Negative Positive
Title: Inadvertent satire?
Review: Ms. Coulter's latest tract comes fresh from the far right's lunatic fringe. Her puerile notion of "true patriotism," i.e., untrammeled defense spending, reckless unilateralism and suspicion (if not outright hatred) of foreigners, would be hilarious if it weren't so troubling. At times, Treason reads like a satire of the ultra-nationalist right; indeed, it is difficult to imagine an educated woman like Ms. Coulter writing "Goodbye, Walla Walla, I'm off to smash Allah," without tongue planted at least partially in check. And yet a fanatic's earnestness pervades her writing, leading to a ridiculous and patently offensive provincialism that no thoughtful pundit would touch with a ten-foot pole. Perhaps Ms. Coulter is unaware that many Americans--myself included--lack the blond hair, blue eyes, shotgun and dog-eared Bible that seem to be the sine qua non of her "patriotism."
Is the review positive or negative? 