“The demon is a mob, and the mob is demonic.” With those opening words, Ann Coulter, the Adam Carolla of Conservatives, trash talks over half of the electorate of this country in her new book entitled “Demonic.” Coulter somehow manages to blather her way through hundreds of pages of invective, the likes of which you haven’t heard since the Republican Presidential debates, or Kindergarten or shock jocks like Rush and Sean, etc.. Here’s an example of her bump and grind politesse, which also happens to be one of the most patently ironic statements ever put to print, right there on the first page just after her disingenuous opening Scripture quote from the Gospel of Mark:
“The Democrats playbook doesn’t involve heads on pikes -- as yet -- but uses a more insidious means to incite the mob. The twisting of truth, inciting of passions, demonizing opponents, and relying on propagandistic images in lieu of ideas -- these are the earmarks of a mob leader.”
It makes you smile, doesn’t it, coming from the woman who entitles her book “Demonic,” uses Scripture as propaganda in her opening salvo, compares the race riots in L.A. to the Maoist mobs who impaled babies during the Cultural Revolution, and defines all community organizers as mob inciters. And this is just on the first page. Incredibly, Coulter manages to foist herself on her own petard from that point on and slowly writhes on that petard for the next 300 pages. It’s quite a sight to behold, actually.
The trouble with Ms. Coulter and her ilk is that they pander in fear tactics — in fact, they can’t seem to open their mouths without fear-mongering gussied up as political rhetoric. And in doing so, they pander to the worst instincts in all of us. Just look at the Tea Party. They fit exactly the definition of “mob” in Coulter’s book, and they are the worst offenders when it comes to vitriol and fear-mongering, and they take their cue — indeed, they consider their patron saint — Ann Coulter. Coulter’s brand of rhetoric is what is worst about America. It picks at the festering wounds of racism and classicism that marks the darker sides of this country’s history as if it were a red badge of courage to do so. Her book marks the very definition of tawdry. She’s loud, she’s provocative, and she’s quick-witted. Trouble is, she’s about as deep as the sheen on your newly waxed car. Dig just a few inches beneath her rhetoric and you find nothing but dull metal.
So if you’re looking for a salacious and sensationalist read, then give Coulter’s “Demonic” a read. But if you’re one of the growing numbers of people on both sides of the aisle who are tired of volume disguised as depth and are looking for more political substance you can actually glean some wisdom from, don’t waste your time with this book. It’s crack for the political junkie. You can spend your time far more productively. Just say “No.”