should not turn into is a rendition of Monty Python’s "Argument Department."
UF does need more conservative speakers to come to campus, but ones with whom we can actually have a fruitful discussion with regarding their experiences and their beliefs. People like former Speaker of the House John Boehner, either one of the Bush presidents, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Charles Krauthammer, Newt Gingrich or even Bill O’Reilly and the cartoonish cavalcade of candidates running for president would make for better options (You’re welcome, Accent). I may not agree with the policy decisions or beliefs held by the people listed above, but at least they would have more to talk about than just the evils of soccer.
Kevin Foster is a UF political science senior. His column appears on Thursdays.
