Ajai Raj speaks out

Ajai Raj, who was arrested after questioning Ann Coulter about her favorite orifice, offers his side of the story in an open letter on Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k) (via Wonkette):

So yes, the Q&A session came around, and it was pathetic. Her slack-jawed fans got up and licked her face so she could pat them on the head–one schmuck offered to be her bodyguard, and she smiled, doubtlessly making a mental note that she wouldn’t touch his nether regions if she were King Midas. Liberal protestors posed well-intentioned but woefully timid questions and got shot down in a hail of ignorant shitfire from the She-Dragon. Standing in line awaiting my turn, I watched her send a moderate Republican, who had questioned the sheer incendiary magnitude of her rhetoric, walk away in tears when she tore him apart for daring to question her. So yes, I saw my “opportunity to say something lewd and offensive.” And I took it. She had just said something about gay marriage, the typical rightwing bullshit spiel that is still convincing people that the Bible is really the Constitution. Knowing that taking the time to say something insightful, specific, or even slightly critical would get me a lame comeback and a ticket back to my seat, I realized that the only way to win this battle was to fight fire with fire. Or bullshit with bullshit. [Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k)]

23 thoughts on “Ajai Raj speaks out

  1. I think what he did is fine. I mean, when I was in college, I wanted to throw swear words at politicians, deans, and professors who believed in ending affirmative action at UCs. I don’t think he should have been arrested. I don’t think making hand gestures as Ajai did was wrong. I don’t think questioning Coulter or anyone with cuss words is wrong. Would I do it now? Probably not. But, that doesn’t mean others shouldn’t. I like his logic. I like his fire. And I like his potty mouth.

  2. No one will remember what Raj’s point was, just his behavior. A passionate schmuck is still a schmuck.

  3. Hard to argue with that logic. Haven’t we all felt like doing that at some point of time.. he actually did it! He now has the satisfaction of doing it, plus he gets street cred and a great tale to tell his grandkids.

  4. And Ajai Raj can definitely write well. That open letter was one of the most entertaining things I’ve read in a while.

    Did I give a shit? No. If I had a message, it’s that the whole thing was a joke–hell, our whole political scene today is a fucking joke. Everyone’s out to either pat themselves on the back for being right or whine about how they’re being wronged without ever lifting a finger to fight for it.

    Amen.

  5. on a more important note, this guys going to get laid a lot more in the near future, with his newly found “semi-celebrity” status

  6. Yesterday I didn’t agree with his approach but today I do. His logic is sound.

    It was utterly childish. He could’ve sliced and diced her at the microphone on exactly the same topic and been quoted by exactly the same media. Instead he’s running for the next version of ‘Jackass.’

    I’ve seen a guy just as flippant but ten times as bright reduce a neocolonialist South Asian professor to a quivering mass of protoplasm with nothing but his fillet-o-death rhetoric.

    Imagine that you were the speaker and someone had done this. You’d be rightly and severely pissed.

    Imagine if all leftists were more into theater than getting something done. (Oh, wait…)

  7. His argument is that he really couldn’t have “sliced and diced” her in any kind of cogent way — he’d have been interrupted and dismissed. I believe it. In his moment of exquisite inspiration he realized that only a very brief and very outrageous statement would have the desired effect. If that’s what it takes to sass Ann Coulter, then so be it. Now, we could probably all come up with alternative brief/outrageous statements to his, perhaps more politically incisive, but chances are they’d be just as vulgar.

  8. His argument is that he really couldn’t have “sliced and diced” her in any kind of cogent way — he’d have been interrupted and dismissed.

    If it was a wingnut rally, nobody takes it seriously anyway and his actions were just so much theater.

    If it was a real, open discussion, he was making a point in the laziest way possible, a way that precludes anyone from taking it seriously.

  9. If it was a real, open discussion, he was making a point in the laziest way possible, a way that precludes anyone from taking it seriously.

    Well, his intention was not to be taken seriously, but to put down Coultier 🙂

  10. Coulter doesn’t need putting down, she’s her own parody.

    The positions she holds are easily dissected. He had the mike, he could have made hay.

  11. I wasn’t there of course, but I’ve seen Coulter on TV enough times (lord have mercy on my soul) and with her and her ilk, it’s NEVER a “real, open discussion.” Assuming this event conformed to that trend, one can only congratulate the kid for answering Coulter’s nonsense (and I agree with you, Manish, she is her own parody) with nonsense of his own. There is a place for guerrilla theater; that’s what the kid did, although I don’t think he’s quite ready for prime time…

  12. It is clear from Ajay’s post-comment statement that there is serious policy behind his statement. Lets not dilute the efficacy of his statement. He did not put down Mann Coulter. He did not threaten her. He simply asked her a question which called into question her hypocritical views. And he used explicit language.

    If it was a real, open discussion, he was making a point in the laziest way possible, a way that precludes anyone from taking it seriously.

    As a direct consequence of his statement, we are seriously discussing the issue his comments brought up.

  13. He simply asked her a question which called into question her hypocritical views.

    I don’t object to the question (insultingly phrased though it was). At its core, he made a good point. I object to the dirty bird victory dance / run for the end zone afterwards. That makes it weak theater.

    As a direct consequence of his statement, we are seriously discussing the issue his comments brought up.

    As a direct consequence of Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, people seriously discussed the hypocrisy of TV censorship. Doesn’t make the stunt itself an intelligent political statement.

    To all you Ajai Raj defenders, I reserve the right to pull a Raj at your public events– weddings, speeches and such 😉

    Seriously, folks. You’re elevating incivility to discourse because you happen to like the message. This is the same misplaced team spirit that propels Mexicans to chant ‘Osama’ when playing the U.S. soccer team. It’s exactly what we complain about when Americans consider Brits/Aussies ‘us’ and brown people ‘them.’

  14. This is the same misplaced team spirit that propels Mexicans to chant ‘Osama’ when playing the U.S. soccer team.

    Are you sure its the same?

  15. Manish, you’re overreacting. We’re not elevating incivility. We’re simply noting that in the simulacrum of politics that Ann Coulter inhabits, an appropriate response in the simulacrum of critique that Ajai offered. Were Coulter and her crew to even offer a shred of a sliver of courteous, back-and-forth political conversation, we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.

  16. … in the simulacrum of politics that Ann Coulter inhabits, an appropriate response in the simulacrum of critique that Ajai offered.

    As far as I know, Coulter doesn’t lob a ‘fuck you’ and then run. She lobs one and then defends it to the hilt at the same event, which makes her worthy of scorn but not outright dismissal. For him to sink below Coulter really makes Raj an unserious commentator. I guarantee you we’ve now expended more neurons on this than he has.

    Btw, Raj shouldn’t have been arrested, though the organizers would’ve had every right to ask him to leave.

    Ask yourself: would you welcome Raj’s behavior from hecklers at your own events?

  17. She’s ridiculous! She operates by put-down, sarcasm and innuendo. She’s perfectly worth dismissing — not as a right-winger (she’s perfectly entitled to be right-wing) but as an interlocutor in honest exchange. That’s the problem — she, like all the others in the Fox cosmology, is dishonest — and is making millions out of it.

    If you’re going to be a snake-oil salesperson, you shouldn’t be surprised if someone lobs some excrement at you.

    You ask if I’d welcome Ajai-like intervention at one of my events — well, I don’t do events… but if I did, I’d hope to be honest, forthright and respectful of my audience. Whatever happens after that, happens. It’s out of my hands.

    Peace, Siddhartha

  18. We Desis cant act like that anymore. We need to be more controlled in our behavior. After 9/11 we are going to be targetted for everything we do..even when we dont do it. He’s pretending like its the late 90’s when we were in college and did as we pleased. Those days are over buddy..Desis are supposed to shut up and not fight the reigning system. Thats it..it really sucks..Come on really..do you know any other people who are more hated right now that arabs and south asians? I dont think so..

  19. Hey Sonal? Sorry to burst your bubble, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a Desi voicing his nonconformist opinion. Why should we sit quiet while societal stereotypes dictate our lives and personalities? You obviously agree that it sucks being labeled as a terrorist, so why not work to change the mindsets of the idiots around you? OH and by the way, 9/11 was three and a half years ago. Go Ajai, fight the ignorant conservative right-wingers. I’d like to see if Coulter would take away the marriage license of a non-procreating couple.

  20. Desi careers: 1) Doctor 2) Kwik-mart Ajai chooses #2

    wow, patel. at least ajai raj HAD a point, though neither of you are particularly impressive in how you express yourselves.

    (i’m in the “he should’ve stayed at the mike vs running off” camp.)

    and sonal…uh, yes’m. i’ll be happy to sit in the back of the bus, too. no fuss from second-class me, no ma’am. i knows MY place. rolls eyes