Another Kind of Human Shield

Over at Jewish World Review is a half-way good column by David Limbaugh in which he does the best job I've seen of defending Ann Coulter's latest book, Godless.

Whether she intended it this way or not, the "harsh" remarks she made in the book have proven one of her theses in a way the book alone could not have done -- at least not as effectively.

She contends that liberals have employed certain "human shields" to advance their unpopular arguments, especially those pertaining to the war on terror. These people have either earned respect, like military heroes, or become sympathetic figures through personal tragedy, like Cindy Sheehan and the widows of 9/11 victims.

As a result of their status, these individuals are entitled to say anything they want, not just as a matter of free speech, which no one would dispute, but with full immunity from criticism. Their actions and statements cannot be challenged, no matter how ludicrous, no matter how destructive. [bold added]

Point taken, and I will add that I would agree that liberalism is essentially a religion in character. Nevertheless, plenty of others have already attacked the "human shield" premise, so I don't think this fully explains why Limbaugh is defending her. We didn't need Coulter to make an ass of herself to drive that point home.

But the title of her book points to something you won't hear Limbaugh complaining about any time soon: The fact that the right uses the loony left as its own "human shields" to protect its positions from criticism. After all, the implication of the title, common on the right, is that anyone who accepts -- no matter for what reason -- any of the ideas that commonly receive lip-service from the left (most notably acceptance of the Theory of Evolution), is therefore just another loony atheist.

Scratch that. They can now replace the inconvenient concept of atheism by saying, "... just another follower of the liberal faith."

A recent commenter helped me make this connection when he asked, "[H]ow does she then go on to attack evolution (which relies on close to two centuries of science) and defend her religious beliefs which also rely on faith?"

My answer?

Coulter and [her] ilk [can now] pretend -- aided by the mindless left -- that there is no rational alternative to religion.

When your beliefs can't stand up to even the barest rational inquiry, you want to prevent that inquiry from happening as much as possible.

Intellectually, the right wants to be able to "win" in the arena of ideas in the same way the Republicans are winning in the arena of politics these days: By not having a viable opponent. By default. What difference does having one monbat on your side matter when said moonbat has just strengthened your side's "human shields" ? Coulter is helping the right remove the necessity of arguing for its positions in the public discourse.

And this is why the Raving Moonbat of the Right will not go undefended. Mark my words.

-- CAV