How Ann Coulter cashed in on a ‘dark day for free speech’ – The Mercury News

In a perfect world, Ann Coulter would have given a speech Thursday, at UC Berkeley, as originally scheduled. She would have spoken on immigration and no doubt aroused passionate reaction ranging from rabid applause to sputtering apoplexy.

Its her schtick, peddling provocation from about as far right as you get. And she is very good at what she does.

She was invited to appear at UC Berkeley on Thursday, and in a perfect world the speech would have gone off without a hitch. But before Thursday could get here, the city of Berkeley was rocked by three politically themed violent demonstrations in three months. UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, prudently fearing the worst, asked Coulter to reschedule for May 2.

One assumes the date wasnt picked at random. May 2 is the beginning of a dead week before finals, a time when the campus would be a ghost town. Coulter, for whom an audience is like oxygen, declined.

It is a dark day for free speech in America, she said in a tweet.

By the letter of the Bill of Rights, she is correct. The First Amendment is a bedrock principle of our country. And Coulter was denied her right to speak at the time and venue of her choosing.

Heres the irony:

Denied her right to free speech, she has spent the better part of a week on a filibustering First Amendment-fest. Seriously, she hasnt shut up. She has been omnipresent, making dozens of posts on her Twitter and Facebook accounts and making the media rounds. For all we know, she churned out another of her New York Times best-sellers between tweets. No one could possibly wonder what she is thinking.

And she is thinking.

She not only kept the narrative of this nonevent alive, she drove it with skill and dexterity, keeping her fans, detractors and the press sprinting from one shiny object to the next.

She bashed UC Berkeley:

She exhibiteddefiance:

She even found time for a little self-promotion:

She hinted that she would show up for the originally scheduled event, insisting it was up to police to keep me safe. Then backed off and confirmed it was canceled. Then said she might show up Thursday to stroll around the graveyard of the First Amendment.

In short, she occasioned a brilliant bit of branding, delivering her message in spades and reaping a priceless windfall of free publicity along the way certainly more attention than she would have generated from a speech.

She is such an astute messenger that it was hardly a surprise early Thursday afternoon when, despite the cancellation, groups of all stripes and agendas began trickling into Berkeley. As of 3 p.m., the most prominent feature of the gathering was a bubble-blowing machine. Perhaps fittingly, the nonevent generated a nonviolent assembly.

As if to underscore that point, a Twitter post included a photo of a plane towing a banner above the gathering. The banner read,Dont take the bait, rise above the hate!!

A nice thought. But theres no money in that.

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How Ann Coulter cashed in on a 'dark day for free speech' - The Mercury News