The Ledge - Larry King Live 9/28

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

So, I was talking to my mom on the phone last night. She had been watching Larry King Live and asked about this annoying blonde. Mom said this woman was conservative, obnoxious, and would talk over everybody else. I said it sounded a bit like Ann Coulter. So I watched the rerun, and yes, it was indeed Ann Coulter. Never in my life have I seen a woman who either needed to get back on her meds and/or get laid as badly as does Ann Coulter.

Ann is a sow. She almost never let's anyone finish speaking and when she does she smirks and then tells half truths or just lies.

For example, she fairly recently exclaimed the war in Iraq was going slendidly and could not understand why all the liberals were lying to the contrary. Then, Bill O'Reilly, who is hardly a liberal, corrected her and she just went on lying.

Though a google search will yield many more, here is an article I liekd on the two of them that is telling and factual:

Bill O’Reilly Takes on Ann Coulter
By Scott Spicciati Editor | Bill O'Reilly Watch
July 30, 2003

In a surprisingly different tone from Bill O’Reilly’s last interview with Ann Coulter when he told her, “It’s (Slander) a good book,” Coulter is finally put on the spot in a place where you’d think she would be safe--FOX NEWS Channel.

Bill O’Reilly, the self-proclaimed Independent, opined on two books last year that were released around the same time: Michael Moore’s “Stupid White Men” and Ann Coulter’s “Slander.” Moore is the liberal and Coulter is the conservative. Guess which book got the “biggest example of spin” award in an O’Reilly column? Moore of course. When Coulter appeared on the factor to promote a book that explains that conservatives don’t have a voice in the media, the conservative pundit was told by O’Reilly that her book is good. The spin award goes to Moore.

But the interview went a little different this time. Maybe even Bill O’Reilly knows when conservative rhetoric goes too far. This interview also exposes more of Coulter’s charming attitude that isn’t always evident in her columns. However, the interview also proves O’Reilly’s preference of attacking the Left when Coulter is just as extreme as any liberal, including Al Franken--who by the way is a comedian; not a politician. Here are a few highlights from Bill O’Reilly’s interview with Ann Coulter on July 22, 2003.

BILL O’REILLY: With us now is one of the most successful right-wing pundits, Ann Coulter, the author of the best-selling book, “Treason: Liberal Treachery From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism.”

All right. Your book's doing great, and it's doing better than your first book, and you have a very big following.

But I don't know why you're so vitriolic in your writing, and let me give the folks an example, if they haven't read your book. Kate Moss. You know this little waif, Kate Moss, this little model. She probably didn't even go to high school. Here's what you say about Kate Moss. This is unbelievable.

"Even model Kate Moss took time out from her drug habit to wrap her head around the war issue. Terrified that an attack on Iraq could lead to an attack on Colombia and dry up her supply, she was foursquare against the war." Now come on. I mean Kate Moss?

ANN COULTER: Well, that is one of the frivolous chapters. It's toward the end. I do cover the celebrities, and that's a chapter that really is just for laughs.

Here she has just admitted that part of her book can’t be taken seriously, saying they are “frivolous.” How reliable is a book with chapters that are “just for laughs” and similar to supermarket tabloids that “cover the celebrities?” Coulter also has no problems gloating over “Treason’s” success.

COULTER: You know, his (Frank Rich) book sold about six copies. Mine has sold 150,000 in the first three weeks.

O'REILLY: Look, there's no question that you have a following, but it's preaching to the choir.

COULTER: I don't think so any...

O'REILLY: You're not making any converts.

COULTER: ... more than you are.

Interesting how Coulter makes no specific references to whom she has converted. Now we move to a part of the debate where O’Reilly makes Coulter the lesser of two evils when she’s compared to comedian Al Franken.

O'REILLY: But I'm not debating what's in your book, all right. Although I disagree with some of it. You have a perfect right to say it, and you make a lucid case for it. Millions of people buy your book. I'm objecting to your method.

See, Al Franken is a vile human being, would you agree? He is. Would you agree?

COULTER: After seeing your exchange with him, yes, I would.

O'REILLY: All right. He's a vile human being. But he does almost what you do...

COULTER: No.

O'REILLY: ... in the sense that he hates all conservative and moderates. He hates them, all right. Now I don't think you hate them because I know you hang around with Maher.

By saying Coulter hangs around Bill Maher, a liberal, he makes the case that Coulter doesn’t hate all liberals the way Franken hates all conservatives. Does this mean Franken has no conservative friends? Apparently so, according to O’Reilly.

COULTER: No. No. For one thing, at this point, I'm funnier than Franken.

O'REILLY: Yes, you...

COULTER: He used to be funny.

O'REILLY: No, you've always been funnier than Franken. I'll give you that.

COULTER: Now he's just, you know, a bubbling cauldron of anger and hatred, especially toward you, I hear.

O'REILLY: Well, I threaten him because I see through him, I know what he is. But even the conservatives have said that your rhetoric is so over the top, you may be hurting your own cause.

COULTER: People have a lot of reasons to criticize other people. This is often what was done to McCarthy. I mean Eisenhower was worried -- had a lot of reasons to be worried about McCarthy. He -- McCarthy was more popular than Eisenhower.

O'REILLY: So you don't -- you're not going to concede a little bit that you might too over the top?

COULTER: Not in the least.

End of transcript.

There is a clear double standard in how O’Reilly treats public figures. If they’re on the left, they are either spin doctors (Moore) or vile human beings (Al Franken) But never has O’Reilly attacked any specific individual on the right. He says “people on the right” without ever naming names.

O’Reilly attacked Franken for his ruthless tactics, specifically for targeting Rush Limbaugh in his book, “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot.” But he never calls out Coulter for dedicating an entire book to President Clinton titled “High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” O’Reilly also never calls out Rush Limbaugh because he’s too busy going after Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Anyone who studies Coulter, whether it be a fan or critic knows that she flat-out dismisses any form of liberalism. But O’Reilly doesn’t think so because she is friends with Bill Maher therefor she is not a sweeping liberal-basher.

To be fair, O’Reilly has a reason to be mad at Franken, especially after the release of Franken’s upcoming book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.” It is reported that an unflattering picture of O’Reilly dons the cover of the book along side Ann Coulter. I’ll have to wait for the book to be released before I can make any final judgments on that.

To get the scoop from Franken’s side on why he doesn’t like O’Reilly too much, check out his interview with Buzzflash.com.

http://aggressive-voice.com/zz569.html

Hmmm - I had to post this one sep. for some reason - oh well --

Ann Coulter on Iraq and Immigration

Friday, August 05, 2005

This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," August 4, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Great Debate" segment tonight, according to a new Pew Hispanic Center poll, illegal aliens (search) continue to pour into the USA at a rate of about a half million each year. We discussed that earlier in the broadcast. And still little is being done to stop the flow.

Also, if you watched "The Factor" last night, you heard two FOX News military analysts say the war in Iraq (search) is not going well. Iraqi army units are behind schedule in training, and terrorist attacks are increasing in that country.

A little more than a year ago, Ann Coulter (search) was on this broadcast and opined that the war in Iraq was going well. Does she still believe that?

Ann Coulter joins us now from Washington. She's the author of the book, "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)."

OK. You saw our segment last night with Hunt and Cowan. They're very honest guys. They're rooting for the USA to win in Iraq, as am I and you, and they say things are getting worse there. What say you?

ANN COULTER, AUTHOR, "HOW TO TALK TO A LIBERAL (IF YOU MUST)": I think I was amazingly prescient a year ago when I said things were going well. I mean, since then we've had a free election in Iraq in which women voted, Shia, Sunni. They're working on a constitution. We had a free election in this country. In the last six months we've killed or captured about 50,000 insurgents.

And, you know, I heard last night's report but it's getting to be like background noise. I mean, I'm not a military expert. I don't know about the details on the ground. But I've been hearing that things are going worse since at least over a year ago. That cuts both ways. If things have been going worse, why isn't the elite Republican Guard (search) massing outside Manhattan right now?

O'REILLY: Because we're not in any danger of losing the war there. That's not the danger. We're not going to lose as long as we're there and as long as we were in South Vietnam we're not going to lose. That's the biggest myth in the world that the USA lost the war. We didn't lose the war.

COULTER: Yes, we kind of did. I think we did lose that one.

O'REILLY: I don't. I disagree with you. But that's a debate for another day.

COULTER: They're living under communism, Bill.

O'REILLY: The crux of the Iraq matter is are we going to win this war? Now look, attacks by insurgents on coalition troops, not civilians, have risen from 47 a year ago to 65 today. So that means that these insurgents, terrorists, whatever you want to call them, are able to mount more attacks than they were a year ago.

Now, all the political stuff you cited is correct, but it doesn't mean anything if this country is not going to be able to get the insurgency under control. And I don't think we have enough troops in there to provide the security needed to do that.

COULTER: OK, well, that point you brushed over about how we didn't lose the Vietnam War, I actually think is very important, because all of the carping about what's going on in Iraq right now is going to lead to the same sort of defeat in Vietnam, which you are saying isn't a defeat.

We withdrew. We were humiliated. We didn't back up our allies, and they are now living under communism. Is that what people are asking us to do in Iraq now? I mean, what is the point of this?

I can understand generals disputing it. Like I say, I'm not a military expert. You aren't a military expert. I'll let them dispute the details. But what is the point of talking about this on TV? It's going badly. We need more troops. What, that we should withdraw? What is the point?

O'REILLY: No. Anybody who says we should withdraw is absolutely putting all of us in danger, because that would embolden the terrorists, and they would do something else. So I want to win.

But I don't think we have enough people in there, coalition forces, to provide the security that that country needs at this point. Now, if the Iraqi units, brigades, you know, what Hunt says, that's way behind schedule. They're just not stepping up.

There's a lot of them. A lot of people are signing up, but they're just not effective.

Now, just one more thing on the Vietnam. For you to say we were humiliated in Vietnam, look, the United States armed forces did not lose one engagement, not one. Not one. And we pulled out of there for political reasons.

COULTER: That's right. That's right. That's precisely the point I am making, Bill.

O'REILLY: We didn't lose that war on the battlefield.

COULTER: That's right.

O'REILLY: Because our political will was not there.

COULTER: We lost it because of broadcasters like Walter Cronkite going on and saying, "We're losing. We're losing. The red coats are coming. It's over." Demoralizing the American people, a Democratic Congress not backing our allies.

And that's why I don't really understand the point about carping about every casualty, every bombing, every death. War is hell. That's why people say war is hell. At no point during a successful war, I mean, nobody would say after D-day, "Well, that went well." When Americans are dying you never say that's a great thing. But to say we're losing the war is preposterous.

O'REILLY: Nobody said we were losing the war.

COULTER: Well, what are you saying?

O'REILLY: I'm saying that we don't have enough people there to provide the security that we need.

COULTER: How do you even know that?

O'REILLY: To make the improvements that have to be shown for the American people to continue to support the effort.

COULTER: Well, that's apparently...

O'REILLY: Listen, I mean, look, I'm telling you the truth.

COULTER: We don't have enough people at the border. We don't have enough people to keep us safe in Washington, D.C.

O'REILLY: Absolutely.

COULTER: We don't have enough people to stop, you know, bear attacks in New Jersey. OK. What's the point?

O'REILLY: Look, here is what's going to happen. If at this time next year the situation in Iraq is the same as it is now, Republicans will lose all kinds of things in the elections. Hillary Clinton will be elected...

COULTER: But according to you, it should be worse now than it was last year.

O'REILLY: Well, it's not according it me. It's according to all the statistics that our military analysts have uncovered. Not according to me.

COULTER: Last year I said the war was going well. You said the war was going badly. I've just run off a whole slew of things that I consider magnificent successes in the past year, and by contrast we don't have the elite Republican Guard massing outside of New York City or charging — we do have to take the war to them, as we see from the bombings in London and the idiotic response in New York. We can't check every bag of every person to board every subway from now until kingdom come. We have to take the way to them.

O'REILLY: Look, we all know that. A realistic assessment of this action...

COULTER: This constant harping, I think, is just going to lead to another Vietnam, or at least I don't think it will because I think the American people are better than that. But I don't know what the point of it is. War is hell.

O'REILLY: The point is you want to win the situation. And the point is we aren't winning right now, according to our military analysts.

Let's get to the border.

COULTER: We don't win until we win.

O'REILLY: Let's get to the border. Now, certainly we're not winning that. Certainly that chaos has been going on for six years under President Bush, and he hasn't improved the situation one iota, as far as I can see. Do you disagree with that?

COULTER: I do not.

O'REILLY: Thank you. My God.

COULTER: I do not. And it's being going on a lot longer than six years.

O'REILLY: I know, but you expect the Clinton and the Democrats not to do anything.

COULTER: Right. Right.

O'REILLY: But you don't expect a president who's committed to our national security to allow this to happen.

COULTER: Right. No, it's absolutely baffling. Sometimes you have to do the principled thing even if it will cost you votes. Here, doing the principled thing will win you votes.

And still Republicans and Democrats, as you say, they don't really care about national security, but the Republicans, I think George Bush seems to think that this will hurt him with the Hispanic vote or hurt Republicans with the Hispanic vote, which is crazy.

It's a complete misreading of Proposition 187 in California, which a majority of Hispanics voted in favor of. People forget about that. It was a court that overturned that. That was denying public benefits to illegal immigrants.

A majority of Hispanics voted in favor of that. To equate Hispanics with lawbreakers it seems to me is the racist position here, but I think that's what's driving the Republicans.

O'REILLY: All right. Well, you and I agree on that. We disagree a little bit...

COULTER: I'm glad to hear that.

O'REILLY: But I want everybody to know, I want to win in Iraq, and I don't think we have the resources right now to win. If the Iraqis step up and improve their performance, yes, but that has not been proven.

Ann, always a pleasure. You're welcome any time. Thank you.

COULTER: Thank you.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164866,00.html