The biggest lesson in Nevada’s Bundy Ranch standoff is how it’s angered conservative America, conservative commentator Ann Coulter said, urging Republicans to channel that passion in the most effective way possible.

“Republicans and conservatives ought to learn, be careful before you choose a mascot,” Coulter said Friday in an interview with CNN’s Bill Weir.

In a comparison sure to anger some of rancher Cliven Bundy’s most vocal supporters, Coulter likened the Nevada cattle battle to the ineffectual Occupy Wall Street demonstrations of 2011, when thousands of unwashed, unemployed and unhappy young people took to the streets to protest not getting milk and cookies before their afternoon nap.

“I never thought this was a great cause,” Coulter said of Bundy’s battle. “I don’t see much difference … between what’s going on at that ranch and Occupy Wall Street.”

The fallout from Bundy’s comments about slavery – which liberals heralded from the moment they broke in The New York Times on Wednesday – helps make Coulter’s point that flash-in-the-pan protests like Bundy’s are diversions from bigger concerns over the direction the country is taking in the age of Obama.

Woman throws hand grenade like a girl, chaos ensues

That anger needs to be channeled productively – and that’s something prominent conservatives who should be leading the movement are failing to do, Coulter said.

“There’s a lot to be angry about, and people want to punch back,” Coulter said, listing as boiling points Obamacare and the growing number of states approving gay marriage and legalizing marijuana.

“But what I think is happening is people we look to be leaders to direct that justified anger are instead being followers,” she said.

“Stop following the mob – you’re supposed to direct the mob, who have a legitimate grievance.”

The libs are going to love hearing Coulter call conservative activists “the mob,” but they’d be missing the point, as usual. Her message is that conservatives aren’t just the Occupy movement with better hygiene. A raft of issues with major implications for America’s future are at a tipping point, and turning them in the right direction requires effective political organization – not just foot-stomping or camera-hogging.

That means the conservative movement needs leaders who aren’t getting distracted by another romantic “mascot” who may turn out – rightly or wrongly — to be an embarrassment.

“There is legitimate anger,” she said. “We see these random explosions here and there – where it ought to be directed to something useful and directed at something we can do something about.”

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Joe Saunders

Joe Saunders, a 25-year newspaper veteran, is a staff writer and editor for BizPac Review who lives in Tallahassee and covers capital and Florida politics. Email Joe at [email protected].

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