Carlson on Coulter: "[W]e're always happy to have her on"; "She's great TV"
On the March 5 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, while discussing right-wing pundit Ann Coulter's recent reference to former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) as a "faggot," host Tucker Carlson claimed: "She called me one, too!" Carlson continued: "[U]nlike John Edwards, I'm not pretending I'm a victim or [that] I've been slurred, or I didn't cry, actually, after she called me that," adding: "I'm not [gay], by the way." He then told MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan and Democratic strategist Peter Fenn that "we're always happy to have her on" and that "[s]he's great TV." Carlson added that Coulter "makes smart points" and is "courageous," and he also described her as "a very talented writer" and a "great stylist." While Buchanan asserted that Coulter sometimes "goes over the line ... no doubt about it," he said: "Let me speak up for Ann. I do think she's a very, very courageous individual. She's written some of these books -- I mean, one of the few people that came out and defended the late, great tail-gunner Joe McCarthy."
As Media Matters for America documented, Coulter called former Vice President Al Gore a "total fag" on the July 27, 2006, edition of MSNBC's Hardball, claiming immediately that the comment was "a joke." Like Carlson, at the end of the interview, host Chris Matthews said: "Thanks for coming on. And a smart lady. ... Sometimes being smart isn't enough for a civil discourse. We'd love to have her back."
From the March 5 edition of MSNBC's Tucker:
CARLSON: Well, actually, you know, it's funny. I just pulled this today, because I was remembering this. She called me one, too! In 2002 -- I checked the date. It was exactly one month after my fourth child was born, and she implied I was gay in an interview to The New York Observer. I can't exactly remember what the predicate for it was. I'm not, by the way.
FENN: You needed 10 children. You needed 10 children in order to not --
CARLSON: This is clearly a psychological --
FENN: She's got a problem.
CARLSON: OK, here's the point I'm making
BUCHANAN: Right.
CARLSON: I'm obviously -- unlike John Edwards, I'm not pretending I'm a victim or I've been slurred, or I didn't cry, actually, after she called me that. But, like, who cares what she says? I guess that's kind of my point.
BUCHANAN: Well, let me say this. Let me speak up for Ann. I do think she's a very, very courageous individual. She's written some of these books -- I mean, one of the few people that came out and defended the late, great tail-gunner Joe McCarthy. I mean, really --
FENN: Ah-ha.
CARLSON: It takes [inaudible]
BUCHANAN: -- and from a justified, from a justified point of view, and done other things. She's been very, very gutsy, but sometimes she goes over the line. There's no doubt about it. So why don't we agree to 15 yards penalty and loss of down.
[crosstalk]
CARLSON: No, no, but here's the -- here's the --, wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Let me get in here. Pat. Pat. Pat. As -- OK, your friend (inaudible). And I've said this right to her face, when she comes on. And we're always happy to have her on. She's great TV. She makes smart points. She's courageous. She's actually a very talented writer, believe it or not, if you've never read -- she's a great stylist, a good stylist.
BUCHANAN: She is a stylist, yeah.
CARLSON: And she's pretty witty. She completely discredits herself when she talks that way, like, nobody hears what she says when -- like, when she attacked the 9-11 widows and said, partly fairly, but then she went on to say, "If your husbands had lived, they would have divorced you." The second she said that, I thought, "You know what? I can't even hear anything else you say because that's so unreasonable."
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Tommy, where are you?
I am waiting for your "No misinformation here" line
Please don't encourage the Tomiester. I haven't been to the site for a few days. The first thread I opened today consisted of the first 20 posts being in response to a Tommy nothing to see here post. That followed suit throught the entire thread. Tommy completely derailed the of the thread off topic and it became the Tommy show.
I at least deserve a fat residual check, don't you think?
My apologies, then. I just wanted to beat him to the punch
...it became the Tommy show....by Lynn
Tommy has groupies. It's not his fault...He's like a rock star.
I'm a tad jealous :-(
"Tommy completely derailed the of the thread off topic"
That's the idea.
Most of us would feel like big jackasses if we regularly trolled conservative sites to do the same. Not so much him.
And most of us who troll a site to post about another poster with no reference to the topic at hand, is, well, a troll.
See Lynn's post, the person I replied to, for a fitting definition of the t-word.
"She makes smart points"????
WHEN?
Actually, Ann has acheived exactly what she wanted......to become THE topic again, to get people talking about the business of "Ann Coulter", to get people to google her to death, to read her columns, to visit her website, to maybe go out and buy one of her books to see what all the fuss is about. She has been out of the cable talk arena for awhile, sort of in the backround - so she very brilliantly and with much calculation sat down, most likely, and figured out a way to put herself back in the news again. All the predictions that she would lose this and lose that over her past comments haven't panned out - this won't hurt her either, she figures.
Who knows, maybe she will be injured by it, it would be nice if she felt a little stinging so she might get over herself and act decent someday.......but her offensiveness is almost become patented these days.
I agree!!!
I disagree.
I don't think there was anything brilliant or calculating about it. I think it was "twiggy with tourettes" simply flinging her feces like an ape to elicit a reaction from the zoogoing crowd. A reaction that she doesn't understand, but likes.
You don't think she knew the media attention she'd get when she used that slur? Absolutely she did. It was not an off the cuff remark, or unintentional in any way. She isn't apologizing for it, she takes full credit for it - and is basking in all the attention she's getting.
The same way the apes in their primate habitat know that they'll get attention when they start tossing their poo.
So the apes are brilliant? Calculating?
This doesn't happen much, but I agree with Tommy. Smurfette is just a show and a business, she cares little for what she says, there's no remorse on her part.
Either Smurfette is very calculating, or she's just a sociopath.
Ann Coulter is in the "Ann Couter" business. "She" is what she is selling. She strategically plans and executes her business plan much the same as any other enterprise. She markets herself and attempts to maximize her exposure the best way she can.
You can't flourish and get rich being "beige" in this day and age of 24/7 cable news talk shows. You must grab the spotlight through whatever means work for you, apparently. She has brilliantly figured out that controversy and offensive language towards those she is at odds with politically, is her ticket to success. She has no interest in "softening rhetoric", or civility when it comes to political debate - leave that to the dozens of others out there fighting for airtime. Her schtick rockets her to the front of the line with one single word.
She knows exactly what she's doing and how to do it. She plays to a certain segment of the Republican party, there is no doubt about that. They don't want some squishy, milquetoast Ann Coulter - they want her as the in-your-face trash talking, opinionated and arrogant woman she is. As long as she gets the publiclty, she's happy. It's when people ignore her and treat her with indifference that she worries........until that happens, expect her to keep at it.
Tommy:
Agreed 1000%. Coulter's prime directive is to keep herself in the public spotlight, albeit through fairly pathetic means. There's no doubt that Ann knows what she's doing. She knows how far she can push her schtick without going over the line into, say, outright racism a la calling Obama a "spear-chucker" or something similar.
Although I'm that once Coulter gets desperate for attention again, she'll probably cross that line too.
You keep insisting that she's "brilliant" for promoting herself through controversial speech. How in heaven's name is that brilliant? I'm just curious as to why the coultergeist is "brilliant" when she employs the technique of your average 3-year old to get attention.
She's not brilliant. She is where she is as a reward for her role in the Bill Clinton witch hunt. Before that she was just another hack lawyer, and probably not a very good one.
It's brilliant on two counts:(A) Her audience keeps eating it up and buying Smurfette's books and reading her columns. (B) Her opponents keep talking about her.
The best way to combat Smurfette is to render her irrelevent. She's an act, and she needs to be treated as such.
Anyone that gain exposure and become very wealthy, which is her goal, at doing what she does, is brilliant, in my opinion. Is she an offensive, bigoted and small woman? - absolutely she is, but that doesn't make her any less smart. If nearly anyone else would use the kind of language she does, in the forums she does, they would be immediately excoriated and trotted off to counseling........she gets on national TV and promotes herself......and probably gets richer as a result. That may be hideously unfair, unseemly and slimy - but it's brilliant nonetheless.
"Brilliant" implies that she sits down, brainstorms for possible solutions, considers the possible results of each, and picks the one most likely to succeed. And the intellect of her solution must surpass that of the average human to be considered "brilliant".
Had she possession of such intellect, I would expect that we would see it evidenced among her other thoughts and deeds. Such evidence is starkly absent.
I surmise that rather than based on brilliance, her actions are more pavlovian, substituting publicity for dog food.
You may have a point if the average person can spout the kind of stuff she does, and get paid the huge dollars she does......irrespective of her books. She markets herself to those that worship her every word, and look at her every "words" and tell me she isn't brilliant.
She is far too educated and calculated to do this for mere publicity.....for mere publicity can't afford her the luxuries that money can buy - and her ego gets off on the hysteria she provokes from liberals.....she feels a sense of power over them for she feels as though she brings them to their knees with their mouths foaming against her. She laughs, she counts her money, and she plans her next strike.......brilliantly.
That's why I say ignore her - that would hurt her the most.
I don't know if I would quibble with brilliant or not. I would not have have a problem with "canny," "clever," "savvy," or other words that suggest calculated smarts. I guess it just galls to apply the same adjective to her as you would to, say, Stephen Hawking.
I can easily say that she has done a brilliant job of getting herself into the mainstream of American public discourse.
Nope. Clever, savvy, cunning.... Not a one accurately defines the low level of intelligence required to recognize (especially after all the years of Limbaugh, Savage, Stern, Opie and Anthony...come up with your own) that spewing intellectually questionable but controversial garbage gets you publicity. The only difference is that she found a manager who gets her bookings and speaking engagements. That's exactly the reason I've compared her actions/response to apes, dogs, and 3-year-olds. All do something unacceptable with no predetermination, witness the response, and then if they like it, repeat to get the same response. It's an old business model that hardly deserves any praise based on its ingenuity.
You've recognized the crux of the buscuit, Neondesert.
She's a tool of the conservative movement. She represents the smear gang mentality at the core of the republican party, does anyone really believe she would be permitted to preach her word without the consent of the RNC? If she were a blight on the image of conservatism, does anyone believe she would be invited to speak so often and be paid so well? She seems to represent the views everyday conservatives too, how many best selling books does she have?
Oh yeah, she's a mainstream conservative.
Educated? Educated? Coulter? Educated? In what? Educated? How? Who? Where? Educated??? Coulter lives, eats, breathes, and passes nothing but political gossip. Educated????? If she was educated, she wouldn't be passing herself off as a political hack for a living. Educated?
Neondesert, unlike a 3 year old, Ann get PAID.
Tommy is 100% correct.
I cannot say that she really believes what she says but she found a way to get noticed, on TV and PAID. She is obviously comfortable with the things she says. Really no different than a wh*** (except for the TV part).
So whores are brilliant?
Brilliant, who knows? But not all gifted persons use their gift in a positve way. Pablo what ever his name is, was a brilliant organizer/administrtor, just because he chose to become the greatest leader ever of a drug cartel does not mean he is not brilliant. As far as her writing, well, I've read lots of her columns and am trying to read "high crimes and misdemeanors" but find it boring and tedious. Most of her columns are just rehashing ideas that have been expressed many times by others over the course of history. I personally do not understand why she has such a following. I would speculate that in our progressive culture, out right bigotry is frowned upon so bigots find it gratifying to hear some one who speaks to their prejudices in a way that reinforces them. I guess we're lucky the bigots can get their rocks off (so to speak) by enjoyin what she does, rather than going back to the good old days when gay bashing was literally bashing, and lynching was an acceptable Sat nite diversion.
Neondesert I think I disagree a bit.
It was her CONTROVERSIAL writings and speech that have gotta her to where she is now. Whether you love her(yuck!!) or hate her, her tactics caught. Haven't you noticed that since Coulter came on the scene, that more and more debates have become hissy fits?
Excellent post Tommy.
Coulter may be callous, bigoted, and arrogant, but one thing she is not is stupid. I remember seeing a fairly recent episode of LAW AND ORDER, which was spoofing on Coulter. In a conversation between the Attorney General in the show(I can't remember the actor's name, I only know that he used to be a Congressman in real life) talked with Coulter about why she said the things she says. She replied "All I do is Preach the same tired old republican talking points and hope SOMEBODY listens." If you want to get rid of Coulter you just got to ignore her...
Here's what worries me about Ann and her ilk. There are still plenty of people of who would enjoy beating, torturing and killing homosexuals. ( I work with people who joke about beating up "f@5s" ). I wish she, and whoever is paying her appearance fee would get it through their heads that everytime someone like Ann makes a comment or joke like she did, there are results. Some where a homosexual is teased, slurred, discriminated, beaten, hazed etc. Just wish the Anns of the world could get their jollies without causing more trouble for folks who already have a pretty tough row to hoe.
That's ok...she'll come out of the closet eventually.
Yeah Tommy I agree.
But didn't Coulter already get punished for her remarks? I think I heard something about some of her website's sponsers quit advertising because of this...Deservedly so in my opinion.
Ann Loves this
She is in heaven right now with the attention she gets, whether its the disgusting attack on the 9/11 Widows and now this homophobic remark. She is deplorable. I will however say that she is a disgusting person but even she has the right to free speech. Does that right to free speech however mean that she should be allowed to spew her hate on every MSM show ? Thats a tough call.
Here's the sad thing. If Ann's world view were to prevail, there would only be one way for a woman like her to make a living...and it would be illegal.
Illegal yes, but a it's a more respectable profession.
It depends on which country.
Most likely, it would be a capital crime in Troglodyte Amerika.
Only if you're caught. The Trogs like it as much as the next guy or gal, but they put on the illusion (or a smoke screen) that they are adverse to it.
"She's great TV. She makes smart points."
Yes.. and No. For the TV news/entertainment shows like Carlson's I'm sure her controversial statements are great to draw viewers. However, the intellectual content of her "analysis" is practically non-existent, in my observation, most of the times I've seen her. In a panel discussion she is more likely to sit back grinning, adding nothing of substance whatsoever. When she's called upon to defend a position she's taken or a controversial statement she's made she hems and haws, yammers and stammers, and generally doesn't come across very well. But give her an open mike in a solo gig and apparently she knows how to work a crowd.
Good point. She's essentially what I would call a "sniper". She sits back and waits for an opening, then takes a cheap shot. If you'll notice, she never appears in any kind of debate format with a serious opponent. That's because she cannot defend her positions with anything resembling logic. In fact, I doubt that she writes her own material.
If you do not consider Al Franken and Janet Reno serious opponents, then you would be right, Nerzog.
Actually, I don'. I like Al Franken, but he's a comic. Janet Reno never impressed me much as a speaker or debater. Let's see Ann take on someone like Joe Conason.
Or if she does, Ann just shouts over her opponent if she senses they are winning the rhetorical argument.
Carlson wouldn't know smart even if he was beaten up by the ghost of Albert Einstein. Just another celeb praising another celeb. All for the big show.
Of course Brainy Smurf is going to defend Smurfette, it gives him more coverage and increases the life of Smurfette, while at the same time distracts from the real issues at hand.
It's just a magician's trick. You watch one hand, while the other is performing the trick.
BUCHANAN: Well, let me say this. Let me speak up for Ann. I do think she's a very, very courageous individual. She's written some of these books -- I mean, one of the few people that came out and defended the late, great tail-gunner Joe McCarthy. I mean, really --
I guess we could expect this sort of defense from a guy who has quite arguably flirted with Holocaust denial and played footsie with David Duke. With all that said, I still have a sliver of respect for Buchanan's intellect. He may be repugnant, but at least he has a working knowledge of history and made an early and forceful case against the Iraq invasion (though some of his reasoning was suspect). Not so Coulter whose job, it seems, is to throw out approved GOP talking points while acting as an outrider in coarsening the public discourse. "Courageous" may be one word for Coulter's rants, but there are others...
Coulter's job...?
1. Entertain the right; and
2. Annoy the left.
As I've said before, she's Don Rickles with a better education... but not terribly funny. Don't look to her for intelligent insight or analysis... that's not her job.
When did Anne Coulter ever make a "smart point"?
She's great TV.
Yeah I suppose, of course some people think Survivor and American Idol are "great tv" too.
Standards for what's considered "great tv" are a lot lower than they used to be...
To people in the TV business, "great TV" is whatever gets the viewers to tune in; Car chases, murder cases, kidnappings- It's just sad to hear these things, along with Coulter, promoted as "good" things.
Ann Coulter has a playground bully's idea of humor. "Gosh, we were just playing!" Attacks, taunts and jeers are not humor--except to the sociopath making them. "Hey, tub-o-lard! haw haw haw!" "Looookit four-eyes! Haw haw haw!" Ann Coulter is not a clever writer. She shows no knack for description, no love of the language, no insights. Her writing is a baseball bat swung at a birthday party.
If Ann Coulter had wit, she could craft an insult that would make her target smile. She could craft an epithet that even her enemies would repeat.
And what are her deft, witty characterizations, "harpy." "traitor." and that f-word that triggers the Media Matters filter. Wit? Humor?
Dorothy Parker would murder her and string her up by her heel tendons to dry while Ann would still be trying to figure out whether she'd been insulted or not.
I think in this case her use of the f-word, and the applause that greeted it, reflect the general attitude of the College Republican-types in attendance. They are mean-spirited children, and Coulter is their goddess.
That's why I worship at the House of Selma Hayek. Seriously, if you're going to worship a goddess, she needs to be eye-pleasing, but coming from a group that adored Nancy Regan and Barbara Bush, Smurfette is a step in the right direction (in the matters of appearances).
I think the saddest thing about Coulter (other than seeing herself as a sort of female Lenny Bruce) is that she gets so much attention from essentially acting like a lout.
Ann contributes nothing to the intelligence level of American political discourse. She is it's lowest common denominator, yet (once again) like a child stomping in a corner for attention, she knows exactly how to get it. And as long as this sort of behavior sells books, and pays her big speaking fees, she'll keep on doing it.
I'll bet anything that her comments at CPAC quietly increased Coulter's demand as a public speaker. As repugnant as she is, people like going to see people with a rep for being loose cannons do their thing.
Ann Coulter and Lenny Bruce in the same posting. Eww. I mean no disrespect for Lenny, but ewww. That just conjures all kinds of bad images.
The woman in question says vile hateful things just to spew into a sea of ignorance.
Lenny Bruce, used our language, like a great musician with a Stradivarius. Say what you will about Lenny, but he always provoked thought. The same can't be said for this dreadful woman.
I'd give almost anything to see Coulter in a public debate with Sarah Silverman, even though the latter is not a pundit, on any given subject Sarah would tear Coulter apart.
"Brilliant"
Self - promotion for fame and money at the cost of integrity and character. Yeah, that's brilliant.
"Courageous"
Acting the court jester and taking no responsibility for your actions. Yeah, that's courage.
The fact that Coulter is so popular and such a welcome, special guest of mainstream (not fringe) conservatives is that she symbolizes everything the conservative is thinking and feeling, but doesn't have quite the nerve to say.
"Fa__ots", "Ragheads", dog-whistle racist innuendo, you name it. That's what her conservative listeners, viewers and readers desire. She-- and hatemongers Limbaugh, Savage, and Hannity (among dozens of other like-minded clones)--are the faces and flagships of the Republican party. They aren't some fringe, extreme element.
Dave nails it:
The fact that Coulter is so popular and such a welcome, special guest of mainstream (not fringe) conservatives is that she symbolizes everything the conservative is thinking and feeling, but doesn't have quite the nerve to say.
I'm obviously -- unlike John Edwards, I'm not pretending I'm a victim or I've been slurred, or I didn't cry, actually, after she called me that.
I guess that man-loving butt pirate makes a point.
IRONY 101,
Sad to see you back on a Coulter thread. I know it must be tough but she will die someday and all that will remain is the memory of her hatred.
I believe she follows the MADONNA method of PR.
Prince:
I am sure you can imagine my public shame in my failure to stay away and my weakness exposed to all. I just hope that my posts regarding "She Whose Name Shall Not be Spoken" may help in at least some small way in continuing to expose her vile mendacity. Thank you for your kind and continuing support.
"great TV"?
For my money, "Heroes" is great TV, not Ann Coulter...
Maybe they meant "grate TV."
Just figure it out people. Ann just takes any point and goes to the limit, (and beyond) to illustrate her points.
Obviously she knows Edwards is not gay. She is just saying, in her mind, he comes across as effeminate. His channelling of dead victims to win lawsuits and his preoccupation with his hair in that video both lend themselves to something less than machismo.
In a similar vein, Bill Maher says the U.S. would be better off if Cheney were dead. Same sort of poison pen political/humor/sacasm. Outrageous, yes. Funny? Maybe. But did it stir anything close to this media attention? I don't think so.
The whole joke using the f word was aimed at the guy who went into rehab for using the term. How silly is that? Coulter was simply lampooning another Hollywod liberal, but the point was veiled and many instead got caught up on the use of the f word which is routinely used by gays in the same way the n word is used by many blacks.
The left just loves to be outraged and Coulter successfully obliges them.
Okay, Christofascist.
What is it with you people and machismo?
Isn't that why were in the positions we're in throughout the Middle East today?
And I was surprised that the act of "channeling people to win lawsuits" is a gendered one. Right-wing fantasyland is a strange place...
I guess AA thinks that the dead deserve their fate and that John Edwards had no business representing their families.
You have to love the compassion.
I can feel it all the way up here in NJ.
Maybe AA confused John Edwards (the politician) with John Edward (the fraudulent psychic).
How do you know Mr. Washington is a "hollywood liberal"? Are you reading minds again to try to make a point?
AnotherAmerican;
"and his preoccupation with his hair in that video" Have you seen the segment of Wolfowitz in Michael Moore's film "Farenheit 9-11" ? Now that is some strange hair obsession.
Here is the video link to Paul Wolfowitz primping his hair. Quite odd.
"The whole joke..."
Again with the "joke". That's always the excuse. But Coulter doesn't mean it as a "joke". She means to denigrate and minimalize. In this case, John Edwards.
Audiences, comprised of right-wing fans like Another American, just LOVE her and LOVE the hate she spews out. Like minds... except Coulter gives voice to homophobes and other haters who don't quite have the guts to speak what their minds say. These Coulter fans hate, loath and despise liberals and everything they stand for. And anything associated with liberals. That includes gays.
Sure these creeps think Coulter is "funny". They find racial slurs, and smears like "f____t" hilarious. Coulter knows it, and delivers.
Money for Hating: that's Coulter's business. Folks like AA are her loyal customers.
"Bill Maher says the U.S. would be better off if Cheney were dead." AA
Paraphrasing, of course.Notice I put quotation marks around your lie, AA. That means you really said it, and I'm not just making stuff up.
The most troubling thing about Coulter is not that she's a hate monger--although she IS that-- it's the failure of the media and the right-wing political establishment to truly censure her. She says the most vile and hateful things and they say tsk tsk but 'she is a great stylist' or she's 'courageous.'
Hate-mongers stimulate, magnify, and validate the hateful brutish element of the population. A few years ago her her vile speech and below the belt style would have made her a persona no grata on the airwaves and in any mainstream political party. So, shame on them.
I never watch Tucker anyway.