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Jewish World Review August 18, 2000 / 17 Menachem-Av, 5760

Ann Coulter

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Consumer Reports


Another Damascus Road conversion

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- I'M THINKING of declaring myself a black Democrat and walking out on the party in disgust. It now turns out Sen. Joseph Lieberman supported Proposition 209, the California initiative that prohibited the state from engaging in race discrimination for or against any race. Though Gore's running mate had once said Proposition 209 sounded like "a basic statement of human rights policy," he recently called an emergency conference with the congressional black caucus to explain that when he said that he did not understand what Proposition 209 would do.

So where are all the angry resignations from the Democratic Party? There were more phony walk-outs from the Republican Party two weeks ago -- for incomprehensible reasons, in light of the fact that the Republicans have always opposed race discrimination by the government.

During the Republican National Convention, The New York Times ran the vague calumnies against the Republican Party by an alleged "former Republican" on its op-ed page. A certain "Faye M. Anderson" claiming to be the erstwhile "vice chairman of the Republican National Committee's New Majority Council" denounced the Republican Party as "master illusionists" who produced "a parade of African-American and Hispanic speakers" who have "taken center stage, a made-for television illusion of inclusion."

Now I'm all for the tiniest and most irrelevant Republican groups, but it has to be said that the Republican National Committee itself is composed primarily of 20-year-old kids putting out talking points for other 20-year-old kids to recite on low-viewership cable TV shows. Until now, I didn't even know there could be committees below the RNC.

In any event, Ms. Anderson, the Republican Party little-wig, declared: "Earlier this year, I made a noisy exit from the Republican Party in an effort to send a message to party leaders." Her "message" was that, well, essentially that the Republicans are racists.

I hate to accuse anyone of megalomania, but Ms. Anderson's belief that her departure was "noisy" may be somewhat overstated, inasmuch as no one has ever heard of her. Her "noisy" departure was heard, however, by The New York Times (which has a sensitive barometer for these sorts of things).

The substantive points on which Ms. Anderson ("former" Republican) accused the Republican Party of racism were -- funnily enough -- many of the same things Democrats are constantly harping on, such as Bob Jones University and the Confederate flag. But Ms. Anderson unleashed an all new one, as well: She claimed to be hopping mad about "the Republican National Committee's gala at the ancestral home of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy."

For openers, it's just a house. And apparently a nice one. Jefferson Davis' home was one of the weekend "getaways" recommended by The Washington Post in 1988, with this cheerful description: "Don't miss this wartime home (1861-1865) of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his family, faithfully restored to its summer decor."

But moreover, Jefferson Davis was a Democrat. Somehow our "former" Republican here isn't testy with the Democratic Party for that. No demand for an apology from Al Gore for Jefferson Davis. And while we're reliving historical grievances, Al Gore's father voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Where is the Gore family's contrition for that vote? (It might be a long time coming since Al Gore has taken the principled position of lying about it. He has claimed his father lost his seat because of his conscientious vote for the Civil Rights Act).

All these Damascus Road conversions are nothing but liberal street theater, consistent with the Democrats' culture of dishonesty. (One starts to wonder if there are any lifelong Democrats since all the Democrats you meet claim to be "former Republicans" who left the party in disgust.)

I was tempted to write a letter to the Times to inform them they've been the victim of a hoax, but I suspect this information would not floor them. There will probably be another ersatz "former" Republican on the op-ed page next week --- some phony who once registered as a Republican and intends to use that curiosity combined with a later sorrowful resignation to create the illusion that we are witnessing a vast migration from the Republican Party over this or that issue.

Larry Rockefeller, Lawrence Walsh, Arianna Huffington, the list of Damascus Road conversions goes on -- this is the one hoax the media can't help falling for because if anyone in the media were a Republican he'd be resigning from the Republican Party for the exact same reason!

Just remember: The Republicans used to wheel out Democrats for Bob Dole, and it didn't help him either. The left's race-baiting is a last-ditch attempt to save Al Gore from the only real poll on what American people thought of Bill Clinton.


JWR contributor Ann Coulter is the author of High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton. You may visit the Ann Coulter Fan Club by clicking here.


Up

08/15/00: The viagra cotillion
08/11/00: The hand-wringing Hamlet from Hartford
08/07/00: The Democratic party's white face
08/04/00: Hillary's potty mouth
08/01/00: The hole in the story
07/28/00: Cheney's detractors can't get their story straight
07/25/00: AlGore: Elmer Blandry
07/21/00: The tyranny of non-objectivity
07/18/00: The state's religion
07/14/00: Reform it back
07/11/00: Keating for veep
07/07/00: Gore invented 'Clueless'
07/04/00: The stupidity litmus test
06/30/00: O.J. was 'proved innocent' too
06/27/00: The last guys 'proved innocent'
06/23/00: Serious Republican candidates don't get serious press
06/19/00: They weren't overzealous this time
06/16/00: Evolution of the strumpet
06/13/00: Actual journalistic malpractice
06/09/00: I did not have sexual
relations with that ... man!
06/06/00: IRS turns Bubba's screw
05/30/00: Too corrupt to be an Arkansas lawyer
05/26/00: Choose liberalism
05/24/00: Violence against coherence
05/22/00: Developmentally disabled Republicans
05/16/00: For womb the bell tolls
05/12/00: Asylum from Georgetown
05/10/00: The truth is out there, even for the clueless
05/08/00: Barbie is a liberal Democrat
05/02/00: Moving the goalpost
04/28/00: The bastardization of justice
04/25/00: How Monica Lewinsky saved the constitution
04/24/00: It's sunny today, so we need gun control
04/19/00: No shadow of a doubt -- liberal women are worthless
04/14/00: It takes a Communist dictator to raise a child
04/11/00: The verdict is in on Hillary
04/07/00: Vast Concoctions III
04/04/00: 'Horrifying' free speech in New York
03/31/00: Campaign finance reform brings out worst in senators
03/28/00: All the news that fits -- we print!
03/24/00: Net losses all around
03/20/00: To protect, serve --- and be spat on
03/16/00: Thank Heaven for the consigliere
03/13/00: Vast concoctions II
03/09/00: The bluebloods voted against you
03/07/00: The Tower of Babble
03/03/00: Vast concoction
03/02/00: Hillary's sartorial lies
02/28/00: You have to break a few eggs to make a joke
02/22/00: I've seen enough killing to support abortion
02/18/00: A liberal lynching
02/15/00: McCain and the flag
02/11/00: The Shakedown Express
02/08/00: To mock a mockingbird
02/05/00: Summing up Campaign 2000: 'Oh, puh-leeze!'
02/01/00: A Confederacy of Dunces
01/28/00: Dollar Bill's racist smear
01/24/00: How high is your freedom quotient?
01/21/00: Numismadness
01/18/00: How dare you attack my wife!
01/14/00: The Gore Buggernaut
01/10/00: The paradox of discrimination law

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