Posted on 06/07/2006 4:51:37 PM PDT by new yorker 77
Conservative author Ann Coulter sparked a storm on Wednesday after describing a group of September 11 widows who backed the Democratic Party as millionaire "witches" reveling in their status as celebrities.
"I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much," Coulter writes in her book "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," published on Tuesday, referring to four women who headed a campaign that resulted in the creation of the September 11 Commission that investigated the hijacked plane attacks.
Coulter wrote that the women were millionaires as a result of compensation settlements and were "reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis."
A spokeswoman for publisher Crown Forum said it had set a first print run of 1 million copies of "Godless" and there were 1.5 million copies of Coulter's previous four books in print.
The four women, Kristen Breitweiser, Patty Casazza, Mindy Kleinberg and Lorie Van Auken, declined to discuss the book in detail but issued a statement saying they had been slandered.
"There was no joy in watching men that we loved burn alive. There was no happiness in telling our children that their fathers were never coming home again," said the statement signed by the four, along with a fifth woman, Monica Gabrielle.
The four women, who live in or around East Brunswick, New Jersey, became friends after September 11 and formed a group that agitated for the investigation. "Our only motivation ever was to make our nation safer," they said.
Coulter, whose books include the bestseller "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)," argues in the new book the women she dubs "the Witches of East Brunswick" wanted to blame President George W. Bush for not preventing the attacks.
She criticized them for making a campaign advertisement for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in 2004, and added: "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."
PERSONAL ATTACKS
Asked by Reuters why she made such personal comments, Coulter said by e-mail, "I am tired of victims being used as billboards for untenable liberal political beliefs."
"A lot of Americans have been seething over the inanities of these professional victims for some time," she added.
Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg (news, bio, voting record) of New Jersey said Coulter's "shameless attack" on the widows sparked disgust. "Her bookselling antics and accompanying vulgarity deserve our deepest contempt," he said in a statement.
The New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News. Corp., slammed the comments in an article on Wednesday headlined: "Righty writer Coulter hurls nasty gibes at 9/11 gals."
Coulter, a regular television commentator who is hugely popular among some conservatives, was challenged on NBC's "Today" show on Tuesday over what host Matt Lauer called "dramatic" remarks, prompting her to say, "You are getting testy with me."
Coulter is known for a combative column after September 11 saying, "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." In one book, she wrote, "Even Islamic terrorists don't hate America like liberals do."
Her latest comments were quoted on radio stations in New York on Wednesday and the book was the subject of debate on Web sites such as www.salon.com. The Daily News newspaper's front-page headline was "Coulter the Cruel."
The controversy appeared to be doing no harm to sales of Coulter's latest book, which was listed as the second-best seller of the day at online retailer Amazon.com on Wednesday afternoon.
Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
I just can't listen to Savage. I want to beat the crap out of him but I'm afraid it would take too long.
No class, is right. I envision Ann kneeling down before a saucer of milk.
Oh yes it is. You might stay up later than me tonight and make more comments but it doesn't mean your argument wins. Please defend Ann's comment below, no dodging, just defend it:
"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."
Defend that.
Great! A picture, but it's not of Ann.
RULES PEOPLE!!!! Will somebody stand up for the RULES!!!!
Yes, very effective.
If she read all the posts calling her a loudmouth skank, whores herself, bones, adams apple, shark, cruel, robert tilton, crassness, idiot and an embarrassment, venomous, no class, tacky, vulgar, contempt, bitter, media whore, inappropriate, no-class vitriol, sideshow actions, spew, nasty...OK I could go on and on.
The problem with many on the right is they cower and whimper when the left exhibits their constant diatribes and lies and utterly ridiculous invectives.
We need to fight back, and you can't fight the liberals with kindness. They need to be called on what they do and called on it with power and strength. That is what Coulter does.
No I don't always agree with her methods but she is doing a service to conservativizm.
D@MMNNN! I'm just now to post 350 and it says there are over 400!!!! I'll never get any sleep tonight!
From your lips to God's ears. I think that is especially true of younger generations.
BTW, no harm, no foul about the ping. I didn't know if you were or not, just hassling you. In fact, I think it is funnier if you aren't referring to me.
Claudia Parsons of Reuters
January 21, 2005
Inauguration Coverage Called "Submissive"
"President Bush was sworn in for his second term in an event covered by some broadcasters like an American version of a royal coronation. Reporters covering the event spoke on television with hyperbole and reverence," reported Claudia Parsons of Reuters.
Since when is telling the TRUTH 'over the top'?!
Well, we sort of agree. Her methods suck, and she is doing a great disservice to conservatism, buy, hey she's loud...so that's good, right? Crap, when did we start applauding the sh*tty behavior we abhor in Dems?
Ann Coulter is anything but an "idiot". At least she can spell embarrassment.
Who says you need class to survive in politics? Puhhhhhhhhhleaze...I might find some of what Ann says obnoxious at times but she is dead on correct this time out...and I for one am glad to know she is a true conservative with spine...she is one of the toughest women/people in the game...she will win at the end of the day.
Bank it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.