Beaneball

Sunday, March 4. 2007

Ann Coulter = Scum

As to Ann Coulter, I'm not sure whether her use of the word "faggot" in reference to John Edwards was even the most offensive thing she said. CNN's story mentions that she also said the following:

I don't know why all gays aren't Republican. I think we have the pro-gay positions, which is anti-crime and for tax cuts. Gays make a lot of money and they're victims of crime. No, they are! They should be with us.
Slurs vs. stereotypes. I honestly don't know which is worse. Of course, either way, she's a horrible human being and is some of the best evidence we have for a more European approach to speech (see France and Germany re: Nazism and anti-Semitism, for instance). Coulter's right that gay people are victims of crime. The question is how many more hate crimes we need to see before people like Coulter start being put in their place. She's not only unfunny and offensive, I'd go so far as to say that she's dangerous. As long as someone like her (apparently a smart person - cum laude graduate of Cornell, Order of the Coif at Michigan Law) keeps thinking it's ok to use this kind of language and to make these kinds of generalizations, others will think it's ok to beat people to death and leave them tied to fenceposts in the middle of nowhere.

More injury woes for the Lake Show

Lamar Odom is out again, at best, in Phil Jackson's words, for two to three weeks. The performance he had against Sacramento shows the kinds of things he can do for a basketball team (26 points, thirteen boards, six dimes), and with Luke Walton still out, Odom will be sorely missed. Kwame Brown is back, and that's good, because the size of the team had really taken a hit in his absence (especially when combined with Odom and Walton), but he fills a different void. All of this has really amped up the Scottie Pippen speculation. Given the Lakers' precarious situation currently (the West is too good not to pounce on this kind of weakness), I honestly don't think anything could hurt. If he's not effective, it's only fifteen minutes a night that he's offering; basically, Maurice Evans (who's now also hurt) time. With all the injuries, I'd certainly like to see what a formerly great defensive stopper and pretty good offensive player could do rather than hope for the best with an at-best mediocre Aaron McKie.