Posted on 03/11/2007 9:08:10 AM PDT by doesnt suffer fools gladly
Has Ann Coulter Hit Her Tipping Point?
By DAVID BAUDER
NEW YORK (AP) - Ann Coulter has been a reliable name for years among people who plan television news shows - an attractive, articulate blonde conservative who's made a living lobbing verbal bombs.
Following her use of a gay slur about Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards this month during remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference, some on TV are wondering whether her shelf life is expiring.
Many were angered by her use of the "f-word". Coulter later said she considered it a "schoolyard taunt." She said it was a joke about "Grey's Anatomy" actor Isaiah Washington saying he would seek counseling after using the word to refer to a fellow actor.
At least four daily newspapers have dropped Coulter as a columnist, citing her comment about Edwards.
Head-turning remarks are hardly anything new for the author of "Godless: The Church of Liberalism" and "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)." In "Godless" last year, she wrote of World Trade Center widows: "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."
"It's a world of 'are you talking about me? are you talking about me?'" said Steve Friedman, executive producer of "The Early Show" on CBS. "And eventually you have to get more and more outrageous to be talked about. One day you cross the line and become persona non grata. I think she's getting close. I think Bill Maher is getting close."
Friedman has no plans to book Coulter on his show, but said he had no plans even before her Edwards comment.
Some people on NBC's "Today" show didn't want to see Coulter before she was booked to talk about "Godless" last summer, said Jim Bell, the show's executive producer.
He overruled them. Having only certain points of view would make for a bland program, he said. Since Coulter is a best-selling author, clearly there's an audience that responds to her. Coulter also appeared on a "Today" segment this Feb. 8, debating a University of Pennsylvania professor.
Bell said last week that Coulter's legitimate points of view are beginning to get lost in the noise of being outlandish.
"She sometimes goes out of her way to push some buttons and tends to generate more heat than light," he said. "We love a lively debate, but we would tend to get people who would generate more light."
Said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism: "You do wonder whether she's destined for 'Dancing With the Stars' at some point."
Several conservatives criticized Coulter for her Edwards remarks. Fellow columnist Michelle Malkin lamented that Coulter had tarred the work of people at the Washington conference. She called Coulter's humor "tired old shtick." Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the Media Research Center, said some conservatives envy the attention she gets and dislike how she distracts from legitimate arguments.
"If you got the sense that she was saying things you thought she believed, it would help," he said.
Still, Graham said it would be "outrageous" if Coulter is blacklisted by networks but Maher isn't. The HBO comic angered some by recent remarks suggesting more people would live if an assassination attempt against Vice President Dick Cheney had been successful.
The liberal organization Media Matters for America, which has long campaigned against Coulter, hopes this is a "defining moment" that causes TV networks to turn their backs on her, said spokesman Karl Frisch.
MSNBC once fired Coulter as a regular contributor after a remark she made to a Vietnam veteran. But Coulter has appeared there as a guest on shows and the network has no policy against her.
The remarks "won't stop conservatives from buying her books and her ability to sell books is what drives her bookings on TV," said MSNBC's "Hardball" host Chris Matthews.
CNN had scheduled Coulter to appear with Paula Zahn last Monday. The network said Coulter canceled her appearance.
"We have and will continue to interview provocative guests and ask them tough questions," CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson said. "We don't have overall bans about anyone. We will book them when we think it is appropriate to do so, on a case by case basis."
The changing nature of cable news may limit Coulter's ability to speak to those who don't already agree with her. Cable talk shows used to be built upon fiery debate, while now there are more shows that take a point of view and depict world events through that prism. Think Lou Dobbs, Keith Olbermann and Glenn Beck.
A spokeswoman for Coulter did not return a call for comment. Coulter, however, did appear on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" three days after the Edwards remark and belittled the idea that it would do lasting damage to her. It's a cycle, she said: she says something, the same people become hysterical, and that's the end of it.
It's about her 17th allegedly career-ending moment, she said.
"It happens about every six months," Coulter said, "and you're always there to put me on TV, Sean."
I don't know what else she's done recently, so I can't agree or disagree on that point. Certainly no one is above criticism.
I think this incident was calculated to make a point, and it did, in the style of her usual schtik. Everyone knows Ann Coulter's "act" by now. (Anoreth knows she'd better have a more tasteful act, if she wants a driver's license and a trip to Europe with her grandmother :-).
Vlad's up, so I can't continue the discussion, but I hope you're having a great weekend!
I see you're a fan of the hyperbole.
And that is the point. She's been too lazy to be fierce, jst vicious.
Well, just up the thread is someone saying "If everyone who disagrees with AC were to leave the GOP, the GOP would be better for it!"
Golly, nothing cue the doo de doo doo, Twilight Zone music quicker for me. She isn't God (is she? Did I miss a memo!?)
Same to ya hun!
>>My taste in female pundits runs more towards ladies like Barbara Olson. Barbara Olson was articulate and could get her conservative view point across without having to resort to shock jock tactics.
<<
Exactly. Have you ever read "Hell to Pay," and expose on Hillary Clinton?
She is very articulate and damning, using very pointed language in criticizing Hillary. Very powerful and effective.
As one poster indicated, Ann Coulter is getting to have more in common with South Park.
Which, ironically, just proves her point.
No one who can not be offended by a 'pride parade' should be offended by a mere word.
And for those taking the moral 'high ground', at least put the quote in context and word it correctly.
Sheesh. Some folks around here are just embarassing.
YMMV
Since this issue hit on March the 5th you have not posted a comment on any other subject. Not one.
User Posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/user-posts?id=68864
Which is to say you have posted a steady stream of more than a hundred posts attack Coulter.
But you don't have an agenda or anything. -- Not much.
Yep, Barbara Olson could make a point...without ever surrendering her dignity. I miss her.
>>
Well, just up the thread is someone saying "If everyone who disagrees with AC were to leave the GOP, the GOP would be better for it!"
Golly, nothing cue the doo de doo doo, Twilight Zone music quicker for me. She isn't God (is she? Did I miss a memo!?)<<
Also, I guess we're part of the "fat" that needs to be cut out of the new Lean Mean Fightin' Machine .
LOL
When you get to the 2+million mark in books sold (10 times the readership of this forum) perhaps you can comment about tactics. Until then the banal assertions you proffer to "prove" your point show you to be quite an insipid debater.
When I see Malkin, Medved, Hewitt, and the other 'conservative' gnats trying to gain publicity at the expense of Coulter; I never suppose they claim to speak for "conservatives." I've never bought a Malkin, Medved, or Hewitt book, while I've got all of AC's. Too bad she never appealed to you--I suppose then she should give up writing to satisfy your sensibilities? Or perhaps wear a poster board indicating that anything she says is her opinion and she does not speak for ironically-challenged "conservatives"?
Writing off her readership as a bunch of horny men belies her support among women even on this thread. Cant on, dude, your mopey attacks on Miss Coulter obviously feed your delusions of grandeur. Glad we can be here to help.
"And that is the point. She's been too lazy to be fierce, jst vicious."
Welcome to Free Republic!
Don't worry, there are plenty of trolls already deeply embedded.
Nobody is going to notice you.
>>Since this issue hit on March the 5th you have not posted a comment on any other subject. Not one. <<
So what? I've posted on many topics before, and I'll post on many since. The topic interests me.
Feel free to snoop through my trash any time.
You mean the nearly ANNorexic fighting machine.
Folks seem to be forgetting how bad the 2006 November elections were. We were stomped, remember?
We ain't gainin' ground, we're losin' it, and folks here just seem to keep wantin' to lose more!
>>When I see Malkin, Medved, Hewitt, and the other 'conservative' gnats<<
You call these people conservative "gnats." I suppose we can throw Bill Bennett in there as well, in addition to any other conservative who dares say anything.
This speaks volumes.
BTW, Al Franken is also a NY Times bestseller. I guess that elevates him above those people as well?
I would sincerely appreciate a comment on my post #97, if you have the time.
Thanks
"Yep, Barbara Olson could make a point...without ever surrendering her dignity. I miss her."
I suppose Coulter does too, since they were very good friends.
But what a great tactic, bring up the honored dead to "prove" that they would never act like Coulter.
Yes, destroy Coulter for her joke. By all means. Teach her and the rest of the right a lesson.
You will not only be helping George Soros and Howard Dean knock off their worst nightmare, but you will discourage anyone with guts and a sense of humor from getting into conservative politics for another generation.
It's quite a noble mission you are on.
But I realize self-righteousness is addictive. So much so that you are even willing to go through any contortions to exercise it.
Even if it means proving the point of Coulter's joke.
LOL! I'd switch to decaf if I were you. I can understand why Coulter's personality appeals to you.
"LOL! I'd switch to decaf if I were you. I can understand why Coulter's personality appeals to you."
Not just me.
Barbara Olson and her husband Ted used to fight over who would get the paper on Wednesdays, to decide who would get to read Coulter out-loud to the other one.
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