This one is to all you Coulter fans out there: Why do you care about Barbra Streisand? And why does she care? Look, I agree Barbra is annoying, but does Coulter keep having to mention her in column after column? (And do you Coulter fans have to keep mentioning her in your letters to me?) Barbra has no political relevance, significance, import, or substance. As I've said before, I honestly don't get this right-wing obsessions with Hollywood liberals. I don't take my marching orders from Streisand and Richard Gere (Ed Asner maybe), so why keep worrying about the Hollywood crew?

He did more than recommend getting rough, he also gave political advice, telling Bush that the American people would be patient only if they believed Bush was going to act firmly and harshly. I don't think it's the most evil thing in the world for a news network chief to offer political advice, but let's call a spade a spade and admit that this is what Ailes, a former media consultant to numerous Republican leaders, was doing.

Moreover, "catfight" is a strong word to use for a story buried on PAGE 27 of the New York Times. It's also a rather artificial topic for a column. The Times didn't front page this story, or even write an editorial on it, they just reported it in the back pages (and it was Bob Woodward's new book which actually made the original point, so why doesn't Coulter target Woodward?)

Cute, but Coulter knows the letter said substantially more than this.

The story is newsworthy because Ailes himself has accused other networks and media of having a liberal bias and being hand in glove with Democratic leaders (he repeatedly called CNN the "Clinton News Network"). Ailes, an old Republican strategist, offering behind the scenes advice to Bush helps make clear what is already obvious to all but the most blind, which is that FOX is at least as biased in favor of conservatives as Ailes claims the rest of the media is biased in favor of liberals.

Childish invective. Coulter knows the Times says nothing of the sort.

A lovely paragraph for pure idiocy.

First, why bring up the Nobel Prize Committee from out of the blue in the first place? Does Coulter have a twisted Freudian aversion to blonde Norsemen?

But let's take the "quisling" reference. Coulter is the queen of the cheap toss-away quip, and she rarely gets called on them. Except on AntiCoulter! The quisling reference is a ugly and historically wrong-headed shot. Coulter is referring to Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian politician with virtually no pre-war support who worked with the Nazis to betray his country. What she ignores is that Quisling was nearly alone among Norwegians in his betrayal. If anything, his announcement that he was working with the Nazis after their invasion helped to inspire even stronger Norwegian resistance to the Nazi invasion. The Norwegians fought for 2 months (longer than the Poles or the French) before being defeated, but rather than surrender the king and his government went into exile to carry on the fight against the Nazis throughout the war. Most of Norway's merchant fleet, the world's third largest, escaped the Nazis and spent the rest of the war risking Nazi submarines to carry supplies for the Allies (4,000 Norwegian sailors died, sunk by German subs). Norwegian warships were involved in many allied operations including the 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy. Norwegian pilots carried out bombing missions over Germany. Throughout the war underground commandos operated in occupied Norway, resisting Nazis rule. These commandos carried out numerous operations aiding the allied cause, the most famous of which was the destruction of the heavy water plant at Rjukan, a facility that was helping the Nazi attempt to develop an atomic bomb. So there Ann! (And no, I have no Norwegian ancestry, I just don't like to see those herring-snorting fellows knocked down in a nasty aside.)

Best former president. Greatest ex-president. Former. Ex. These journalists are not saying that Carter was the best as president, but simply that in his post-presidential career he was very impressive. Which he was. What did Reagan do after his presidency? Retire to the ranch. Ford played golf. Carter? Wrote a dozen books (check Amazon). Founded the Carter Center (dedicated to, among other things, "resolve conflict, promote democracy, protect human rights, and prevent disease"). He currently spends his year working for a variety of human rights groups, such as Habitat for Humanity. Not a bad resume for an ex-president.

Is Coulter suggesting that Ailes is not a partisan conservative?

Railed? From the American Heritage Dictionary: "To express objections or criticisms in bitter, harsh, or abusive language." Remember, this is a page 27 piece. A very bland and mild article. And she says railed. Ok.

What's a Coulter piece without an accusation of treason? It'd be like Christmas without Santa Claus (and don't you think Coulter probably hates that red-wearing, gift-giving socialist?).

Please, someone, what is Coulter's obsession with Sulzberger's SAT scores? She's made this reference before and it's both strange and bewilderingly off-topic. Rather like Coulter.

Look bubie, the American media are about as liberal as sliced wonder bread. As a real progressive, I regard the Times as a stodgy voice of the establishment. Forget television news. Most of those airheads with beautiful hair wouldn't know a political agenda if it bit them on their well-tailored posteriors. Now, FOX news, that is conservative. At least, in my unbiased opinion.

©2002 Carl Skutsch. All rights reserved.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the author unless otherwise noted
(and it goes without saying that they make more sense than Coulter's opinions.)

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