Lashing out at the President-elect's wife, Coulter wrote, "Her obvious imitation of Jackie O's style - the flipped-under hair, the sleeveless A-line dresses, the short strands of fake pearls - would have been laughable if done by anyone other than a media-designated saint."
Coulter said Cindy McCain, the wife of vanquished GOP nominee John McCain, "dressed well without freakishly imitating famous First Ladies in history."
Coulter facetiously and snidely refers to Michelle Obama as a "saint" and "Mother Teresa" and suggests that her public service career "advanced in lockstep with the political advancement of her husband."
Now, it goes without saying that Ann Coulter doesn't so much rep for conservatives, as much as she reps for a special brand of thuggery. But it also goes without saying that that brand of thuggery was indispensable to the the GOP, over the past thirty years.
Moreover, every once in a while I reserve the right to drop the high-minded act, and speak from the darkest reachest of the soul. In that spirit. I offer the following--I sincerely hope, Ann Coulter's jaw is no longer wired shut. Moreover I hope she gets all the media attention in the world for this book. Although somehow, I think she won't. I think a lot of people are tired.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Black is slimming.One should not wear too much, if one already looks like a razor. In the sprit of feminism, I will also say John Gibson looks like a melting Nazi at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hannity looks like a Dick Tracey Villain,Brick face.Hit'em up!
"that brand of thuggery was indispensable to the the GOP, over the past thirty years."
From Reagan thru Bush, the GOP was a coalition that presented itself as(often believed itself to be)a Movement.
Coulter & the other thugs were enforcers masquerading as crusaders. They'll seem, over the coming months, more like out-of-work Romanian stazsi than like American Ideal-ists...
That's you getting down and dirty?
Oh, she'll just ratchet up the shock value till she gets attention. And Freepers and right wing publishers will buy her book. She'll be a best seller again.
The real question is how far she'll have to go before she gets headlines. What's the over/under she drops the "N" bomb this month?
I think Senate Dems should send Coulter a nice (anonymous) note, with flowers and candy, and an encouragement to keep talking.
Seriously, TNC. I was expecting you get be way more harsh than that. For my part, I hope the Coulter insect develops a bad, spontaneous case of Tourette's in the middle of a segment on Today. Not that anyone would be able to tell the difference, now that I think about it.
-TNC
Can't stand AC's brand of mudslinging and LOVED the oblique reference Max Brooks gave her in "World War Z", although I couldn't decide if the so-called political enemy she was described shagging was Jon Stewart or Bill Maher.
I don't see how Coulter's "brand of thuggishness" is limited to the GOP. There are plenty of ridiculous bomb-throwers in her league shilling for the Democrats.
Really, Scott?
Name one. Name one who's sold half as many books.
Ozzie:
Are we betting on whether or not she drops the "N" bomb or are we betting on how many times she drops it? Either way I see her keeping it at a classy, understated 6 times.
Jack T:
are you counting Sand N's as well?
I have always thought Ann Coulter was more valuable to the left than the right. Much like the male bashing feminist has more value to the right. Coulter doesn't fit every stereotype the left uses to vilify the right, but she fits enough of them.
Mike Moore just to name one? Maybe not in books, in his case, but certainly mud aplenty on the big screen...complete with an Oscar for something dubiously labeled a documentary.
I didn't realize this was a pissing contest for copies of books sold. I thought this was a conversation about the GOP relying on this type of thuggery for the past 30 years.
I don't carry water for the GOP at all, left the party in fact, but I do like to see some honest balance.
TNC, it's not so much that the people are tired, as it is that Coulter's attacks, at least this one, are.
I was terribly disappointed with her "slams", as one blog characterized her comments about MO.
First, the JO imitation claim. WEAK. Coulter doesn't realize that the majority of black women with shoulder length relaxed hair, with no weave, sport the flipped-under style. Especially those that work outside the home and have young children. They're not trying to imitate JO, it's just the most convenient coif to maintain. No flat-ironing every morning. Just put some rollers in at night, or wrap it, comb it out in the a.m. and go. Believe me, JO doesn't even cross their minds.
The "... sleeveless A-line dresses, the short strands of fake pearls..." are just a matter of comfort and convenience. Again, doesn't mean every woman that sports the look wants to be like JO.
Coulter's suggestion that MO's public service career "advanced in lockstep with the political advancement of her husband." is just wrong. MO began her career in public service in 1991 with a job in Chicago's city hall. BO's first run for the IL senate was in 1995. Big ass limp in that lockstep if you ask me.
Coulter's voice is gonna be drowned out during the Obama administration unless she's willing to characterize the Obamas as "ghetto fabulous" or just outright refers to them as "niggas". I don't think that will happen, and that's a good thing.
You couldn't be more correct....Every time Coulter opens her mouth it's a reminder of the chapter of American politics we just turned the page on....No going back now, I hope
Besides, did you see Michelle in that red dress the day her and Barack were shown the White House? Jackie O never had a backside like that
Scott, uh, Coulter says all liberals - ALL of them - are traitors. Michael Moore says that Dumbya and his neocon pals lied us into a pointless war of aggression. And you really think he's in her league of "thuggishness"? Really?
You'll probably end up back in the GOP with that sort of notion of "balance." Besides, there are dozens of monsters like Coulter on the GOP side, and some of them are even worse than her. There is no such cadre of lying scumbags on the Dem's side. Sorry, but there just isn't. Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage, Ingraham, Malkin, Beck, Kristol, the list goes on and on...
Moore is a dishonest, sensationalistic, somewhat conspiratorial propagandist, but I don't think he holds a candle to Coulter in being just plain mean. What exactly has he said that in any way compares to saying Justice Steven should be given rat poison, calling John Edwards a faggot, and claiming that the 9/11 widows are enjoying their husbands' deaths?
Coultergeist actually questioned whether the husbands of 9/11 widows were going to divorce them. She's that classy.
I don't know what happened in her life to make her such a nasty, hateful person, but I'm guessing it happened sometime during high school--because she never matured past that level.
You know, I figure that if you get Michael Moore and Coulter together in the same place they will explode, like matter and anti-matter...
Longfoot Annie's trying to sell books and get a better picture on the cover of Time. She'll always have people glad she says what she says. The question is will she have enough to keep her in the league she was in. Which reminds me, where the frak was she during the campaign? It would seem her brand of spiteful spew would have appealed to the Palin-loving crowd.
It would seem her brand of spiteful spew would have appealed to the Palin-loving crowd
Yeah, how come you never saw Palin and Coulter in the same room together? A bit of padding, new glasses, new hair and an unconvincing cover story about living near Russia...
What book sales? Ann Coulter appears on the best seller lists because conservative fat cats bulk buy her books. You don't see many people reading her crap on the street for a reason. Regnery publishing (publisher of many of Coulter's books) is so notorious for this their own "authors" are suing them for doing it.
Exactly, Ragamuffin. If it weren't for the wingnut welfare program, Coulter would be on tv promising to fight for your rights to sue for damages in an auto accident or slip and fall injuries.
Ragamuffin, yeah, I'm talking out my neck. Though sales ARE sales no matter the source.
Still, girl got some ground-grabbers, don't she. Which blows the Coulter is Palin theory. You can put on some of the thickness, hair, glasses, but you can't hide them boats. Lord, I think I'm getting just as spiteful as Longfoot.
Just a thought. Getting you angry at her is her game. That's what sells books and gets her on TV. That's what endears her to conservatives. We've got so much to do, so much to work on, let's not get distracted by Ann.
In a way, she reminds me of Ricky Henderson on first base. When that happened, everyone within 5 miles paid attention to Ricky, each pitch. Was he going to go this time? Would he get picked off? Would he steal third? And Ricky's game was to be obnoxious and in peoples face about it. He would take a lead from first like he'd just slapped the pitcher with a glove, and smirked at his catcher. I don't know how he was at home, maybe not quite so obnoxious, but at the ballpark he'd make people so mad they couldn't throw straight. Advantage Ricky.
I really don't want to spend another moment thinking about Ann Coulter.
I second Gischer's last remark. Let's get on with our lives and forget this woman exists. Nothing she says is shocking to me. She's like Howard Stern in that sense.
She is a spiteful, hateful person and it seems like her latest line of attack makes no sense in terms of riling up her constituency. Are far-right Republicans moved by contentions about Michelle's fashion sense? Will Rush want to talk about that?
I think Ann's sense of what sells to her audience has gotten thrown off.
here's how i deal with coulter, aside from ignoring her whenever possible. when i am in a book store or a costco or another store that puts out books, i take the time to flip all the coulter books over, so that someone passing by the table will see only the back cover. the theory being that coulter will be denied a sale she might have gotten and a mind that might have degenerated further will have a chance to heal
Omigod, may I suggest not giving any attention to Ann Coulter! I'm sure that she's occassionally very interesting, as the mentally-ill often are. But unless you're a psychiatrist and you're trying to help someone like that, I would steer clear of them.
I don't even understand the "criticism" -- suppose that Mrs. Obama was, in fact, styling herself after Jackie O. Given that Jackie O is easily one of the most stylish First Ladies we've ever had, and Michelle Obama clearly has both a strong sense of style and a sense of the symbolic role of the First Lady, what could possibly be undesirable about her taking some cues from the successes of former First Ladies?
I guess the real question is, what is wrong with Ann Coulter?
Given that this Republican “babe” is now more than old enough to be the average Young Republican’s mother, and her usual mode of dress -- mini-skirt, leather vest and Marianne Faithful hair do -- is a style self-respecting women haven't been seen wearing in public since 1975, I doubt her fashion commentary is likely to carry much weight.
In fact, at this stage of life, no matter how fast and furiously Coulter comes up with liberal bashing quips and one-liners, or, in her desperation, how high the number of new ways to kill liberals she suggests, a drastic diminishment of interest in anything she has to say on any subject is inevitable. The cultural reality is this; what is cute and daring from the mouth of a 23 year old increasingly comes to be seen as just crude and bitchy, perhaps even a little deranged, once the lady passes 45.
I would love the opportunity to ignore her once and for all. But people keep asking her questions, inviting her to speak at events, and being entertained when she says rude things.
I grew out of Truly Tasteless Jokes around 14. I'm not sure what their excuse is.
In Alaska Palin got along with Democrats almost better than Republicans. Even in the campaign she rarely rose to being Coulteresque. Also even if you think Palin is a bad mother she's at least shown some capability to care for someone through that role. I'm not sure Coulter has even shown an ability to be a neat Aunt to anyone. (I'm unmarried and childless so I'm not bashing her for that)
Not denying anyone's right to see Palin as a witch, but even as such Coulter is way worse of one. One with much less to say in her favor.
As for there being a similar figure on the Left I think there kind of is, but Left-wing hatemongers generally don't become pop-culture figures. They toil in academia writing tomes about how Stalin wasn't so bad or that killing human infants is no different than killing monkeys. The closest thing in pop-culture Left to Coulter might be PETA or cartoonist Ted Rall and I'm not sure either is doctrinaire Left.
Thomas R writes just like Coulter: "As for there being a similar figure on the Left I think there kind of is, but Left-wing hatemongers generally don't become pop-culture figures. They toil in academia writing tomes about how Stalin wasn't so bad or that killing human infants is no different than killing monkeys."
In other words, Tommy, there is no figure on the left like Coulter. And the reason is that there isn't a huge audience of left-wing morons looking for a slogan-slinging vapid yahoo to lionize. But there is such an audience on the right. Why do you suppose that is?
Who are these academicians saying these things about Stalin and killing human infants, by the way - while you're pulling a Coulter, could you be more specific? And what will you do for your next dittohead trick - slam "Hollyweird elites" or "union schoolteachers"?
To MoeLarryAndJesus: you don't need a cadre of lying scumbags when you have former President Clinton on your side. He trumps all the lying scumbag pundits who never held the highest public office. I'm just saying. FYI- I'm a Republican who doesn't give much credence to Coulter, Hannity, etc. The problem with the whole group (pundits) starts when the Ego out-weighs the issues
I get really annoyed when Ann Coulter gets national media attention for any reason. And I am still waiting for mainstream media to realize that Palin lost the election and it is time for her to go away. She is not interesting.
However, there is one thing that is reassuring about Palin and Coulter being prominent within the GOP or among GOP supporters.
As long as they are around, we know that any kind of GOP reform movement is marginal and/or non-existent.
In Alaska Palin got along with Democrats almost better than Republicans. Even in the campaign she rarely rose to being Coulteresque.
Coulter herself gets along with Democrats--she has even dated Democrats. I believe her hate-mongering is something of a calculated persona.
As for there being a similar figure on the Left I think there kind of is, but Left-wing hatemongers generally don't become pop-culture figures.
One person who might qualify as a left-wing Coulter is Gore Vidal (who suggested earlier this year that John McCain made up his stories of being a POW). But who pays any attention to Vidal these days?
It is also virtually inconceivable that a liberal would write books with titles like How to Talk to a Conservative or If Republicans had any Brains, They'd Be Democrats. I think this has to do with the fact that the right in this country tends to be far more ideological than the left (though that wasn't always the case).
Still, even though the parallels aren't exact, the fact is there are left-wing screamers and demagogues, from Michael Moore to Keith Olbermann to Howard Dean. We shouldn't assume that the right and the left are mirror images of each other, where you have an exact equivalent between a figure on the left and a figure on the right. There is no left-wing Coulter, but there is also no right-wing Moore.
And the Angry Left is a relatively recent phenomenon. The modern brand of right-wing hate-mongering has its roots in '80s talk radio. It wasn't until Al Franken released Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot in 1996 that we started to see a left-wing backlash against the right-wing bullies, and this movement didn't really become significant until Bush's presidency. Before then, the situation was extremely unbalanced, where you had right-wing propagandists commanding huge audiences and only dignified media elites like Michael Kinsley on the left.
If Mrs. Obama is channeling Mrs. Kennedy, then surely Ms. Coulter realizes that Mrs. McCain channeled the single greatest style setting first lady of all time: Marie Antoinette. Remember the 300k outfit (including the Big jewelry) Mrs. McCain wore on stage at the GOP convention in what we know now was the middle of an economic recession (not to mention a hurricane.) Mrs. Obama's $148 "The View" dress is looking even better today.
B Rad hannitys: "To MoeLarryAndJesus: you don't need a cadre of lying scumbags when you have former President Clinton on your side. He trumps all the lying scumbag pundits who never held the highest public office."
Well, Rad, we were talking about pundits and media personalities, not former or current pols, but since you brought it up you guys have DeLay, Gingrich and Frist and soon you'll have Dumbya and Cheney, and any one of those four beats Clinton in the Reprehensible Bastard Sweepstakes every day and twice on Sunday.
"I'm a Republican who doesn't give much credence to Coulter, Hannity, etc. The problem with the whole group (pundits) starts when the Ego out-weighs the issues"
No, the problem starts when they're evil assholes who support torture, pointless wars, and an incompetent president who couldn't have screwed this country up more if that had been his intent all along.
One thing I find intriguing about Coulter is how she spews all the banal crap everyone has been carping about in this thread, but then in televised interviews and public speaking appearances in which she responds to her most recent backwash, she fidgets and shakes nervously like some 14 year old girl who thought it would be a great idea to wear a skimpy outfit out in public but then spends the entire time playing with the straps of her dress and pulling at the hemline with a look on her face suggesting that she really wishes she had worn a pair of jeans and a light sweater instead. It makes me wonder if she really does get off on all of the extreme attention from either side, or if she actually to a certain degree is just another shmoe who hates her job but can't do anything else and is stuck--a "life of quiet desperation" (only not so quiet).
"Who are these academicians saying these things about Stalin and killing human infants, by the way - while you're pulling a Coulter, could you be more specific?" ML&J
TR: Pete Singer is the euthanasia guy, but he's Australian. I think the Stalin guy I was thinking of was H. Bruce Franklin. Not a household name, but I read one of his studies of science fiction and it was alright.
If you want someone more notable known for saying odd or extreme Left things there's Ramsey Clark, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell, and a few others. I'm tempted to add Amiri Baraka, but this might be stepping on toes. It's not really a comment on whether he's any good as a poet though.
The Left is better though at not making these people into pop-culture figures, at least while they're alive. Plenty of trendy "Che Guevera" or Mao T-shirts among Leftists, but when those two were alive I doubt that was as okay. I agree too many on the Right excuse people like Coulter as "amusing" when they're not. (Margaret Cho also says some crazy stuff, but I didn't count her because she has the advantage over Coulter in that she actually is funny. Or can be anyway)
"And the Angry Left is a relatively recent phenomenon." Kylopod
TR: Or it's a callback. I respect Mr. Coates positions, but at least some of the New Left of the 1960s was both angry and crazy.
There is no way I can "make nice" when it comes to this media whore. That's all one can label her with any sense of truthfulness. Attention seeker. She dares you to call her a bitch, but she is so negatavistically uninspiring that it is just so not worth it.
How laughable to think of Cindy mac's clothes as anything other than patio furniture covers turned into clothing. Bright yellows,reds, seldom in black or brown, no muted shades,just a used car lot awning of a wardrobe.
"And the Angry Left is a relatively recent phenomenon." Kylopod
TR: Or it's a callback. I respect Mr. Coates positions, but at least some of the New Left of the 1960s was both angry and crazy.
And they had plenty of reasons to be both. I was talking really about the modern era, starting in the '80s, when we weren't at war and the Cold War was ending. The rise of talk radio created a class of right-wingers who weren't just angry, but hateful. They personalized issues that shouldn't be personal, and demonized the opposition.
The modern Angry Left isn't just a throwback to the '60s radicals, it's also a backlash against the entire talk-radio culture of the right (of which Fox News is only the latest incarnation). Franken drew inspiration from the right-wing haters, but he also tried to be better than them--not just paying more heed to facts, but avoiding the whole mindset of reducing all issues to black-and-white, good and evil. Here is a crucial quote from his '96 book:
You know what I dislike most about these guys? They're always so certain. They're always 100 percent sure of what they're saying. Even if it's wrong. It must be a great feeling for a guy like Rush Limbaugh. To be able to sit there and say, "There are more Indians alive today than when Columbus landed," and really believe it.
This is why I like being a Democrat. When we see a complicated, seemingly intractable problem, we have the only really genuine, authentic human reaction you can have: we're confused.
Fortunately, I believe that "confused" is a majority position in this country.
I am not talking about stupid, uninformed confusion. I'm talking about intelligent, over-informed confusion. The kind you get from watching MacNeil/Lehrer, C-SPAN, and Nightline, listening to three experts from the Cato Institute, four from the Heritage Foundation, two each from the Urban Institute and the Progressive Policy Institute, then reading eleven different newspaper accounts that cite six different polls and four studies.
Ironically, the liberals who have had the greatest success at creating a left-wing answer to talk-radio culture aren't Franken and his Air America buddies, but the far milder Stewart and Colbert. That's an important lesson. The right excels at brow-beating, but the left excels at condescension. And just as right-wingers tend to make better polemicists, left-wingers tend to make better satirists. (These are generalizations, but they remain generally true.) We have to play our game rather than trying to one-up the right-wingers at theirs.
I get it now: Coulter is saying that Michelle Obama is "uppity." And the fake pearls jab is her little way of calling Obama "a mule in horse harness," or however the expression goes.
You know, I never appreciated just how crazy Coulter is until I stared into her eyes. Man them are the peeps of a nutter.
TR quotes and replies: ""Who are these academicians saying these things about Stalin and killing human infants, by the way - while you're pulling a Coulter, could you be more specific?" ML&J
TR: Pete Singer is the euthanasia guy, but he's Australian. I think the Stalin guy I was thinking of was H. Bruce Franklin. Not a household name, but I read one of his studies of science fiction and it was alright.
If you want someone more notable known for saying odd or extreme Left things there's Ramsey Clark, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell, and a few others. I'm tempted to add Amiri Baraka, but this might be stepping on toes. It's not really a comment on whether he's any good as a poet though.
The Left is better though at not making these people into pop-culture figures, at least while they're alive. Plenty of trendy "Che Guevera" or Mao T-shirts among Leftists, but when those two were alive I doubt that was as okay. I agree too many on the Right excuse people like Coulter as "amusing" when they're not. (Margaret Cho also says some crazy stuff, but I didn't count her because she has the advantage over Coulter in that she actually is funny. Or can be anyway) "
Tommy, you didn't even begin to address the question of why the right-wing is so replete with prominent hate-filled wackjobs who are ass-deep in the political process. Hannity and Limbaugh and so forth aren't just celebs, they're right there in the middle of GOP politics - they ARE the GOP mainstream. And you still can't name a single equivalent person on the left. Not one. Because there ISN'T one.
So why is this? Why is the right now dominated by its scumbags, when the "left" is now genuinely centrist and rational? Doesn't the question even interest you?
When you have to dig for no-names like Pete Singer and H. Bruce Franklin you're desperate. I have never heard of either one, and I'm very well informed. I'm guessing they're effigies hung up by wingnuts and your guys are more familiar with them than anyone on the "left" is.
I'm sorry. I was responding to you just to expand what I was saying. I really don't care, or should not care anyway, what some joker named "MoeLarryandJesus" has to say on anything. I should've been clearer to you on that. I will be now.
From my perspective you are a meaningless and worthless non-entity troll.