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Ann Coulter (born December 8, 1961) is an American author and attorney at law. She is the author of High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton, Slander, and Treason. All of Coulter's books have been New York Times Best-Sellers. In addition, Ann Coulter is a legal correspondent for Human Events and writes a syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate.
Coulter graduated with honors from the Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences and received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of The Michigan Law Review.
Today, Coulter makes guest-appearances to give her conservative opinions on national television shows such as Hannity and Colmes, The O'Reilly Factor, American Morning With Paula Zahn, Crossfire, This Week with George Stephanapolous, Good Morning America, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Scarborough Country, and The Today Show.
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A prominent conservative, Coulter has been an outspoken critic of many liberal and Democratic Party movements over the years. She gained prominence during her days as a lawyer, for helping Paula Jones to sue President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment. She appeared on MSNBC to discuss the case, then wrote a book critical of Bill Clinton. Since that book became a best-seller, she left practicing the law to concentrate on writing books and columns.
Coulter has a reputation for being quite sensationalistic and relishes the role. As she told the Sunday Times of London in 2002, "I am a polemicist. I am perfectly frank about that. I like to stir up the pot. I don't pretend to be impartial or balanced, as broadcasters do."
Coulter has been identified as a fundamentalist Christian, but told interviewer David Bowman, "I don't think I've described myself that way, but only because I'm from Connecticut. We just won't call ourselves that." She admires Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Phyllis Schlafly, and opposes the Equal Rights Amendment. [1] [2]
Two days after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, her syndicated column included discussion of her close friend, Barbara K. Olson who died on American Airlines Flight 77 that was hijacked and crashed into The Pentagon. In the last sentence, Coulter advocated that the United States invade the Middle East and convert Muslims to Christianity. When the editors of the National Review, a well-known conservative magazine which included Coulter's syndicated column in its publication, said they would like to discuss making changes to the latter article, she went on the national television show Politically Incorrect, accused them of censorship, and claimed that her pay was only five dollars per article. National Review Online then ended its relationship with Coulter. [3] [4] [5]
The "convert them to Christianity" comment has become one of Coulter's most infamous statements, and is widely cited by her critics. However, her supporters maintain that it was largely a tounge-in-cheek statement and intentionally overzealous. "Liberals love to pretend they don't understand hyperbole" she once quipped.
Al Franken calls Coulter "the reigning diva of the hysterical right" in his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. In two chapters on Coulter, Franken lists what he believes are false and misleading statements in Coulter's Slander, and demonstrates his belief that she misrepresents the articles she cites. For example, Slander says of the 2000 Florida recount that "Bush had won any count" and cites a Washington Post article with the contrary headline, "Study Finds Gore Might Have Won Statewide Tally of All Uncounted Ballots."
Al Franken also points out that while a newspaper's editorials are its official position, Ann Coulter takes sentences anywhere in the New York Times to represent its official opinion. If a New York Times book-review asks people on both sides of an issue to give their opinion, Ann Coulter will represent any quote she finds offensive as the official position of the newspaper.
Carl Skutsch of anticoulter.com writes that Coulter blames "liberals" for everything without ever defining the term. Coulter makes broad statements such as "liberals hate society," (Slander, p. 27), and seems to count as a liberal "anyone she doesn't agree with" which makes her books and essays "hard to argue with. Also hard to respect." [6]
A passage of Slander may be deemed hypocritical. Coulter writes "liberals refuse to condemn what societies have condemned for thousands of years - e.g., promiscuity, divorce, illegitimacy, homosexuality" (pg. 195). However, Coulter hasn't publicly condemned these things herself.
Coulter also writes in Slander, "liberals have absolutely no contact with the society they decry from their Park Avenue redoubts," implying that liberals are rich, making their opinions unimportant. Critics such as Joe Conason, author of Big Lies, point out that Coulter herself is a rich woman from an affluent background and that she does not similarly dismiss Republican politicians because of their wealth.
Treason, which contains many bold accusations against all Democrats, brought her under fire, even from many of her former conservative supporters. Many felt her claim that Democrats such as Presidents Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy had worked against America's war on Communism as unfounded. Treason's defense of Joe McCarthy also came under criticism from both conservatives and liberals, who argued that Coulter had simply failed to accurately research the facts in her attempt to rehabilitate the disgraced senator. In an interview with David Bowman, Coulter said that Joe McCarthy is the deceased person she admires the most. Coulter argues in Treason that the Venona cables have vindicated McCarthy, proving there indeed were Soviet spies in the State Department (which McCarthy was ridiculed for believing).
During an August 30, 2003, appearance on MSNBC's Saturday Final with Lawrence O'Donnell, Coulter said that Howard Dean rallies are "looking like Nuremberg rallies," comparing Dean supporters to Nazis. She didn't explain her comparison.
Some of her critics have accused her of exploiting her looks for political purposes, while others believe it is the only reason for her success. She features prominently on the covers of her books and often poses for publicity photographs in revealing outfits. She has also denied being in her forties on several occasions.
(Redirected from Vogue)
Vogue magazine is a fashion and style magazine published in several countries under several names. It is widely considered the most influential fashion magazine in the world. Competitors include W, Harper's Bazaar and Elle. Vogue is published by Conde Nast Publications, Inc. The world headquarters Vogue are in New York City.
The current editor-in-chief is Anna Wintour, famous for her perfect
bob and her habit of wearing sunglasses inside. A famous past editrix is
Diana Vreeland.
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Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right is a book of political satire by humorist Al Franken, published in 2003. The book's title is a swipe at the conservative commentators of the Fox News Channel; the network's reaction to the book was to file a short-lived lawsuit that had the unintended (sceptics point out that the TV channel and publishing house are owned by the same company) effect of driving up sales of the book.
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In Lies, Franken divides American media into two groups, (a) the unbiased "mainstream" and (b) the biased "right-wing":
"The mainstream media does not have a liberal bias. . . . ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, the New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and the rest -- at least try to be fair."
But the right-wing media -- FOX News, the Washington Times, the New York Post, the Journal editorial page, talk radio -- are "biased," the book declares. They have "an agenda." They are "not interested in conveying the truth." They "concoct an inflammatory story that serves their political goals." [1]
FOX News sought damages from Franken, claiming in its lawsuit that the book's subtitle violated its alleged trademark rights in the phrase Fair and Balanced. But the lawsuit was dismissed, and it provided Franken with free publicity just as the book was launched. "The book was originally scheduled to be released Sept. 22 but [was] made available Aug. 21," according to its publisher, Basic Books. "We sped up the release because of tremendous demand for the book, generated by recent events."
In the lawsuit, Fox described Franken as "intoxicated or deranged" as well as "shrill and unstable." In response, Franken joked he had trademarked the word "funny" and Fox infringed his intellectual property rights by characterizing him as "unfunny." The publicity resulting from the lawsuit propelled Franken's as-of-then-unreleased book to the #1 sales position on amazon.com's best-seller list.
On August 22, 2003, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin denied Fox News Channel's request for an injunction to block the publication of Franken's book, characterizing Fox's claim as "wholly without merit, both factually and legally." Three days later, Fox filed papers to drop its lawsuit.
Franken, and others, said Fox's lawsuit was brought at its commentator O'Reilly's insistence. Following the lawsuit's dismissal, a Fox spokeswoman stated, "It's time to return Al Franken to the obscurity that he's normally accustomed to." Franken, in turn, suggested that the Judge had unwittingly supplied Fox with a more defensible trademark: "Wholly Without Merit".
"Al Franken [is the man] of the hour. For years, we have suffered while right-wing bullies hijacked American politics and media -- persecuting a president for a consensual sex act; stealing the 2000 election; trashing the country's economy, environment and constitutional safeguards; handing the government over to the highest corporate bidders; deceiving the public into a bloody quagmire; and then brazenly smearing anyone who dared to criticize this orgy of dreadful leadership as un-American. The instant, runaway success of Franken's new book is not just a result of Fox News' inexplicable decision to shoot itself in the foot and head by launching an idiotic trademark-infringement lawsuit, but also the author's bold -- and roaringly funny -- knack for confronting the Bush presidency and its prevaricating apologists." -- Salon Magazine
"Al Franken is the Spongebob Squarepants of the radical left. Outside of the obvious physical resemblance, Franken has other characteristics in common with the cartoon character. He is almost competent at what he does, has an over-inflated value of his self-importance, and is all too frequently given over to mindless bleeting when upset. The comparison is probably a bit harsh, and it's an unintended insult to Spongebob that my five-year-old daughter probably won't forgive. It is, however, true --- unlike 99 percent of what is in Franken's new book, Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them." -- Joe Hartlaub, Book Reporter
"In the kicking, spitting spirit of current all-star political discourse, Al Franken gives as good as he gets. His quintessential ad hominem attack title, Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Idiot, has already established his flair for the requisite games. Name calling, fact molding, gotcha!: all figure prominently in Mr. Franken's instant best seller Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, just as they do in most of the books that Lies attacks. Whatever their partisanship, these sporting diatribes share two underlying attitudes: 'What gray area?' and 'It's all about me.'" -- Janet Maslin, New York Times
The book criticizes Ann Coulter for listing the sources of her book "Slander" at the end of the book (as endnotes) instead of at the bottom of pages of the main text (as footnotes). Franken writes that it is easier for a reader to check sources by glancing to the bottom of the current page than by turning to the end of a book. However, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" itself uses endnotes.
(Note by a later contributor. Yes, there are endnotes. Two of them. One of which is a jab at Coulter's use of endnotes. There are several dozen footnotes.)
The book does not have an index.
