Comments on: John Derbyshire Claims America Would Be Better Off If Women Couldn’t Vote

By: Jim S

Jim S — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:00:06 +0000

Did you follow my first link? I didn’t simply go looking. I remembered it being in the news, since that particular kook is in my “back yard”, so to speak. Justin probably saw the same news reports I did back then.

By: kranky kritter

kranky kritter — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:54:58 +0000

Coulter’s comment was related to the notion that if American women didn’t vote, we would not have any more democratic Presidents. She was really questioning the political wisdom of female voters. I was a partisan argument.

I despise Coulter and her ilk.Period. But I don’t think her argument here had much of anything to do with any supposed serious contention that women don’t deserve equal rights. That leaves me stuck defending her because of the usual liberal over-reachers here are eager to support the idea that conservatives are anti-women (as well as anti-anything good under the sun).

IMO Coulter’s argument was partisan, not sexist. Translated fairly, it would claim that women should smarten up to the democratic scam and vote GOP.It would not say that women have proven themselves to lack judgement and ought to be confined to a 2nd-class citizenship status.

God, how it galls me to defend the amoral provocatuer Coulter just because some of the thinking here is so sloppy. I am not even a conservative, for god’s sake.

He’s not the only conservative who has said something like this. Then there’s Coulter and it’s just not that hard to find others.

Right. The internet has made it very easy for us to find kooks. Without getting up, even. Here’s the thing:

• The more time that liberals spend searching the net for objectionable conservative kooks, the more convinced they become that America is threatened by vast legions of them.

• The more time that conservatives spend searching the net for objectionable liberal kooks, the more convinced they become that America is threatened by vast legions of them.

Maybe we need a kook census.

By: Jim S

Jim S — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:28:34 +0000

He's not the only conservative who has said something like this. Then there's Coulter and it's just not that hard to find others.

By: kranky kritter

kranky kritter — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:59:42 +0000

You just don’t get it. It’s not about hating government. It’s about publicity. It’s about titillation. Derbyshire is selling a book.

He is selling it by saying provocative things that are elaborated upon in that book. That’s how he gets people to buy the book. Strangely enough, some liberals and some women will buy this book just to prove to themselves how stupid Derbyshire is.

And conservatives will buy it now that they know it has provocative ideas. After all, who needs another version on Gingrich’s greatest hits clogging their shelves. There’s a limited market for political manifesto, and you want yours to be noticed. That’s the first step. His publisher must be delighted.

You just gave him a free ad, Justin. Well done.

By: Borat Sagdiyev

Borat Sagdiyev — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:36:19 +0000

Mr Derbyshire is very smart man. I also not think woman should vote. In Kazakstan, we say that letting woman in a politic is like letting a monkey drive aeroplane.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:45:04 +0000

Yeah hearing that audio clip, I don’t believe he’s joking.

By: Justin Gardner

Justin Gardner — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:07:03 +0000

His book has a chapter entitled, “The Case Against Female Suffrage.”

He’s not joking.

By: Doug Mataconis

Doug Mataconis — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:23:20 +0000

I think it’s pretty clear he was joking.