Aren't the dems the alleged party of free speech and tolerance?
N.Y. Times: Ann Coulter 'Weaponizing' Words
Two New Jersey Democrats are pushing to have the book banned in the state.
Monday, June 12, 2006 11:36 a.m. EDT
N.Y. Times: Ann Coulter 'Weaponizing' Words
Ann Coulter’s knack for "weaponizing words” has led to the phenomenal success of her books, according to a New York Times article that seeks to trash the bestselling author.
"Once again, Ann Coulter has a book in need of flogging, and once again, people are stunned by what a ‘vicious, ‘mean-spirited,’ ‘despicable’ ‘hate-monger’ they say she is,” David Carr writes in the Times business section’s lead story. But Carr acknowledges: "Ann Coulter knows precisely what she is saying.
"Her current book,"Godless: The Church of Liberalism," is heading to the best-seller lists in part because she has a significant constituency and in part because no other author in American publishing is better at weaponizing words. With five books and more than a million copies in hardcover sales, she plays to win and is happy to take hostages along the way.”
"Godless” actually shot to the top of Amazon.com’s list of bestsellers the day after it was published.
In the book, Coulter criticizes four New Jersey widows who pushed for an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed their husbands. The women also backed Democrat John Kerry's presidential candidacy in 2004.
"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis,” Coulter wrote. "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."
Predictably, the comments created a storm of controversy. House Democrats from New York City and Long Island signed a letter demanding an apology from Coulter.
Two New Jersey Democrats are pushing to have the book banned in the state.
Hillary Clinton called Coulter’s comments "vicious” and "mean-spirited.”
But Adrian Zackheim, the publisher of Portfolio, a business imprint, said of Coulter: "She is so smart that none of it is by accident. She knows that a few things she says are bound to get attention. She just probably doesn’t know which one.”
And Bob Wietrak, a vice president for merchandising at Barnes & Noble, told the Times: "Every single book she has done has become an instant bestseller. Her fan base is phenomenal and she is in the media constantly. When she is in the media, it creates more media coverage. And every single day, the book sells more.”
Hillary Clinton, then, seemingly played into Coulter’s hands with her comments.
And Coulter garnered even more press when she countered by suggesting that Hillary "should talk to her husband, who was accused of rape by Juanita Broaddrick.” Hillary did not respond.
The Times notes: "Mrs. Clinton, who is the perfect foil for Ms. Coulter – ambitious, allergic to irony, loathed by the people who will line up for ‘Godless’ – simply added fuel to a fire that she was presumably trying to douse.” |
