Coulter calls 9/11 widows "witches" (Lying Headline from Reuters)

Reuters via Yahoo! News ^ | June 7, 2006 | Claudia Parsons

[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.

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[new yorker 77]

Of course it is not tacky to blame Bush for 9-11.

[Central Scrutiniser]

Coulter is an idiot and an embarassment to thinking conservatives.

[sinkspur]

Were you prefer a Hallmark Card?

Bones should apologize and shut up about these women.

She won't, of course, because she has no class.

[popdonnelly]

She could have said they were the creation of some Democratic political consultant.

[capydick]

I noticed that my Senator Lautenberg also made a very strong statement with regard to Mr. Hevesi saying that Senator Schumer would shoot the President between the eyes if he thought he could get away with that.

And that denunciation of Fahreheit 911

[new yorker 77]

Thank you Lindsey Graham.

These four women were and are a disgrace who got a free pass.

But you can bend over for the MSM, it's a free country.

[ladyinred]

"Her bookselling antics and accompanying vulgarity deserve our deepest contempt," he said in a statement.

No, YOU and the rest of the leftist deserve our deepest contempt for using our security, our lives, and our military in a vicious attempt to regain power.

As to Ann, the last time I looked we had free speech. The Ditzy Chicks can say horrific things against our President and that is fine with the likes of you! And I am sure you were equally upset at the jerk who said our President should be shot between the eyes right????

[TheDon]

"I am tired of victims being used as billboards for untenable liberal political beliefs."

When they entered the political arena, they became fair game.

[Dazedcat]

Did you ever think the women who lost their husbands actually want accountability from their government and elected officials?

Coulter is a loudmouth skank and nothing more. Let her whore herself with obnoxious comments to sell books. I would never celebrate her for doing that.

The woman makes me sick.

[JohnD9207]

Truth HURTS. These victims became willing tools of the 9/11 commission. Let's see Bush didn't do enough...oh no now he is doing too much (wiretaps). Wanna bet a buck if (G-d forbid) another attack like 9/11 happens the Bush didn't do enough crowd will be back. Between 9/11 and katrina the democrats have tooled the sheep in America in a way they never could have done by their own ideas. So Ann calls it like it is...who cares.

[rodguy911]

I lost respect for some of the relatives of 911 "victims" when they had the chance to help Col. Shaffer who had tried to get info out to the the dod(remember able Danger) that would have saved their loved ones.

They would no give him the time of day, I really have no use for individuals like that, men or women.

[SkyPilot]

I realize the MSM is piling on this story, hoping to really slam Coulter and her book sales.

But, I have to make an observation about the "Jersey Girls", the Democratic Party who they shilled for, and the MSM who promoted them:

When you strike a nerve, and they scream this loudly, it usually means there is some truth behind the charge.

I remember many years ago when an aircraft from my squadron was involved in mid air collision. The widow of one of the pilots was in all our prayers. Everyone reached out to her and her children.

Then, the accusations came. Against the Squadron Commander, against the maintenance crews, against the manufacturer, against the Air Force, against the countries involved, etc.

Soon, she was on TV weeping and angrily shaking her finger. She wrote the President.

Then she got a bunch of lawyers. Lots and lots of lawyers.

After she made the poor Squadron Commander's life a living hell (his crime: he ran a squadron where the flight schedulers put her husband on a mission to do his job) she still wasn't satisfied. She ruined the man emotionally, physically, and financially, even though the accident board ruled the nation's air traffic controllers were at fault, as was the other aircraft.

There are times when you see widows or widowers, and you just can't help admire and pity them.

Then, there are others who are uglier in grief than you cannot even imagine. Ultimately, they are furious with God, who they seem to think owes them something. They never seem to ever show any gratitude to that same God for any blessing they ever received.

[sinkspur]

These four women were and are a disgrace who got a free pass.

Their political views are fair game. Their attitudes toward their dead husbands, their marital status, are personal attacks.

Bones is out of bounds, but that's where she likes to play.

[new yorker 77]

These women said more negative things about President Bush then Osama Bin Laden.

They used their status as widows to channel their bitterness and partisanship toward Bush and the GOP.

They gave this complete waste of a 9-11 Commission which became their forum to bash Bush.

Above all this, they represented an insignificant speck of the 9-11 families.

Anyone who defends these four is a tool.

[nunya bidness]

She won't, of course, because she has no class.

She's got more balls than you ever had Deacon.

[rodguy911]

Absolutely, plus when the chips were down and they had their chance to help someone like Col. Shaffer who tried to bring 911 to the attention of ever agency he could, they were no where to be found.

[Enterprise]

"No class"

I disagree. These witches are in the Sheehan class.

[rodguy911]

I'm a thinking conservative and I am not embarrassed at all.

[SteveMcKing]

"Bones should apologize and shut up about these women."

I apologize for my grammatical type-o.

"She won't, of course, because she has no class."

Is class so very preferred to truth? There are times to dispense with etiquette, and I think her attacks are poignant.

[jaycee]

Ann is absolutely correct. I never could stand the women and the way they tried to blame 911 on Bush. They are hateful and most of us don't have the platform to tell the country how we feel and the news media bows down to them because they hate Bush so much. I AM A WOMAN!!!