$24,000.00 Gets You Ann Coulter
and
A Desire to Bathe

Bishop James Alan Wilkowski
Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest

March 24, 2006





On Monday, March 23, 2006, I visited the campus of my alma mater, Loyola University of Chicago, Class of 1988; because Loyola shelled out $24,000.00 to bring television rant maven Ann Coulter and her act to the Mundelein Auditorium. I went to Loyola for two reasons. The first was to speak at an Anti-Hate Rally prior to the Coulter show and the second was to attend the Coulter show in person to determine if I had been correctly listening to her monologues from other television shows.



Her live act is more repugnant than her television act.



For $24,000.00, Coulter came out on stage with bodyguards surrounding her and began a flippant and fast paced monologue of trash talk rants. She seems to be attempting to do her stand-up in the mode of Don Rickles or Joan Rivers. The difference is that Rickles and Rivers are funny. Coulter is not. Her monologue is about as appealing as having the Grand Knight of the KKK speaking before the NAACP National Convention.



Shortly after Coulter began her rants, about 100 young women stood up and turned their backs on Coulter in a silent protest. After glancing at her cue cards, Coulter began ranting about their "big butts" and the need for them to post of "oversize load" sign on them. Impressive talk from a Harvard graduate. For $24,000.00 per show, one would think that she could hire wittier writers.



The saddest moment of the performance came when Coulter, struggling with hecklers seating in the balcony of the auditorium, called upon the male members of the Loyola College Republican Organization to go up to the balcony and throw out the hecklers. When these young men hesitated to follow Coulter's orders, she turned upon them and told them if they didn't do what she wanted, then they were no better than "p*ssy boys." With that threat, these young republicans, akin to the Nazi Youths, stormed up to the balcony to remove those who were exercising their right to free speech. At least we know that for $24,000.00, Coulter provided the student body of Loyola a tutorial in emotional, ethical and moral castration. Shortly thereafter, Coulter again confronted with another group of women standing in silent protect, called them young Monica Lewinsky's and said they should be on their knees instead of standing.



At that point, finding myself filling with disgust and feeling the need to take a bath, I stood up and left.



I am convinced that Coulter stage act is simply that - an act. I cannot believe any psychologically healthy person can spew the words which Coulter uses in her act. Coulter is looking for a fast and simply way to earn big ($24,000.00) money. Her Harvard education has taught her that somewhere there is an audience for a trash-talking, hate monger who speaks to the dark side of the human sole. Remember Andrew Dice Clay? IF, by chance Coulter actually embraces the words of her act, then I suspect that most of the $24,000.00 she books per date must go towards intense psychotherapy.



Despite the dark clouds which Coulter brought with her to Loyola, they could not dim the radiance of hope which took place at the Anti-Hate Rally organized and attended by over 500 Loyola students and faculty prior to Coulter’s curtain time. These young people demonstrated that the antidote to the Ann Coulters of the world is unconditional rejection of hate and prejudice in any form which the power of evil uses to pollute humankind and our world. Unlike Coulter, these young people were not paid $24,000.00 to show up on Hallas Field for their Anti Hate Rally. All they got were hot drinks and pizza.



As a teacher of American History and as a catholic bishop, I unconditionally protect and defend the sacred right and privilege of any individual to exercise free speech. I congratulate Loyola University and the distinguished Jesuit Order for teaching their students the diverse spectrum of free speech. We cannot isolate our children from the voices and power of evil in our world. They must learn early on that Coulter and her kind are nothing more than vessels for the power of evil and chaos seeking any and all opportunities to harm our world. The sooner our children learn to distinguish between that which is good and evil, sacred vs. profane – then the power of evil will remain in check.



Coulter’s act resurrects within me the fear of what can happen when the power of evil is not kept in check.



Several years ago here in the north Chicago suburban area and in Northwestern Indiana, the words of another hate monger unleashed the power of evil upon us for a few hours one afternoon.



In southern Illinois, a neo-Nazi, Matthew Hale, the self proclaimed "Pontifex Maximus” of the World Church of the Creator, had been preaching his brand of hatred to those who would listen to him. His words inspired a young man named Benjamin Smith embark upon a three-day shooting spree targeting minorities in Illinois and Indiana – ultimately killing two people and wounding nine others. Hale held up this man and as his great disciple who put his words into action. And Hale wasn’t getting $24,000.00 per rant.



I wonder what kind of disciples Coulter wishes to seduce and empower?



As I was leaving the Mundelein Auditorium, I met a Jesuit standing by the exit door and looking very sad. We shook hands and his first words to me were “Bishop, she is a dreadful person, isn’t she? How can we explain what has happened here tonight?”



Maybe this might help:



Loyola University contracted $24,000.00 with a celebrity to exercise her right to speak on the topic of American politics. Unknowingly to Loyola, what it got was a party with a media prostitute doing her S&M dominatrix routine of verbal humiliation and intimation of her collective johns - the unsuspecting audience.



Don’t worry, Father. Anyone with an ounce of common sense will realize that Loyola was bamboozled.



As a graduate of Loyola, I’d be more than happy to come back and help you all wash the Mundelein Auditorium stage with Holy Water.







Respectfully Yours in Christ,



Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest
Chicago, Illinois

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Bishop Wilkowski is the Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest. He can be reached at bishopjames (at) bishopjameswilkowski.com