Ann Coulter (born December 8, 1961) is an American author and attorney at law. She is the author of High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton, Slander, and Treason. All of Coulter's books have been New York Times Best-Sellers. In addition, Ann Coulter is a legal correspondent for Human Events and writes a syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate.

Coulter graduated with honors from the Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences and received her J.D from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of The Michigan Law Review.

Today, Coulter makes guest-appearances to give her conservative opinions on national television shows such as Hannity and Colmes, The O'Reilly Factor, American Morning With Paula Zahn, Crossfire, This Week with George Stephanapolous, Good Morning America, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Scarborough Country, and The Today Show.

Table of contents
1 Coulter controversy
2 Criticism of Ann Coulter
3 Books
4 External links

Coulter controversy

A prominent conservative, Coulter has been an outspoken critic of many liberal and Democratic Party movements over the years. She gained prominence during her days as a lawyer, for helping Paula Jones to sue President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment. She appeared on MSNBC to discuss the case, then wrote a book critical of Bill Clinton. Since that book became a best-seller, she left practicing the law to concentrate on writing books and columns.

Coulter has a reputation for being quite sensationalistic and relishes the role. As she told the Sunday Times of London in 2002, "I am a polemicist. I am perfectly frank about that. I like to stir up the pot. I don't pretend to be impartial or balanced, as broadcasters do."

Coulter has been identified as a fundamentalist Christian, but told interviewer David Bowman, "I don't think I've described myself that way, but only because I'm from Connecticut. We just won't call ourselves that." She admires Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Phyllis Schlafly, and opposes the Equal Rights Amendment. [1] [1]

Two days after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, her syndicated column included discussion of her close friend, Barbara K. Olson who died on American Airlines Flight 77 that was hijacked and crashed into The Pentagon. In the last sentence, Coulter advocated that the United States invade the Middle East and convert Muslims to Christianity. When the editors of the National Review, a well-known conservative magazine which included Coulter's syndicated column in its publication, said they would like to discuss making changes to the latter article, she went on the national television show Politically Incorrect, accused them of censorship, and claimed that her pay was only five dollars per article. National Review Online then ended its relationship with Coulter. [1] [1] [1]

The "convert them to Christianity" comment has become one of Coulter's most infamous statements, and is widely cited by her critics. However, her supporters maintain that it was largely a tongue-in-cheek statement and intentionally overzealous. "Liberals love to pretend they don't understand hyperbole" she once quipped.

Criticism of Ann Coulter

Al Franken calls Coulter "the reigning diva of the hysterical right" in his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. In two chapters on Coulter, Franken lists what he believes are false and misleading statements in Coulter's Slander, and demonstrates his belief that she misrepresents the articles she cites. For example, Slander says of the 2000 Florida recount that "Bush had won any count" and cites a Washington Post article with the contrary headline, "Study Finds Gore Might Have Won Statewide Tally of All Uncounted Ballots."

Al Franken also points out that while a newspaper's editorials are its official position, Ann Coulter takes sentences anywhere in the New York Times to represent its official opinion. If a New York Times book-review asks people on both sides of an issue to give their opinion, Ann Coulter will represent any quote she finds offensive as the official position of the newspaper.

Carl Skutsch of anticoulter.com writes that Coulter blames "liberals" for everything without ever defining the term. Coulter makes broad statements such as "liberals hate society," (Slander, p. 27), and seems to count as a liberal "anyone she doesn't agree with" which makes her books and essays "hard to argue with. Also hard to respect." [1]

A passage of Slander may be deemed hypocritical. Coulter writes "liberals refuse to condemn what societies have condemned for thousands of years - e.g., promiscuity, divorce, illegitimacy, homosexuality" (pg. 195). However, Coulter hasn't publicly condemned these things herself.

Coulter also writes in Slander, "liberals have absolutely no contact with the society they decry from their Park Avenue redoubts," implying that liberals are rich, making their opinions unimportant. Critics such as Joe Conason, author of Big Lies, point out that Coulter herself is a rich woman from an affluent background and that she does not similarly dismiss Republican politicians because of their wealth.

Treason, which contains many bold accusations against all Democrats, brought her under fire, even from many of her former conservative supporters. Many felt her claim that Democrats such as Presidents Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy had worked against America's war on Communism as unfounded. Treason's defense of Joe McCarthy also came under criticism from both conservatives and liberals, who argued that Coulter had simply failed to accurately research the facts in her attempt to rehabilitate the disgraced senator. In an interview with David Bowman, Coulter said that Joe McCarthy is the deceased person she admires the most. Coulter argues in Treason that the Venona cables have vindicated McCarthy, proving there indeed were Soviet spies in the State Department (which McCarthy was ridiculed for believing).

During an August 30, 2003, appearance on MSNBC's Saturday Final with Lawrence O'Donnell, Coulter said that Howard Dean rallies are "looking like Nuremberg rallies," comparing Dean supporters to Nazis. She didn't explain her comparison.

Some of her critics have accused her of exploiting her looks for political purposes, while others believe it is the only reason for her success. She features prominently on the covers of her books and often poses for publicity photographs in revealing outfits. She has also denied being in her forties on several occasions.

Books

External links