Ann fans: Media Matters has performed an important civic service — they’ve collected many of the instances where conservative analysts and TV mouth-breathers have come to the defense of Ann Coulter, who they say is being pilloried unfairly for inflammatory statements in her latest book. Besides being guilty of vote fraud, as Editor Trish so eloquently pointed out here, Coulter went way over the top when she attacked the widows of the 9/11 victims:
Coulter’s comment that has perhaps drawn the most attention is an attack on the widows of 9-11 victims, appearing on Page 103 of Godless: The Church of Liberalism (Crown Forum), and read by [Matt] Lauer [on the Today Show]: “These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis. I’ve never seen people enjoying their husbands’ deaths so much.”
Now her co-dependent neocon neighbors on the far right are riding their slime trails to her rescue. Media Matters has a detailed run-down on these reprehensible defenses of Coulter’s even-more reprehensible statements. My favorite, though, is Bill O’Reilly actually seeming to NOT defend Coulter. Maybe even Bill has a bottom past which he will not go. Nah, he’s just being argumentative.
From the June 7 edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor:
O’REILLY: Now for the top story tonight, another view of this, joining us from Chicago, Fox News contributor Sandy Rios, a conservative analyst. Where am I going wrong here Sandy?
RIOS: Well, Bill, I think, I don’t disagree with your basic premise. I mean, it is certainly not my choice to attack people. However, we are living in strange times. And I think while everybody else is making nice, Ann’s words are laser-focused on truth. She says things that no one else dares say and it kind of made me think about, for instance, holocaust pictures. Do we have to see pictures of emaciated bodies to understand what happened? It’s kind of offensive. But, you know what? Yes, we do.
Sometimes I think Ann’s words, yes, as harsh as they are, they are like a clarion wake-up call, like cold water, like, “Stop it!” Because women have lost their husbands in an accidental bombing, which is tragic, and we have great sympathy for them, does not give them license to then criticize the commander in chief, to work against —
O’REILLY: Whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa. Hold it. They’re American citizens. They can criticize the commander in chief all day long.
I do think we’re living in a time where a lot of people enjoy the death of their loved ones.
— Sandy RiosRIOS: And they can be criticized in return.
O’REILLY: You can criticize their criticism, absolutely. Look, there’s nobody who did more damage to Cindy Sheehan in this country than I did, but I did it by exposing her agenda.
RIOS: Yes you did, Bill. I agree.
O’REILLY: Telling people who was behind her movement, who was paying the bills, who was running her. I did not, I did not, I did not call the woman any names, disparage her as an American citizen or do any of that. And if I had, I would have lost the debate instead of Cindy Sheehan losing credibility in my opinion.
RIOS: You know, I know that that’s true. Bill, I like the way you did that and I thank goodness you did. But I would say that Ann is a unique person. I don’t believe Ann does this stuff for theatrics. I think she really believes what she is saying and she has certainly a gift of words and imagery.
O’REILLY: If you’re going to stand by that Sandy, then Ann Coulter writes in her book that these people are enjoying their husband’s deaths. Now, come on, you know that’s not true. That’s brutal to say something like that.
RIOS: It is brutal. But Bill, I would say this, I do think we’re living in a time where a lot of people enjoy the death of their loved ones. I know that sounds terrible.
O’REILLY: It sounds awful. In order to say that to specific people, you’re going to have to prove it.
RIOS: No, I know that. Personally, I would not say it, but I am telling you that I think it’s true that people are making a lot of money off the death of their loved ones in a lot of different cases.
O’REILLY: That may be true.
RIOS: Or the disability of their loved ones and I think we’ve kind of gotten into a culture of that that probably needs to be exposed. And how do you say that?
O’REILLY: All right. But here’s the point. Ms. Coulter has a good point about these women being used by one spectrum of the political debate in this country. That is a valid point. That’s why I used the David Letterman clip. It is absolutely valid. But by calling these women “witches, harpies,” by saying that they should poise in Playboy, and all of these things, she diminishes her argument, don’t you get that? She then becomes an object of derision herself, and then what her is point gets lost. Do you think Matt Lauer or any of these people care about the point she made? No, they are after her.
RIOS: Yes, Bill. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I actually do agree with you and when I dialogue and argue about these things, I try never to make them personal. But, I think Ann is unique and I think she plays a unique role and I think her words are like, it’s like cold water.
O’REILLY: It wakes you up.
RIOS: Yes.
O’REILLY: Do you think she enjoys this? Is this fun for Ann Coulter now to put herself in the crosshairs of the nation once again? Do you think she enjoys it?
RIOS: I don’t know, Bill. I can’t imagine that she enjoys this kind of criticism.
O’REILLY: I’m going to ask her tomorrow. She is coming on The Radio Factor. She’s coming on The Radio Factor.
RIOS: She loves to be combative, but I don’t think she enjoys this harsh criticism back. I think she really believes —
O’REILLY: What she really believes that those people are enjoying their husband’s demise? Come on. I don’t think she believes that.
RIOS: I think she — yeah, I believe that Ann probably does believe that. I don’t think she can know that.
O’REILLY: All right. Anyway, look, we’re going to talk to her on the radio tomorrow. We’re gonna have a — she is very frank with me, Ann is. And we’ll see what she says —
RIOS: And that’s what is so refreshing about Ann Coulter. She is very frank. She plays an important role, I think.
O’REILLY: Appreciate it, Sandy. And we’ll have more on the Coulter controversy a bit later on.
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O’Liely=Rios=Coulter=Bush=Cheney=Roberts=Delay=Justice Roberts=Pat Robertson=J. Falwel=Dodson=Reed=
and on. and on, and on…..and don’t forget Lieberman, Z. Miller…etc……So???????
Ann Coulter is a mentally ill twit with an eating disorder. And don’t forget – she was one of the “elves” that worked so feverishly to criminalize Bill Clinton’s sex life and trump up the Lewinsky mock scandal.