Ann Coulter: Obama and Boos and Balls

This is a great column by Ann Coulter, "More Boos Than Balls."

In her discussion of the 44th president, she illustrates the hypocrisy and the double standards that are hallmarks of the liberals and their media.

It will not be easy for President B. Hussein Obama. More than half the country voted for him, and yet our newspapers are brimming with snippy remarks at every little aspect of his inauguration.

Here's a small sampling of the churlishness in just The New York Times:

-- The American public is bemused by the tasteless show-biz extravaganza surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration today.

-- There is something to be said for some showiness in an inauguration. But one felt discomfited all the same.

-- This is an inauguration, not a coronation.

-- Is there a parallel between Mrs. Obama's jewel-toned outfit and somebody else's glass slippers? Why limousines and not shank's mare?

-- It is still unclear whether we are supposed to shout "Whoopee!" or "Shame!" about the new elegance the Obamas are bringing to Washington.

Boy, talk about raining on somebody's parade! These were not, of course, comments about the inauguration of the angel Obama; they are (slightly edited) comments about the inauguration of another historic president, Ronald Reagan, in January 1981.

The contrast between how Obama was treated and the sort of treatment dished out to Reagan couldn't be more dramatic.

The media's slobbering, glowing, gleaming coverage of Obama's inauguration was really remarkable. It dripped with such overt bias that it was laughable. It was an SNL skit.

Coulter goes on to note Reagan's graciousness to his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, in his inaugural address, as well as the boorish behavior of some of Obama's inauguration attendees.

She writes:

Obama was also not as fulsome in his praise of his predecessor as Reagan was. To appreciate how remarkable this is, recall that Reagan's predecessor was Jimmy Carter.

Under Carter, more than 50 Americans were held hostage by a two-bit terrorist Iranian regime for 444 days -- released the day of Reagan's inauguration. Under Bush, there has not been another terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001.

But I gather that if Obama had uttered anything more than the briefest allusion to Bush, that would have provoked yet more booing from the Hope-and-Change crowd, which moments earlier had showered Bush with boos when he walked onto the stage. That must be the new tone we've been hearing so much about.

So maybe liberals can stop acting as if the entire nation could at last come together in a "unity of purpose" if only conservatives would stop fomenting "conflict and discord" -- as Obama suggested in his inaugural address. We're not the ones who booed a departing president.

Those boos directed at President Bush will not be forgotten.

In that moment, that display of churlishness, the liberals defined themselves, who they really are.

Coulter draws more distinctions between the comportment of liberals and conservatives.

She concludes:

Liberals always have to play the victim, acting as if they merely want to bring the nation together in hope and unity in the face of petulant, stick-in-the-mud conservatives. Meanwhile, they are the ones booing, heckling and publicly fantasizing about the assassination of those who disagree with them on policy matters.

Hope and unity, apparently, can only be achieved if conservatives would just go away -- and perhaps have the decency to kill themselves.

Republicans are not the ones who need to be told that "the time has come to set aside childish things" -- as Obama said of his own assumption of the presidency. Remember? We're the ones who managed to gaze upon Carter at the conclusion of his abomination of a presidency without booing.

She nails it.

I keep thinking about the "We Are One" lie.

I guess it all depends on what the meaning of "we" is.

Obama and his followers do not define "we" as including conservatives. "We" could never include President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Unity? No. Not now. Not all.

That booing will echo for a long, long time.

Those are the voices that make up the foundation of the Obama era, and what a shaky foundation it is.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."