Embarrassing family members and "rising up"

BadBadIvy poses an interesting question while hosting over at NashvilleIsTalking. ("Can’t we all just get along? No? Okay, then.")

Also, just wondering: left or right, who is the person on your side that you find to be embarrassing?

I wouldn’t say that Coulter “embarrasses” me . . . sometimes I regret–for PR’s sake, the things she says, but most often she makes sound arguments and makes them in a way that is clever, though acerbic. Frankly, she dares to say in public the kinds of things that Hillary would say privately to Sidney Blumenthal and the kinds of things that Liberal talk-radio hosts would say . . . if anyone was listening.

To an extent, Coulter’s popularity is due to the perception (on the part of Conservatives) that Conservative views and voices are consistently derided and/or suppressed by the so-called MSM. It should surprise noone that Liberal dominance in the media/cultural/academic elite would inspire rude expressions of dissent . . . just like in past eras when the shoe was on the other foot. Someone like Blumenthal has less reason to push the envelope–he (and the Left) have more to lose by being rude than by showcasing someone like Coulter and her abrasive commentary.

I think that it is important to remember that many Americans--folks from each end of the political spectrum I guess, enjoy politics . . . for lack of a better word, they're (we're) entertained by politics. Accordingly, the media free market has expanded to the point where, for example, people who don't want to watch soap operas from 1-4pm everyday don't have to. So the market has been able to respond, for a host of technological reasons and I guess some policy reasons, to the demands of listeners and viewers.

Along those lines, Rush and Jon Stewart and Hannity and Maher and O'Reilly and Colbert and Olbermann now have audiences for the entertainment they provide. They're all "thought leaders" for their audiences and often they "give voice" to feelings their audience have about an issue or a person. Coulter dares to say things which many people think and which, though "uncivil" or "rude," are probably true. For example, Ted Kennedy--based on his unrepented-of past, should be ashamed to show his face in public rather than be a respected Democrat Senator. I know this is polite company and I know that Ted Kennedy is venerated by many Democrats, but can you disagree with that statement?