Thursday, June 08, 2006

Ann Coulter Tackles the Menace of Widows and Grieving Mothers

In an appearance on the Today Show, promoting her autobiography, Godless, Ann Coulter courageously tackled the frightening menace of widows and grieving mothers. For years after 9/11 the power of women like Kristen Breitweiser, Lorie Van Aukenhas and Cindy Sheehan has gone virtually unchecked as they have bullied the President, cowing him into appointing the 9/11 Commission and ruining his vacations in Crawford, Texas. "These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband's death so much," says Coulter, who reluctantly bears the celebrity that has been thrust on her like a burden and, sadly, has no death of a family member she can enjoy. On Tucker Carlson, Coulter, who hasn't made one dime off of 9/11, other than her standard lecture and writing fees, said, "These women got paid. They ought to take their money and shut up about it."

If you have any doubt about the power of these women, just look at how Coulter has gotten pilloried (and Hillary-ed) for daring to take them on. Even some on the right, who for years have cheered her on, have suddenly turned on her. Though Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters says he enjoys Coulter's "good humor," he believes she has "lost her humanity." Rick Moran calls her a "shallow, bitter, bitch of a woman whose hate filled mouthings will eventually lead to her destruction." The Anchoress says that Coulter "goes too far and discredits herself and the values she says she espouses." Don Surber says she "brings shame to conservatives." Hugh Hewitt says she owes an apology to the widows of 9/11." Even Michelle Malkin responded by saying she agreed with Hillary Clinton's attacks on Coulter, though she did use it as an excuse to run an unflattering picture of the Senator (it's a good thing there are no unflattering pictures of Malkin).

Coulter has used the words "camel jockey," "jihad monkey" and "tent merchant" to refer to Muslims, come out against a woman's right to vote ("It would be a much better country if women did not vote") and said Abu Ghraib proved women "shouldn't be in the military," called for the assassination of a Supreme Court Justice ("someone should put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' crème brûlée"), claimed "a baseball bat is the most effective way" to deal with liberals, called Democrats "gutless traitors," lamented that Timothy McVeigh "did not go to the New York Times building," revealed that she is "not a big fan of the First Amendment," said she hates Canada "because they speak French," said God gave us permission to "rape the planet," told disabled Vietnam vet Bobby Muller "No wonder you guys lost," called people who collect Social Security "greedy geezers," said Episcopalians "don't demand much in the way of actual religious belief," dubbed the Democratic Convention "the Spawn of Satan Convention," and called Pamela Harriman and Patricia Duff "whores." But apparently, when she attacked the 9/11 widows, she really crossed the line.

Coulter is understandably frustrated at how the liberal media fawns over these women and hangs on their every word, while she has struggled to get her message out through the occasional television appearance, talk radio, college campus tours, her syndicated column, her website and her bestselling books. The media seems to believe that these women deserve some sort of special status just because they happen to have lost a loved one, even though they lack Coulter's long list of credentials. These narcissistic women persist in believing that their loss was somehow greater than that of the rest of the country who watched it all happen on television. "We're sorry about Ms. Sheehan's son, but the entire nation was attacked on 9-11. This isn't about her personal loss," Coulter wrote in a column last year. And in her recent book she wrote of the 9/11 widows: "These self-obsessed women seem genuinely unaware that 9-11 was an attack on our nation and acted like as if the terrorist attack only happened to them."

Being a widow or grieving mother gives someone immunity to criticism, according to Coulter, which she calls "the left's doctrine of infallibility." And so when Coulter is paired with one of these women on a talk show, she is rendered practically speechless. "How about sending in somebody we are allowed to respond to?" she said. "We always have to respond to someone who just had a family member die." This is a common ploy of liberals that has a long history. Back during the Civil Rights era, for example, the rational arguments conservatives made in favor of segregation were often pitted against pictures of dogs and fire hoses being unleashed against black people. These provocative images drowned out any reasoned discussion of state's rights. More recently, after Hurricane Katrina, we had to endure countless interviews with people who lived in the region. Focusing sympathetically on the plight of these victims caused many Americans to point the finger of blame at the President instead of on these very same people who made a conscious choice to live in a dangerous area. While Coulter and other conservative intellectuals want to talk about ideas, their liberal opponents respond with emotionalism and overheated rhetoric that makes rational discourse impossible.

Coulter believes that thankfully the time these women spend in the limelight will be finite ("And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they'd better hurry up and appear in Playboy," she writes in her book). No doubt, these women will continue to try to up the ante with more and more outrageous statements in order to extend their 15 minutes of fame a little bit longer, while Coulter, on the other hand, will once again be embraced by the right when this tempest dies down. (Indeed, Malkin has already appeared to back off from her initial criticism of Coulter, calling the controversy "hype and hyperbole" and reprinting Wall Street Journal columnist Dorothy Rabinowitz's denunciation of the widows, while Rick Moran refuses to take down the ads for Coulter's book from his website because that would be "stifling debate.") But unfortunately, Coulter's suffering will probably not end soon. With no end in sight for the War in Iraq and the possibility of another terrorist attack just around the corner, even if the stars of Breitweiser, Aukenhas and Sheehan do begin to fade, it is likely there will be more widows and grieving mothers to take their place.

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Carnival of Trackbacks LXXII, Comedian Jenée: People are Idiots OTA #12

20 comments:

mistah charley, ph.d. said...

That's really a hot picture you have of Coulter there, with the gun in her hand and her bare midriff showing.

Did you read the Rude Pundit's account of his meeting with Coulter? Worth looking up.

mistah charley, ph.d. said...

Maybe it wasn't the Rude Pundit per se - but you can read about the encounter at http://tinyurl.com/bjtun

Anon said...

The Jersey girls had the moral courage to call for an investigation into their husbands deaths. A move which made them the enemy of far right extremists who would rather monopolise 9/11 and the grief of the victims' families for their own political purposes.

Imagine a murder which the government refused to investigate under over a year after the victim's death, now imagine if thousands died and were injured, the crime was used to justify two wars, numerous intrusions into civil liberties and erosion of human rights and international laws and the government refused to investigate until a year after the event, and then only because of pressure from external forces. Imagine a crime scene which was destroyed before an investigation could take place, with vital clues shipped overseas to be melted down.

Coulter doesn't like the 9/11 widows because their existence challenges the use by the far right of the victims' memory for their own personal gain and partisan political agenda.

the ink slinger said...

Here's A question that really should be answered with all possible haste.

mutterhals said...

Coulter bombed that interview. Did you not see her answer a question with "ummmm, I don't know..." and then stare off into space like a crack head? She said what she did about the 9/11 widows to pull herself out of that hole. Had she not said that, everyone would be talking about how bad Coulter bombed not her stupid sensational comment. I can't believe people still fall for her schtick.

mutterhals said...

"But apparently, when she attacked the 9/11 widows, she really crossed the line."

Thank you!! It's all fun and games when she's ripping on brown people and dirty hippies...

Anonymous said...

Sir

Once again your insight and humour is highlighted by some quite marvellous writing.

Some of the decor may be smoke and mirrors but it is a soundly constructed house of many mansions.

I salute you Sir; rarely do I laugh out loud; after all, as a conservative in this ludicrously 'NeoCONservative' world
there is very little to laugh about.

Snicker possibly and certainly guffaw but not laugh. Thanks, I appreciate it.

the ink slinger said...

"And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they'd better hurry up and appear in Playboy,"

To which Keith Olbermann gave the withering riposte....

Appearing in Playboy and getting divorced ....neither of those being scenarios Ann Coulter is ever going to have to deal with in her life.

Anonymous said...

Back during the Civil Rights era, for example, the rational arguments conservatives made in favor of segregation were often pitted against pictures of dogs and fire hoses being unleashed against black people. These provocative images drowned out any reasoned discussion of state's rights.

Excellent, hilarious! I'm new to the site, but if this is representative I'll be a regular!

Y'know, I skim-read a few chapters of one of Coulter's screeds in a bookstore a few months ago. I can't recall a single point or argument, because what really leapt out at me was the weird, feral, gotta-make-the-deadline slapdash tone. It read like the kind of term papers freshman crank out the night before they're due. Christ, for all the money her publishers rake in, can't they at least hire an editor?

Marie said...

Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin, Don Surber. . .somehow you forgot to mention me. . .

Anonymous said...

Poor Ann ... she's just trying to sell a few books ...

Anonymous said...

Ann is correct and she is saying what many are thinking. If my husband dies tomorrow, no one is sending me a million dollars, nor are the families of the American military that have been killed getting a million dollars. Yet these women chose to abuse the position they were put in by becoming political mouth pieces that can not be questioned by people who disagree with their politics because of the sensitivity of the situation. Ann is right and I'm fed up with this crap.

Ingrid said...

Jon, I'd love to discuss different views for the sake of it. Grew up amidst heated discussions during family birthday gatherings etc. But I do not have use for anyone, whichever side they're on, by just spewing hate-filled comments to get people riled up. It's pandering to the lowest common denominator where everything is black and white, and 'everyone's the same'. It's a pity that someone of your intelligence should even extend the ridiculous attention that Coulter woman gets. I for one will not give her one second of my time. Other than that...good writing!

Anonymous said...

You fools, she's a man. Still has the wing-wang, looks female from the last 10 years of female hormone.

It's not a joke, its a fact. She hates men and women-ones not rich anyway.

She's pissed the Jersey Girls are not taking no for an answer. They know Building 7 didn't commit suicide.

Read whatreallyhappened.com

benmerc said...

I must say Jon, this one has really drawn something from the grain, a round of rum and meditations are in order at this point. Coulter just seems to bring it out, it's got to be that 2nd rate rock star quality she emits.

Anonymous said...

You're all just morons. Let me tell you something, no one should be given immunity to badmouth a mna who would've done everything he could've to prevent 9/11. It is Bill Clinton that the attack happened. He didn't respond to attacks on the U.S. Cole (200), our embassies in Africa and Saudi Arabia (1995-1996), nor did he try very hard to capture Osama bin Laden or try to kill him with an air strike. This whole thing is on Bill Clinton's hands not George W. Bush's.

Anonymous said...

There is a new book which has emerged about the love life of Ann Coulter. It is being advertised all over the USA and world at this time while in print. There are sections from interviews with Ann Coulter and so far nobody has written any sort of book:

LOVE LETTERS FROM 1989 TO 2008:
http://loveletterstoannc.blogspot.com/

THE CASE AGAINST ANN COULTER:
http://anncoulterloves.blogspot.com/

CLICK ON THE ENTIRE PROFILE AND READ ALL THE ARTICLES:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/06880683584382683410

Anonymous said...

Since Tiffany Accessories has become a acknowledged adornment brand, added and added humans will accept to buy it. Some of them can’t allow its price, again they buy the aforementioned appearance Replica Tiffany Adornment to accomplish them added beautiful. They try their best to advance their designing and quality.

Shoulder Dystocia said...

Thanks for sharing that. It was fun reading it. :-)

Dr. Viswanathan P said...

That is great to hear, thank you for reading!

The 2008 Weblog Awards

Google