Coulter: Political Pornographer

Ann, let's call this what it is

PORNOGRAPHY is difficult to define, wrote Justice Potter Stewart, "but I know it when I see it."

That famously commonsensical line would seem to obviate the need for any deeper analysis of the egregious Ann Coulter. Like most pornographers, however, she is resourceful in the service of her own economic and other interests. That makes it hard to do what most sensible people do when confronted with obscenity, which is look away.

If you've ever encountered Coulter on television or glanced at one of her book covers — all of which feature a "glamour shot" photo — you've probably noticed that she's inevitably dressed in an improbably short and low-cut black dress. At a gaunt 45 years of age, you might think the ingénue with fangs shtick would be wearing rather thin. Still, it's always been true that a certain segment of pornography consumers derive an erotic charge from the trappings of hate. Black leather and relic Nazi paraphernalia, for example, have a kind of iconic status in the sadomasochistic subcultures inclined toward fetishism.