The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor. -Ronald Reagan
Website World Net Daily (WND) has decided to drop conservative pundit and author, Ann Coulter as the keynote speaker for its “Taking America Back National Conference” next month, because of her plan to be the keynote speaker at “Homocon,” an event put together by GOProud the first genuinely conservative group for gay Republicans (Coulter’s column will still be carried by the site).
According to Joseph Farah, the Editor-in-Chief of Chief of WND, the reason for dis-inviting Ms Coulter from the WND conference (and their rejection of GOProud) is the Gay organization’s support of same-sex marriage and military service for open homosexuals. If Farah took the time to look at GOProud’s web site he would have seen that those issues are not the group’s priorities. GOProud describes its goals as:
GOProud is an organization that is committed to a traditional conservative agenda that emphasizes limited government, individual liberty, free markets and a confident foreign policy.
In other words they are more conservative than most of the Republicans in office today. But it doesn’t seem that those conservative goals are not important to WND’s Joseph Farah as you can see by this exchange with Ms Coulter:
Asked by Farah why she was speaking to GOProud, Coulter said: “They hired me to give a speech, so I’m giving a speech. I do it all the time.”
Farah then asked: “Do you not understand you are legitimizing a group that is fighting for same-sex marriage and open homosexuality in the military – not to mention the idea that sodomy is just an alternate lifestyle?”
Coulter responded: “That’s silly, I speak to a lot of groups and do not endorse them. I speak at Harvard and I certainly don’t endorse their views. I’ve spoken to Democratic groups and liberal Republican groups that loooove abortion. The main thing I do is speak on college campuses, which is about the equivalent of speaking at an al-Qaida conference. I’m sure I agree with GOProud more than I do with at least half of my college audiences. But in any event, giving a speech is not an endorsement of every position held by the people I’m speaking to. I was going to speak for you guys, I think you’re nuts on the birther thing (though I like you otherwise!).“
World Net Daily’s support of intolerance (one of their key columnists is the passionately anti-semitic Holocaust denier Pat Buchanan) and wacko positions such as their infamous promotion of the discredited birther story, puts them on the outside fringe of the conservative movement. Sadly their extreme positions provide fodder for liberal propaganda.
Ann Coulter believes a desire for publicity was behind WND’s move, in an email to the Daily Caller she made the following points:
1) Farah is doing this for PUBLICITY and publicity alone;
2) This was an email exchange between friends [the exchange above] and even though I didn’t expressly say “OFF THE RECORD” and I believe everything I said, he’s a swine for using my private emails politely answering him. Why would he do such a despicable thing? … for PUBLICITY.
3) But now that he has, I will say that he could give less than two sh-ts about the conservative movement — as demonstrated by his promotion of the birther nonsense (long ago disproved by my newspaper, human events, also sweetness & light, American Spectator and National Review etc, etc etc). He’s the only allegedly serious conservative pushing the birther thing…for ONE reason: to get hits on his website.
4) His group hadn’t come up for the money to book me for a speech, anyway, so he’s not canceling me from anything.
Also, FYI; my fellow evangelicals — and I know lots and lots of ’em — – all think it’s great that I’m doing this. (of course, they know I’m not changing my mind on gay marriage even though I like gays). This is total b.s. for PUBLICITY by a publicity whore. Attack Ann Coulter, get publicity. liberals figured that out a long time ago, so he’s a little late to the party.
If we are for taking away the power of the Federal Government as it tries to control our lives and freedoms,as I believe is at the heart of the conservative movement, then we must join hands with groups that agree with that position. GOProud is such an organization.
Thankfully most conservatives are more tolerant than WND. Conservative Blogger John Hawkins of Right Wing News has become a sponsor of the conference:
Today, I want to make an announcement: Right Wing News is the first sponsor of Homocon. We’re going to be supporting the event, promoting it, and encouraging Republicans in New York to attend. Thanks to GOProud for giving us the opportunity and thanks to Ann Coulter for creating what’s sure to be a memorable event that people will want to attend.
I am not surprised at John’s tolerance, he believes the key to restoring America to greatness is to vote the progressive Democrats out of office. Ann Coulter, GOProud and John Hawkins are strong allies in that effort. WND on the other hand, support of haters such as Pat Buchanan, and its refusal to give up on the discredited birther nonsense, and its intolerance of Gay Republican’s is nothing but a road block for the conservative movement and ammunition for the progressives.