C&L Vid Clip: Coulter attacks 9/11 widows on "The Today Show"

[Human Torch]

Even her idiotic writing stunned Lauer. The last time she was on the show he treated her as a normal person. (Check out this video.) I would hope that stops, but NBC and the rest of cable news constantly give her a platform to rant on. When will that end? I think this is the first time Matt actually read anything she wrote. Her new book is called "Godless," but I'd say she's the one with no soul.





Video-WMP

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Today-Coulter-Wi.mov">Video-QT (low res)

LAUER: On the 9-11 widows, an in particular a group that had been critical of the administration:

"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. They believe the entire country was required to marinate in their exquisite personal agony. Apparently, denouncing bush was part of the closure process." And this part is the part I really need to talk to you about: "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." Because they dare to speak out?

COULTER: To speak out using the fact they are widows. This is the left's doctrine of infallibility. If they have a point to make about the 9-11 commission, about how to fight the war on terrorism, how about sending in somebody we are allowed to respond to. No-No-No. We have to respond to someone who had a family member die. Because then if we respond, oh you are questioning their authenticity.

LAUER: So grieve but grieve quietly?

COULTER: Oh no, no, no, no, no. They were cutting commercials for Kerry. They were using their grief to make a political point while preventing anyone from responding.

LAUER: So if you lose a husband, you no longer have the right to have a political point of view?

LAUER: What I'm saying is I don't think they have ever told you, you can't respond.

COULTER: Look, you are getting testy with me.

Lauer actually got to her at the end a little bit because he couldn't believe she would write something as repulsive as that. Wake up Matt, NBC and all the other networks.

(h/t TP for the transcript)

permalink7:55:35 AM

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/06/06.html#a8602

[underpants]

1. Fairly unbalanced-some RW whackjobs' take on it

Coulter Won't Buy Into Lauer's Liberal Logic

http://newsbusters.org/node/5699

While considerable attention focuses on Ann Coulter's more superficial charms, from a conservative perspective Ann's real beauty is her absolute refusal to buy into liberal logic, no matter how pervasive. That independence of mind was on display this morning during her 'Today' interview with Matt Lauer. Ann was on to tout her new book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, released today on . . . 6/6/6 - sign of the devil and all that.


Oh and this

Post-Coulter Rewind: How Were Bush-Bashing Widows Promoted by TV News?
http://newsbusters.org/node/5698

In the wake of the Ann Coulter interview on Tuesday's "Today" -- specifically the part where Matt Lauer simply couldn't believe Coulter's attacks on 9-11 widows channeling their grief into anti-Bush attacks on TV news shows -- here are a few reminders of how the Kristen Breitweisers of the world (who endorsed John Kerry in the fall) were given the lion's share of attention by network hosts like Matt Lauer.

An MRC study of relatives on the morning news shows found the disparity of anti-Bush victim relatives to pro-Bush relatives was 20 to 3. (The report concluded, "These relatives are entitled to their views, of course. But network viewers are entitled to a little balance, too.")

[BOSSHOG]

3. To quote Colonel Jessup

Newsbusters, "You can't handle the truth." So if the widows channeled their grief into suicide or hating kerry that would have been alright? It is truly a marvelous hobby to muddle through "conservative" logic.

[Human Torch]

5. "Lauer's Liberal Logic?"

:rofl:

[BOSSHOG]

2. I can understand Ann on this subject

She has no concept of grief. She can only hate. She is a typical "conservative" commentator. No friends. No loved ones. No social life; just drugs and alcohol. It must be extremely sad and pathetic to make a living writing the kind of books she does.

[underpants]

8. Why on earth would someone do that?

from a purely strategic point of view why would you try to make it "you vs. grieving widows"???

She is only going to sell the number of books that Scaife and the Four Sisters buy anyway so it can't be to drum up sales.

Why would you dig that up 4 1/2 years later? Man she must sit in a dark room with her back in a corner and let her mind wonder off to god knows where.

[BOSSHOG]

9. Using the occasional

cucumber to break up her thoughts.

[eppur_se_muova]

21. She thinks being outrageous shows how clever she is.

Being clever may make you outrageous to some, but just being outrageous in itself does not require cleverness.

[noonwitch]

14. Either that, or she's a sociopath

I think a case could be made for the latter, if her words only are examined (obviously she understands that if she goes out to kill liberals, she will have consequences, so she's a high-functioning sociopath).

She expresses inappropriate emotions at all times, using violent imagery and examples. Her statement about terror and the NYT building is a good example of that kind of thinking. Not only does she not like the NYT, but their entire staff should be wiped out by terrorists because she doesn't agree with their opinions.

Her statements regarding the 9-11 widows show that she is incapable of understanding other people's grief and feelings. To say that they are enjoying being widows shows that she thinks of some groups of people as being less real (liberals, 9-11 widows, gays, blacks, etc.) than herself and her friends, which is the hallmark of sociopathic thinking.

She is dishonest about her age, to the point that she lied on at least one of her voter's registrations.

Come on, everyone, start listing more symptoms!

[CBHagman]

17. And as Coulter preaches hatred...

...liberals are out preaching love. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), he of the civil rights movement, joined other lawmakers to speak against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Lewis made an appeal to unity, an appeal to love, and spoke of the teachings of the great religions.

What a contrast to what Coulter does each time she appears or is quoted! I think being in the presence of a civil rights leader and/or spiritual leader would cause her to explode.

[stepnw1f]

4. Awesome!!! She Looked Like an Idiot!

Excellent! Keep up the great work Anne!

[Aviation Pro]

6. The look on her bony face says it all.....

....MADWOMAN!!!!! She'll be tossing cats real soon.

[DinahMoeHum]

7. She's that character in the movie "Bad Santa". . .

the one who keeps yelling, "Fuck me Santa, fuck me Santa!"

Sheesh, people, she's a performance artist whose act is wearing thin every day.

:evilfrown:

[SoFlaJet]

10. Lets face it she's a fucking crack whore

not JUST because she whores for the RW but because I've seen quite a few in my life and I can spot them a mile away.She is smoking rock I guarantee it.Also,her mind is obviously being affected by her cocaine abuse as is her weight.

[Monk06]

16. I think you're reading too much into her weight. Crack 'ho? ...

Whatever gave you that idea?

I was at first surprised at how many times she
was caught speechless, as if she wasn't aware
of what she had written in her book. Then the
thought occurred to me; either the book was
ghost written or she was in the middle of a
crack rage when she wrote it.

She truly is sociopathic and devoid of affect.

Her metier is to disarm her critics by taking
their breath away with her spectacularly
offensive comments.

Lauer made her accountable for her own words
for a change and I think it actually dawned
on her for the first time how hollow and cruel
she actually is.

[eShirl]

11. what she's saying is

because of who these people are, it is difficult to launch person attacks on them rather than addressing the points they raise. The standard Repub "attack the messenger" strategy is somewhat neutralized, and she's crying boo-hoo about it.

[Berry Cool]

19. You nailed it, eShirl.

People like Ann count on being able to use ad hominem arguments to get their points across...and people like 9/11 widows totally derail the public's sympathy for ad hominem arguments that might actually otherwise work amongst the gullible and unthinking.

Ann and her ilk like to think that the gullible and unthinking members of the public are their fair booty...they're allowed to scoop up as many as they can catch into their tent. They love to do so by using ad hominem arguments against their opponents, because so many times, the gullible and unthinking are so entertained/shocked/fascinated by such arguments that they never bother to think through the truth of them. They just fall right over to Ann's side.

People who have had bad things happen to them, however, and as a result become activists against that which they believe is at least in part responsible, such as the 9/11 widows, are much harder to attack in an ad hominem way. The public doesn't like it when such people are attacked. Heck, even the guilty can be made to look sympathetic when misfortune befalls him. If we learned tomorrow that OJ Simpson had brain cancer, some people's hearts would probably soften despite their belief that he got away with murder.

Well, this whole business of sympathetic figures really burns Ann's bacon. If people are going to go feeling sorry for the 9/11 widows, or for Cindy Sheehan, well, DAMN, how is her hateful rhetoric against these people ever going to take hold? She'll end up looking like she stole a baby's candy away. And that gets her PISSED. So, the next step? Backtrack, and admit that maybe it's not such a good idea to rag on these people, from a political standpoint if nothing else? NO! That would be backing down! The next step is to make it clear to everyone else that, hey, these aren't victims--these are evil people we're talking about! Yes, these are people who are HAVING FUN exploiting their grief and loss for fun and profit! "Yeah!" she thinks. "That'll convince 'em...that's the ticket..."

Clueless. Just clueless. :shrug: And conscienceless,too.

[plcdude]

12. It was interesting

that the show followed with a feature on psychopaths that literally characterized Ms. Coulter to a tee.

[glarius]

13. All I could see was the flames shooting out of her ugly mouth...6/6/6..LOL

:evilgrin:

[OzarkDem]

15. GOP influencing women voters

That's why the radical turn to the right on the Today show.

Here's to hoping the Dems come up with an agenda and communications strategy that appeals to women. They haven't had one in 10 or 15 years.

[AX10]

18. We need our own mass media to counter the mass media of the right wing.

[ificandream]

20. AGREED!

We need someone who can speak as directly to people as some of those conservative idiots like Limbaugh and Coulter. (Both are lying sleazes, but they have the gift of speaking directly to people.) Obama is good, but he's a politician now (and we need him where he is), so we need someone who can take the media and bend it their way. As much as I like Air America, I don't hear anyone there that can do that. (Randi Rhodes would be good if she wasn't so over the top.)