I feel compelled to respond to the March 8 article ""Coulter slur reflects Republican supporters"" written by my peer Nick Barbash. Barbash wrote an article about the dangers of allowing college Republicans to bring hotheaded, provocative speakers to campus, using the specific example of Ann Coulter in regard to her recent name calling of John Edwards.
I agree that Coulter's comment was inappropriate. As Barbash pointed out, Coulter is known for making statements of this nature with the intent to grab attention and, like many others, sell a few more books.
I want to ask Barbash how he felt in the fall of 2004 when Michael Moore was invited to speak on our Terrace and nearly every other word from his mouth was foul and dirty. Moore, like Coulter, is known for outrageous antics aimed at drawing attention to himself.
While Nick is concerned by students who ""want their political views represented by someone as vitriolic as Coulter,"" others are concerned about folks who want their political views represented by someone as vitriolic as Moore.
Why have you not spoken out against the hate-filled language used by our own professor Kevin Barrett? Believe it or not, outside the bubble of Madison, Barrett has not been well received. Are you OK with Barrett as a representative of the environment fostered on your campus?
If you do not want figures like Coulter on our campus, then you should not want figures like Moore or Barrett.
Barbash does address the fact that conservative speakers are a rarity on campus. The Distinguished Lecture Series approached me last fall saying if the Union Theater was not filled to capacity for the next conservative speaker they brought, they may not invite conservative speakers to campus in the future.
It is a lot easier to fill a theater with a headliner like Coulter or Moore than with Frank Luntz. Has the average student ever heard of Frank Luntz?
I do not want speakers on our campus that will bring a sentiment of hatred or bigotry, but can we please apply this standard to all speakers, not just conservatives?
Erica Christenson
Chair
UW-Madison College Republicans
