When it comes to the book reports, there are three things I don’t normally like to do. First, I don’t report on books I haven’t read; I haven’t read this one, nor do I intend to do so. Second, I won’t report on books I don’t like; SeattleTammy and I are booksellers, dammit, and we are in the business of purveying beauty and protecting the written word. And, third, when it comes to someone like Ms. Coulter, discussing her is, as Senator-Elect Franken once said, like shooting fish in a barrel.
But when the author decides to make a media circus of herself and her own victimhood, all week long, how can I resist? Let’s take a look of some of the gems that are in Ann Coulter’s Guilty: Liberal “Victims” and Their Assault on Liberty (Crown Forum to their utter shame, and at some venues it sells for $27.95):
Coulter says the Democratic primaries were a contest of "Who's the Biggest Pussy?":
[N]one of the Democrats could face questions from Fox News's Brit Hume, the winner turned out to be [Barack] Obama. Hillary [Clinton] claimed to be a victim of Republicans, while Obama claimed to be a victim of Republicans, Hillary, and racists. [Page 79]
Coulter later suggests that Sen. John McCain should also be nominated for this contest [...] [E]vidently McCain was more afraid of the real attack machine: the mainstream media. [...] Say, is it too late to nominate someone else for that "Who's the Biggest Pussy" contest? [Page 88]
Coulter calls children whose parents divorce "future strippers" in a chapter titled "Victim of a Crime? Thank a Single Mother":
We also have a term for the youngsters involved: "the children of divorce," or as I call them, "future strippers." It is a mark of how attractive it is to be a phony victim that divorcées will often claim to belong to the more disreputable category of "single mothers." [Page 36]
Coulter, discussing "Republican turncoats," remarks that "their gender always remains the same. They are women, not limited to the biological sense". [Page 114]
Coulter claims that Obama, actress Halle Berry, and musician Alicia Keys "race bait[ed] their way to success":
In a related phenomenon, various half-black celebrities insist on representing themselves simply as "black" -- the better to race-bait their way to success. Actress Halle Berry, singer Alicia Keys, and matinee idol Barack Obama were all abandoned by their black fathers and raised by their white mothers. But instead of seeing themselves as half-white, they prefer to see the glass as half-black. They all choose to identify with the fathers who ditched them, while insulting the women who struggled to raise them. [Page 7]
Coulter calls former White House press secretary Scott McClellan "retarded" after describing a fictional scene of "washed-up Republican functionaries like McClellan showing up in a basement office at NBC and announcing they want to be rewarded for snitching on a Republican". [Page 118]
Coulter states that New York Times columnist Frank Rich "became qualified to comment on U.S. foreign policy, national security, and presidential politics after spending a childhood dancing his favorite numbers from Oklahoma! in his mother's panties". [Page 198]
Coulter calls Newsweek contributing editor Eleanor Clift a "braying left-wingslattern". [Page 193]
Coulter describes Code Pink co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans as "storm troopers" and "satanic dervishes". [Pages 177-178, 179]
Discussing former Virginia Sen. George Allen's calling S.R. Sidarth -- a volunteer who was videotaping Allen for James Webb, Allen's Democratic opponent in 2006 -- "macaca,"Coulter refers to Sidarth and other campaign trackers as "little Nazi block-watchers". [Page 165]
( I totally stole this précis from my buddies, Gottalaff and Paddy, at the terrific The Political Carnival).
What can one say? The logic? Impeccable! The passion? It gets me feeling pretty frisky. The insults? Hilarious!
At this point in our reports, both SeattleTammy and I like to note that the book is available from us at Jackson Street Books, or at other fine independent bookstores. Actually, it isn’t available from us. But, we’re booksellers, dammit, and if you really want it, I will order it and send it to you. The book costs $100.00; shipping will be $75.00. A bit steep, you think? You need to factor in, however, the amount of vomiting that we will have to endure in getting you this tome. If you do that, you know you’re getting a steal.
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We'll try dumping haloscan and see how it works.