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Matt Lauer rips into Ann Coulter on Today
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Matt Lauer rips into Ann Coulter on Today

Popular Videos – Seemingly not content to let Katie whisk all the "credibility" off the Today Show set, Matt Lauer really laid into Ann Coulter on a segment this morning, reading aloud passages from her new book and demanding that the right-winger defend herself. My fave moment: Coulter says "The War on Terrorism is the only thing [Bush] is doing right." Lauer responds, "I'm talking about the war in Iraq, not the War on Terrorism." Zing!

Tags: ir, terrorism, katie couric, today show, ann coulter, matt lauer

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Karina: It's clear that the fallout of this segment is doing nothing but good for Ms. Coulter. Her book, Godless, in which she first filed the charges against 9/11 widows that Lauer asked her to clarify, currently sits at the top of the Barnes and Noble chart. She is, of course, no stranger to controversy -- in fact, her website makes it clear that Coulters hateability quotient is the author and columnist's leading selling point. The welcome page flatters her reader's own outlaw tendencies, by dramatizing the hypothetical hunt to purchase Godless as a rebel's journey, certainly arduous, if not somewhat dangerous, but, finally, heroic: "You will have to push past surly bookstore clerks, proceed past the weird people in the "self-help" section, and finally past the stacks and stacks of Hillary Clinton's memoirs. If all else fails, ask for the "hate speech" section of your local bookstore. Ironically, if you find "Godless" without asking for assistance, it's considered a minor miracle."

After all of that, what's odd about the above interview (if you can even call it that), is Coulter's apparent lethargy when challenged on her specific words, and even her general politics. This may have something to do with Lauer, who seemingly shows up at work every day to help shore up The Today Show's reputation as a cozy place for celebrities to come shill their new products, only so that he can subvert that paradigm when the correct potentially controversially celebrity comes on the show wanting to do the same. We're seeking further comment on both sides of this issue, but as of this writing, neither the Coulter nor the Lauer camps have responded to interview requests.

2006-06-15 16:52:02

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That whole part about the widows of 9/11 was just shocking. Really low rent.

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This whole thing was just painful to watch. She deliberately uses words like \"broads\" when speaking of the 9/11 women to get a rise out of people. Poor Matt Lauer, he finally no longer has to work with the Chipmunk, but still has to do interviews with the ranters who act like he is part of the furniture and not allowed to \"get testy\" as Coulter called it.

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Watching the video of Ms. Coulter on the Today show, I couldn\'t help noticing that it always took her a beat to answer each question, as if she was... waiting for someone in her ear to tell her what to say??? The Queen of Mean needs to be blacklisted. Now.

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Its not really hard to rip into Coulter... she's a conservative extremist.

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Matt Lauer's defense couldn't be weaker if you glued words together and threw them at her. The whole reason why this is "controversial" is because the liberals are able to use widows against the right and, if the right argues back, they are bashed because they are going against someone who has lost someone. The fact that this story is controversial makes her arguement perfectly circular and absolutely right.

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Ann Coulter is right. The left does argue from a position of infallibility, and they do send out these broads as human shields because otherwise rational people could shoot big holes in their flimsy emotion-based arguments. Ann Coulter said those things about the "9/11 widows" (wonder why they didn't start a rock band?) in order to show us what happens when you question the unquestionable (as defined by the left's position of inallibility). In my opinion, Ann Coulter is a martyr.

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Ann Coulter says all the wrong things, but boy I love those man hands of hers...mmmm man hands.

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Well, we couldn't use widows if the policies of the rightwingers didn't create them.

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Well said, trudy. In this case though, I think it was the LACK of policies and lack of action that created the widows. "Bin Laden Determined To Attack America" PDB ring a bell?

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Ha ha. Who's ripping into who? Laurer obviously has an agenda to discredit Coulter and she responds to each of his questions directly and holds her own. Great video.

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Correction for Mr. Lauer: Iraq is part of the "war on terror." Is he a moron, or something?

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Correction for rflowers: Iraq is part of the "war on terror." Well, it is NOW! Thanks to BUSHco! Unfortunately, Coulter is the drunk at the party who just won't leave. I would rather that she were ignored but she is willing to say anything for publicity. She's an idiot and a muck-raker, pure and simple!

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ganesha23, name-calling aside, your commentary on this subject is empty in the usefullness department.

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Who got fired, CK, and for what?

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Disclosure: Im one of the people that Coulter's comments targets. Even if she is right about the tactics that liberals use, her over-the-top and hateful remarks are what turns off many people and will alienate middle-of-the-road voters.

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She was horrible on leno... why are people even giving her a platform. oh... wait. ;-)

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Miss Coulter get far more attention than her sloppy and disingenouos thinking really deserves. But that's her business model: outrage, then sell books. Laugh all the way to the bank. She's sort of a Neo-Nazi version of Madonna.

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It's pretty obvious that anchor Katrina likes Coulter. Somehow I would prefer the anchors ont this site to be a bit more neutral. Present the story; let us discuss it.

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I guess at the end of the day everyone's a shill. Ann for her book, Matt for his show, and poor George Carlin for common sense. The really sad story is how just having contempt for an entire segment of the US population is now acceptable. Coming from the South, where this kind of junk was codified (Jim Crow laws), it makes me sad for our country. There is no "I understand your view, but I disagree." When's the last time you even heard that, about anything? Maybe doughnuts. Mmmm. Doughnuts.

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I for one am sick and tired of the way Liberals attack Ann Coulter for the positions she takes and the opinions she voices in the media. Liberals are supposed to embody compassion in all things, and yet, every chance they get, they go on the attack against Coulter, who is clearly suffering under some kind of mental illness. I'd say borderline personality disorder, with some serious sexual neuroses on the side. Take any streetcorner nut, dress them up, comb their hair, a little liposuction, and tell them they're on this side or that, and presto, 'ya got Coulter. The appropriate response for anything she says should be something like

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I for one am sick and tired of the way Liberals attack Ann Coulter for the positions she takes and the opinions she voices in the media. Liberals are supposed to embody compassion in all things, and yet, every chance they get, they go on the attack against Coulter, who is clearly suffering under some kind of mental illness. I'd say borderline personality disorder, with some serious sexual neuroses on the side. Take any streetcorner nut, dress them up, comb their hair, a little liposuction, and tell them they're on this side or that, and presto, 'ya got Coulter. The appropriate response for anything she says should be something like

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When is her 15 minutes going to be up?

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I for one am sick and tired of the way Liberals attack Ann Coulter for the positions she takes and the opinions she voices in the media. Liberals are supposed to embody compassion in all things, and yet, every chance they get, they go on the attack against Coulter, who is clearly suffering under some kind of mental illness. I'd say borderline personality disorder, with some serious sexual neuroses on the side. Take any streetcorner nut, dress them up, comb their hair, a little liposuction, and tell them they're on this side or that, and presto, 'ya got Coulter. The appropriate response for anything she says should be something like "of course dear. Wouldn't you like to take a nap now? oh, look, Thomas is playing ping-pong alone. why don't you join him?" Poor thing.

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Ann Coulter wrote about the 9/11 widows in one chapter only. The book is number one on the NYTimes best-seller list, because it speaks the truth.

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You know, I don't like extremists, whether liberal or conservative. Having said that, I found the whole interview quite bizarre. Alexia said it seemed Ms. Coulter was waiting for someone to speak into her ear(piece). Funny, I thought she either had to think before responding, or perhaps she'd had a bit of a "decongestant" that'd made her "drowsy." And, rflowers, no, the war in Iraq was to depose a despot (hee hee - alliteration); the War on Terror is a whole different ballgame. NOW they have become intermingled, as things will, when you give terrorists yet another platform. Nothing like the chaos of a war-torn country to do that. But that's not Bush's fault (and I'm no fan of his) - that was just inevitable in that region of the world. Finally, freeter, yes, Ann Coulter is right - right wing, that is. All extremists argue from a position of infallibility - that's what makes them extreme, silly. How more infallible can you make yourself than to say "God is with US!"

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I find her tiresome and boring. She seeks only to outrage and has nothing constructive or original to say. "The Today show is a complete waste of air time so I guess the two really need each other.

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chrisjara, I'd like to think that most middle-of-the-road voters would actually read her book with an unbiased opinion before making statements like "over-the-top" and "hateful" remarks.

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Anne Coulter looks straight through all the liberal smokescreens to uncover the socialist ajenda of making the USA into a bad French Kisser. Her message can't be refuted as their is no defence for the bare truth she reveals. She and GWB both know their is only one mission for the USA after 9/11.... DISARM ISLAM. All else means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

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She easily backed off both Leno (limo liberal) and George Carlin ( liberal Hippie leftover) and her book is #1 at Amazon and in demand everywhere. If you don't like the message ...don't shoot the messenger. She's a realist and knows even the Arabs, burying their heads in the sand to escape reality, make easy targets for shooting them in their butts.

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Sorry I missed that. Was Ann actually in the studio? Or did Matt just go off on a rant on his own? Chris http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/

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Other commentators have noted that, in person, Coulter can be friendly and reserved. I get the impression that her vitriol is mercenary. To me, that makes it immoral. If you don't like what she does you can let her corporate enablers know that it hurts their brand image to be associated with her and the money they earn from her hate speech. http://www.ratdiary.com/?p=34

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And Now For Somthing Important: Source: Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com QB Carson Palmer's rehab has now advanced to focusing on his football timing. Palmer is expected to ratchet up work with his receivers when the Bengals open their mandatory minicamp Thursday morning, but the team is making no guesses if he'll be ready for the July 29 training camp. Trainer Paul Sparling said the team is still deciding how to work him this weekend, but he could possibly throw in 7-on-7 drills. Sparling also said despite suffering some "minor bumps in the road," like swelling and stiffness he hasn't been held back.

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Lauer is a wus. Like her (or agree with her) or not, Coulter kicked Lauer's liberal ass.

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This is a big part of Ann Coulter's brand of propaganda. Instead of addressing the issues she sets up a straw man and then proceeds to knock it down. It's a typical conservative red herring. As Matt Lauer pointed out, nobody said that disagreeing with a 9/11 widow was off limits. They do not claim infallibility, nor has anybody claimed it for them.

She first should have tried - in a civil and logical way - to rebut what the 9/11 widows said and then waited for somebody to claim that she wasn't allowed to do that. She then would have proof of her accusations. But, no, she skips that step, because she knows she is lying and engaging in character assassination, which goes a long way to prove that she has no fair basis to rebut the 9/11 widows.

She and a lot of warmongers who want to say, "You're against the war in Iraq? Why don't you ask the 9/11 widows how they feel about it?" are now angry with them, because they are prevented from using them for their purposes.

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Figured Coulter out years ago; she plays the provacateur. She purposely says the most outrageous things, only to get an emotional reaction from the listener. Doesn't care if you agree or disagree, she knows you'll be talking about her. I surmised the way to treat her is to ignore anything she says. End of story.

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People who rant and rave are worthless unless you choose to empower them.

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I do not know very much about Ann Coulter, but from what I have seen and heard of her hasn't help this country mend the heartfelt wounds of 911 or any thing else. I was brought up to be practical with what I earn that was being conservative. share what you can with your kin and love ones. Not take from some one else to have it all. Too much of a good thing can kill you or some-one else. Religion was about god the creator of this very ground you stand on. Harm it and it will harm you. For those that call yourself godly, christian or whatever, the great maker , who we know of, has so far in just every religious sect wanted man kind to be a good person and not harm in any way shape or form. That has been a hard order for anyone on this earth. Myself including! It takes all kinds of people to fight a war, careful what you say some-one you might not like, may save your life.

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9/11 was really hurtfull!

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the woman's got issues

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