Posted on 06/28/2007 1:23:15 PM PDT by Dan Evans
The Edwards campaign is apparently still running low on donations, so this week they went back to their top fundraiser: me.
I doubled the ratings of the lowest-rated cable news show on Tuesday by agreeing to go on for a full hour to promote my new paperback version of "Godless" – a mistake I won't make again. As I was walking to the set, minutes before airtime, it was casually mentioned to me that Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, might call in.
For the first time in recorded history, the show's host did not interrupt a guest, but let Elizabeth Edwards ramble on and on, allowing her to browbeat me for being mean to her husband.
Say, did any TV host ever surprise Al Franken, Bill Maher or Arianna Huffington with a call by the wife of someone they've made nasty remarks about? How about a call to John Edwards from the wife of a doctor he bankrupted with his junk-science lawsuits?
I think I may have tuned out at some point, so I can only speak to the first 45 minutes of Elizabeth Edwards' harangue, but it mostly consisted of utterly dishonest renditions of things I had said on my "Good Morning America" interview this week and a column I wrote four years ago. (You can't rush Edwards' "rapid response team"!) She claimed I had launched unprovoked attacks on the Edwards' dead son and called for a terrorist attack on her husband.
These are bald-faced lies, and the mainstream media know they are lies. Yet they were repeated ad nauseam on Wednesday by the Associated Press, the AOL pop-up window, CNN, NBC and – stunningly – the host of the lowest-rated cable show himself, who personally told me he knew the truth.
So for those of you who haven't read any of my five best-selling books: Liberals are driven by Satan and lie constantly.
Here is my full sentence on "Good Morning America," which the media deceptively truncated, referring to a joke I told about Edwards six months ago that made liberals cry: "But about the same time, you know, Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack – so I've learned my lesson: If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."
The usual nut websites posted a zillion denunciations of my appearance on "Good Morning America" immediately after I appeared Monday morning. But it didn't occur to any of them simply to lie about what I had said. No, it took them nearly 36 hours to concoct a version of that quote that included the Edwards part, but not the Maher part, or what English language speakers call: "the point."
By tomorrow it will be: "Ann Coulter tried to kill John Edwards on 'Good Morning America'!"
Judging by his fundraising efforts so far, I gather most of you don't know who John Edwards is – unless you're an overpriced hair dresser. He's the trial lawyer who pretended in court to channel the spirit of a handicapped fetus in front of illiterate jurors to scam tens of millions of dollars off of innocent doctors. According to The New York Times, Edwards told one jury: "She speaks to you through me. ... And I have to tell you right now – I didn't plan to talk about this – right now I feel her. I feel her presence. She's inside me, and she's talking to you."
Let me also quote from campaign consultant Bob Shrum's book "No Excuses":
"(Kerry) was even queasier about Edwards after they met. Edwards had told Kerry he was going to share a story with him that he'd never told anyone else – that after his son Wade had been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's ideals of service. Kerry was stunned, not moved, because, as he told me later, Edwards had recounted the same exact story to him, almost in the exact same words, a year or two before – and with the same preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else. Kerry said he found it chilling, and he decided he couldn't pick Edwards unless he met with him again."
Apparently every time Edwards began a story about his dead son with "I've never told anyone this before," everyone on the campaign could lip-sync the story with him.
As a commentator, I bring facts like these to the attention of the American people in a lively way. Thus, for example, in a column about the Democratic candidates for president written in 2003, I pointed out that the Democrats refused to discuss the economy or the war, but had recently "discovered a surprise campaign issue: It turns out that several of them have had a death in the family."
Among several examples of Democrats talking about a death in the family on the campaign trail was this one:
John Edwards injects his son's fatal car accident into his campaign by demanding that everyone notice how he refuses to inject his son's fatal car accident into his campaign.
Edwards has talked about his son's death in a 1996 car accident on "Good Morning America," in dozens of profiles and in his new book. ("It was and is the most important fact of my life.") His 1998 Senate campaign ads featured film footage of Edwards at a learning lab he founded in honor of his son, titled "The Wade Edwards Learning Lab." He wears his son's Outward Bound pin on his suit lapel. He was going to wear it on his sleeve, until someone suggested that might be a little too "on the nose."
If you want points for not using your son's death politically, don't you have to take down all those "Ask me about my son's death in a horrific car accident" bumper stickers? Edwards is like a politician who keeps announcing that he will not use his opponent's criminal record for partisan political advantage.
Manifestly, I was not making fun of their son's death; I was making fun of John Edwards' incredibly creepy habit of invoking his son's tragic death to advance his political career – a practice so repellant, it even made John Kerry queasy.
I'm a little tired of losers trying to raise campaign cash or TV ratings off of my coattails, particularly when they use their afflictions or bereavement schedules to try to silence the opposition. From now on, I'm attacking only serious presidential candidates, like Dennis Kucinich.
LOL now that's funny!
Also ironic as Ann Coulter said last nite on The O'Reilly Factor that "I'm more of a man than any liberal is"
In Defense Of Ann [Coulter]
(Jonathan Falwell On The MSM Ambush Of Ann Coulter Alert)
Posted by goldstategop
On News/Activism 06/29/2007 11:10:11 PM PDT · 9 replies · 228+ views
Worldnetdaily.com ^ | 06/30/2007 | Jonathan Falwell
**Coulter on O'Reilly last nite...Ann comments on Hardball Edwards Dustup
(O'Reilly uses "F" word)**
Posted by Syncro
On News/Activism 06/29/2007 10:39:01 PM PDT · 16 replies · 582+ views
THE INSTITUTE OF PHENOMONOLOGY ^ | June 27, 2007 | Syncro
Matthews wouldn’t let her talk when Mrs. Edwards was on.
IMO she has to say shocking statements in order to stall their minds for a few seconds so she can respond.
She does a good job of responding in her columns because she can’t be interrupted.
Imagine her “speaking” this column to Chris Matthews. What with all his interrupting and injecting inane liberal-speak comments it could fill a whole hour of Hardball...and Coulter STILL wouldn’t be able to finish those few words.
I wasn’t asking what you liked. Could care less actually. I was complimenting you for being the first to post the “Ann’s too skinny” post. I mean, really, it wouldn’t be a thread without that very originial comment. So, good work!
Can we please stop attacking Ann for being mean?
Like a lot of LSM Matthews lives vicariously through the Democratic politicians he "covers". He's Hillary's stage mother; he suffers "Von Munchausen syndrome by proxy".
There is absolutely no doubt that Matthews is mentally and emotionally unbalanced; a lot of successful people are. His pathology is just not something I, and the overwhelming majority of people, care to watch. He's cornered his niche on MSNBC.
Stopping making fun of Mrs. Edwards’ weight.
Kudlow has testicles? Man is a gimp for the left assumes any lefty who feigns an interest in the “free market” to have walked off Mt Sinai with the blessing of yaweh.
Don't quit your day job, loser...
There are no real Conservatives at CNBC nor MSNBC, nor CNN, just pretenders.
At the Washington Post, there are only tired old men.
>This is the REAL story here. This is the penultimate example, laid WIDE WIDE WIDE open for all to see; the media’s unabashed penchant for slanting things, no...purposely and deceptively omitting FACTS that show the true story. Just so their own desires can become reality. This is what you tell your friends, family and other fence-sitters. Ann has once again exposed the media for what they are: Shills for liberalism at the expense of truth. For the media and all liberals, the ends justify the means.
One may not agree with Ann’s tactics (I do!), but NO ONE can argue that the media is reporting this honestly.
<
Ofcourse!
That is very beautiful picture of Ann :-)
Wanna bet that this fundraising appeal was set up even before Ms. Edwards called up? THAT is the real scandal. Coulter was precisely right when she said that they just use her for fundraising. I wish someone in the MSM would probe John Edwards and ask him why he’s hiding behind his wife’s skirt, and was he really “offended” by Coulter’s remark. A real man would never allow his wife to fight his battles. A real man would have laughed off Ann’s comments. A real man who wants to be president wouldn’t be such a baby when criticized. Who would trust someone like that with the security of the nation if he can be turned into a wimpy pile of quivvering jello by a little criticism? Instead he cried like a little girl when someone was “mean” to him.
Here I compliment you on your fine ability to add insight and profound wisdom to the thread, and what do I get for my pains... an insult. That’s not very gracious.
Siding with Coulter against EdwardsZing!
Sunday, Jul 1, 2007
By David Sanders
John Edwards has taken his campaign to new depths. Presidential candidates drowning in desperation do stupid things.
Surely you've heard about how Ann Coulter, the conservative fire-breather who makes a living saying things discerning people keep to themselves, was apparently set up by Chris Matthews and the Edwards' campaign.
Halfway through his cable news program on which Coulter was a guest, Matthews announced that Elizabeth Edwards, wife of candidate John, was on the phone with a message for Coulter: You've hurt our feelings, so quit attacking my husband.
Mrs. Edwards was supposedly upset by Coulter's comments on a network morning show the day before. The anchor had asked Coulter about a prior disparaging characterization of Mr. Edwards' sexuality. Coulter claimed that she'd only jokingly referred to Mr. Edwards as a "faggot."
"Oh yeah, I wouldn't insult gays by comparing them to John Edwards," Coulter said. "That would be mean. But about the same time - you know - Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack. So I've learned my lesson. If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."
Coulter was a little miffed by an apparent double-standard. It was OK for Maher to state seriously that he'd wished terrorists had killed the vice president. Yet the media pounced when she joked about the sexuality of a prissy Democratic presidential candidate, who everyone knows isn't gay.
Mrs. Edwards and her husband were so upset by Coulter's comments that they decided to promote her words as a fundraising tool on the campaign's Web site.
They excluded her references to Maher. They included only the text and video of Coulter saying, "So I've learned my lesson. If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."
Mrs. Edwards, who sounded like she was reading from a script, tried to chastise Coulter for several minutes, but the conservative firebrand wouldn't have any of it. She aimed her pithy comments at Mrs. Edwards.
Later in the segment, Mrs. Edwards told Matthews that she hadn't talked to her husband about the stunt. Apparently, John and Elizabeth don't talk much. While appearing on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Monday, they commented on their new "public" disagreement over gay marriage. She supports it; he doesn't.
"Well, can I tell you how I found out? I read it in the newspaper. It's the first time. She's never told me that," he claimed.
It's bad enough to claim to be offended, hurt and outraged by comments while simultaneously and feverishly promoting those words out of context to raise money and capture media attention. But that Mr. Edwards hides behind his wife is beyond the pale.
Are we to conclude that if John is sitting in the Oval Office when Hezbollah's leader calls him the great Satan, he'd trot Elizabeth out on the evening news to let the world know she disapproves? Perhaps she would do it on her own.
If Mr. Edwards was half the woman Hillary Clinton is, he might be leading in the polls.-------
David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock and is a host of the Arkansas Education Television Network's "Unconventional Wisdom." His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com.
This response to Edwards/Matthews is great.Perhaps.But Ann did NOT respond during the interview itself. Why not?
Why couldn’t she have simply said...
-- snip --
...A simple, concise explanation is better than 5 minutes of additional name-calling.
Ann could have done better.
Then again, even RUSH says that being ambushed on live TV can be difficult to defend against -- in the moment.From my previous post, with commentary by Rush Limbaugh:
...Look, it's easy, you go on television, you finish, and somebody says, "You know what you shoulda said," and sometimes I've resented that, but if I would have been on that show last night and been ambushed by a guy's wife...-- snip --
...That's one of the things that I would have said.
It's easy to come up with this stuff after the fact.
I'm not being critical of Ann Coulter.
My Reasoning for confronting Chris Matthews
Posted by Trueblackman
On News/Activism 07/01/2007 3:59:41 PM PDT · 98 replies · 2,429+ views
vanity | 01 July 2007 | trueblackman
Veteran [FReeper trueblackman] Takes on Chris Matthews in Coulter Debate (Video)
Posted by fight_truth_decay
On News/Activism 06/27/2007 2:49:23 PM PDT · 53 replies · 3,440+ views
BREITBART.TV ^ | 06-27-2007 | LiveLeak
Kudlow works for CNBC, which next to Fox News is the cable news network with the least bias.
Kudlow is a dedicated, learned defender of the free market-— he just happens to be complacently ignorant of the depth of deception within the MSM.
So, yes, Kudlow behaved like a clod in this instance, but that doesn’t make him completely useless or even a clod in his totality.
Rather, it points up how valuable Ann Coulter herself, who understands the MSM perfectly, is. Would she ever be fooled as Kudlow was? No, never. But her knowledge is much less narrow than Kudlow’s, her temperament less complacent, and so she’s tougher to fool.
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.