Weaving together humor and sarcasm, right-wing author Ann Coulter spoke to a packed Popejoy audience Tuesday night.
"I've never had this friendly an audience," Coulter said after her stand-up comedy-style talk drew frequent applause.
Coulter's talk addressed a range of recent events, including the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, this year's presidential elections and what she said are the perils of the Democratic Party and Liberalism.
She frequently called Liberals elitist and, because of their public schooling, inherently unintelligent.
"Liberals are being let down in their education," she said. "Liberals do not understand the concept of logic."
Criticizing what she regards as liberal privilege in public life, Coulter said the source of this is a culture of intellectual passivity in public schools and on college campuses.
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"Liberals hate competition," she said. "Call uncle George Soros, Al Franken wants a new radio show, and he basically gets a second bar mitzvah."
College Democrats co-chair Marshall Martinez said he was disappointed by Coulter's lack of substantive argument and her frequent racial insensitivity.
"She continuously said that the left wing constantly accuses the right wing of being racist, and then she made statements that were anti-Semitic and anti-Arabic," he said.
Coulter devoted ample time to the issue of racial profiling.
In the post-Sept. 11 climate, she said, it is imperative to profile Arabs and Muslims at American airports to avert further terrorist attacks.
It is wrong for airlines to search and interrogate the elderly and young, she said, when Arabs and Muslims have carried out all of the airline terrorism in U.S. history.
"There's no principled basis for opposition to using Arab appearance as one factor by law enforcement," she said. "The objections and complaints have one purpose: to give the terrorists a cushion for the next attack."
The evening concluded with a lengthy question-and-answer session.
Scott Darnell, chairman of the College Republicans, and Steven Beffort, director for the UNM Center for Support for Economic Development, introduced Coulter at the event.
"All her points were very valid," said UNM student Christian Lovato. "After she was saying, 'I want Liberals to talk and to speak out,' they didn't say anything at all. I thought that was very telling."
When asked when the Bush administration will withdraw U.S. armed forces from Iraq, especially in light of mounting casualties and cost, Coulter replied that the U.S.-led invasion has been a highly successful component in the war on terrorism.
She added that the casualties on both sides are negligible.
"We have fewer deaths in Iraq than die on our highways every couple of weeks," she said.
Coulter said the United States was justified in invading Iraq, and the occupation should continue with the objective of building a democracy in Baghdad to inspire the spread of democracy in the Middle East.
"We need to get on the ground in the Middle East," she said. "We need to build an Arab democracy. We essentially need an Arab Israel. It's going to take a long, tough haul, but we did it in Japan and we did it in Germany."
