I couldn't let this day pass without observing that it was exactly two years ago today that my old friend Bruce Springsteen took a verbal swing at my old nemesis Ann Coulter.

It started after CNN asked him about his views on Coulter after she had suggested that maybe some soldiers in Iraq might think about "fragging" John Murtha the next time they had a chance.   Coulter had also famously knocked entertainers like Springsteen taking part in politics (he campaigned for Kerry and later endorsed Obama).  

I wrote the followed two years ago for E&P.  It is reprinted in my new book (for which Bruce also wrote the preface).  Enjoy.

A week ago Ann Coulter posted a column on her website where she claimed that Iraqis were safer than Detroit residents, and insinuated that our troops were safer in Iraq than Chicago. Setting aside the implicit insults to the Second City and Motor City, the way in which she used the statistics from this CNN story is among the most dishonest I have have ever read.

There has been a concerted effort lately to make the "Worst Person's in the World" segment by Keith Olbermann a controversial flashpoint. It has been pointed to as proof of liberal bias in the media by a number of people affiliated with conservative political causes. The latest is one of these segments that goes after "America's Sweetheart" Katie Couric, anchor of the CBS Evening News.

[A winning nickname for John McCain--Lickspittle? Hmmm... J]

In her newest syndicated column, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter calls the U.S. occupation in Iraq "a stunning success," awards President Bush the status of "moral giant," and trashes Sen. John McCain as one of "the weakest members of the herd."

Since 2001, right-wing pundits have increasingly used offensive and violent rhetoric to humiliate Democratic Party candidates and politicians and to undermine political debate of important issues. Coulter's attack on Sen. McCain confirms a rising trend of right-wing pundits using this tactic of humiliation and violent language to brand Sen. McCain a danger to the safety and well-being of the country.

In her twice weekly column, Ann Hart Coulter, Conservative cheerleader and suspected closet lesbian,, said the following:

Quote:

Monthly casualties in Iraq now come in slightly lower than a weekend with Anna Nicole Smith. According to a CNN report last week, for the entire month of May, there were only 19 troop deaths in Iraq. (Last year, five people on average were shot every day in Chicago.) With Iraqi deaths at an all-time low, Iraq is safer than Detroit -- although the Middle Eastern food is still better in Detroit. - BUSH'S AMERICA: 100 PERCENT AL-QAIDA FREE SINCE 2001 (Via AnnCoulter.com)

You know, I really hate to be the person to say this to this......woman, and trust me, I use the damn term quite loosely.

Summary: As you may know, Bill O'Reilly has a new book coming out about his formative years.  This inspired me to take a look at what he, and other figures from the political landscape, might have been like when they were younglings.

Interested?

In an article recently posted at The New Republic Bruce Bartlett discusses the rising tide of conservative support for the election of Barack Obama.  This support reflects the deep divisions within various segments of the American conservative movement that have has little play in the MSM or in discussion forums on the political left.  
What is becoming clear beyond my anecdotal discoveries is that there is a growing, almost viral discontent within the republican party and the conservative movement.

More below the fold.

Summary: This is an experimental diary.  My intention is just to rattle off some (literal) dreams I've had about people in the political world...and of course invite you to toss in your own if you'd like.

Ann Coulter

No the title is not a typo and Godwin's law does not apply here as you will see by the accompanying evidence which can begin by reading this news article from newshounds and watching the video in its entirety.  The video is 9 minutes long, the most salient point comes around the 7:30 mark.  For a history of some of the vile remarks made by Reverend Peterson, you can view this video from the young turks or see my March diary on Jesse Lee Peterson here.

There I was, sitting at a bus stop bench on Santa Monica Boulevard and minding my own business, when a woman sat down beside me.  I didn’t recognize her at first because of all the Barack Obama literature she had clutched to her chest.  I saw bumper stickers and campaign buttons and brochures.

Ohmigod it's her.

I wasn’t surprised at seeing Ann Coulter, nor that she was perhaps scouting out the opposition for some timely political snark, but I was surprised she’d be taking public transportation.  I introduced myself, told her I recognized her, and asked her about that.  

"I suppose it’s going to come out pretty soon anyway," she sighed, "so I guess I might as well get in some practice for my unrehearsed responses."

Other than the fact that she's annoying and a master "baiter" (be it race or otherwise), Ann Coulter is a liar's liar. Doesn't she know that youtube is ubiquitous?

Her words on the Hannity & Colmes show were CLEAR, direct, and, yes adamant.

((by the way)) notice how Obama s not even in the equation. This was before the Super Tuesday results

Having joked less than a year ago about killing Mitt Romney (and his supporters), former Republican candidate for president, Mike Huckabee, has now made light of assassinating Sen. Barack Obama.

According to CNN, during his recent speech at the NRA convention in Louisville Kentucky, the former  presidential candidate offered the following joke in response to a loud noise off stage:

"That was Barack Obama, he just tripped off a chair, he's getting ready to speak...Somebody aimed a gun at him and he dove for the floor." (from CNN PoliticalTicker.com)

As Huckabee transitions from presidential candidate to media pundit, his habit of joking about political assassination leads many Americans to question the place of violent rhetoric in the speech of high-profile political pundits, as well as the consequences that should result from it.

Barack Obama advances much closer to the Democratic nomination for President as he roundly defeats Hillary Clinton in North Carolina and winsBarack Obama advances much closer to the Democratic nomination for President as he roundly defeats Hillary Clinton in North Carolina and wins a morale victory in Indiana. But Obama didn't just defeat Hillary Clinton, but he also defeated Rush Limbaugh and his merry band of followers such as Ann Coulter and the cast of Fox Friends (some friends). So Limbaugh says. Rush Limbaugh has now achieved the height of pomposity.

He is full of himself.

You know, it's been a really, really good week, and next week might be even better:

Bob Barr, former GOP congressman from Georgia, is an all-but-announced presidential candidate - as a Libertarian.
The possibility of a run by Barr has sent shudders through the mainstream of the Republican party.

Barr, who will probably not declare his intentions for several days, has already been labeled a "spoiler."

In an interview with the Inquirer, Barr dismissed those accusations as whining.

"The notion that Republicans see a third-party candidate as spoiling their chances simply illustrates the arrogance of the two-party system," Barr said.

Never thought I'd say this, but I want to kiss Bob Barr.  Right on the lips.

I knew some day I'd actually write something that did not include a shout about what we're doing on the show. And, my very dear friends, as Mr McCain would begin, this day has arrived. I've been startled to watch two developments anger and shake our respective Coalitions of The Reasonable, without the obvious deflating corollaries apparently dawning on anybody.

Firstly, Senator Clinton's appearance with O'Reilly is more pathetic and revelatory than it is outrageous. Secondly, the "Manchurian Candidate" meme voiced by Coultergeist might be taken down and later used against her.

As usual, Ann Coulter's newest round of pundit appearances included going on CNN to call millions of Americans "traitors" (treason is a crime punishable by the death penalty) and suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is a covert terrorist assassin.

What did Ann Coulter do this week to earn this right to appear on the most trusted name in news?

She published a weekly syndicated column laced with violent-rhetoric in which she suggested than an Obama Presidency would result in the destruction of the U.S. by terrorists and--she joked about lynching Africa-Americans.

Is there nobody left at CNN who cares about this situation?  I mean...why is it that a pundit who jokes about lynching blacks is allowed to appear on the largest broadcast platform in America?

Some advice for CNN:

When Ann Coulter jokes about lynching blacks in her weekly syndicated column, pull her from whatever appearances she has scheduled for that week.

Better yet, just drop her altogether.  

the post on the main page has me all fired up this morning, as I'm tired of hearing such things. While we try to be understanding and our candidate -- mine anyway -- wants to above this stuff, a supposed news person and analyst on CNN have this exchange:

BECK: You know what? You know what? As uncomfortable as you -- as uncomfortable as you are with Hillary Clinton or I am with John McCain, you are with John McCain, it is not somebody who says, "Hey, I'm going to sit with leaders of Iran and Syria and Cuba and Venezuela who hate us. And by the way, my record on judging people is I didn't think this hatemonger was a hatemonger for 20 years."

COULTER: Right, right. And calls -- and obviously hates the United States. This is part of the traitor wing of the Democratic Party. And I guess the question is: Is Obama a Manchurian candidate to normal Americans who love their country -- and he secretly agrees with the Weathermen and the Reverend Wright faction? Or is he being the Manchurian candidate to the traitor wing of the Democratic Party? And he, I guess, has to take the position now that, "No, I was just trying to hoodwink the traitor wing."

It is time to fire back in kind. Talking points: