Coulter Ups Violent Rhetoric on Obama

Although Ann Coulter originally achieved fame as a right-wing pundit by talking about President Clinton's penis on national TV, since 9/11 she has turned most of her attention to framing Democrats as terrorists.

During one TV spot in 2003, Coulter said, "Liberals...want there to be lots of 9/11s" (see Outright Barbarous, 74-75), followed by an entire book (Treason) in which she argued that the goal of Liberalism is the destruction of American civil society -- the violent idea that frames most of Coulter's writing since 2002.

Lately, Coulter has focused her violent rhetoric at Sen. Barack Obama, in particular on spreading the defamatory idea that the sitting Senator and leading candidate for president is a terrorist. Coulter kicked this rhetoric into high-gear in her Apr 23 column which includes the line:

"Obama pals around with terrorists."

Coulter's Violent Framing of Obama: First Hitler, Then Terrorism
Ever since Sen. Obama became the likely 2008 nominee for the Democratic Party, Coulter has been trying to define him in the minds of her listeners as a Muslim terrorist.  She has done this by referring to him as "B. Hussein Obama" and by making endless jokes suggesting that he is in fact a terrorist, in addition to equating Sen. Obama with Hitler.

In her Apr 3, 2008 appearance on FOX's Hannity and Co., Coulter cited Sen. Obama's autobiography Dreams of My Father as evidence that he will become as dangerous as Adolf Hitler:

COULTER: Because -- the topic we were supposed to be talking about in this segment, Sean, my column this week. I'm the only person in America who has read Obama's biography.

COLMES: As a matter of fact...

COULTER: He has a racial hair-trigger, a complete loon. All he talks about is constantly being offended. And Mr. Unity attacks Sean Hannity and me.

COLMES: You said in your piece...

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: We only have a second left. You said, if only -- you might want to take a peek at Obama when he writes, if only people had read "Mein Kampf." So in other words he would be as dangerous as Hitler?

COULTER: No. He's a dime store "Mein Kampf."

COLMES: Oh, he's a two-bit Hitler?

COULTER: Yes. It is absolute racialist. If you read "Mein Kampf."

COLMES: I see.

COULTER: It's all about his Germanic heritage. And this is -- OK, go read it if you don't believe me. Read the Cliff Notes version in my column.

COLMES: We should have be as wary of Obama as they should have been of Hitler in Nazi Germany?

COULTER: If only people had read "Mein Kampf." (LexisNexis)

Coulter also published her accusation that Obama will become the next Hitler in her syndicated column of Apr 3.

Taken together, Coulter's column and her appearance on FOX broadcast to millions of voters the blatantly false idea that Sen. Obama's writing shared something in common with Hitler's and that his autobiography suggested that Sn. Obama would behave like Hitler if elected President -- meaning that he would launch a genocidal program against non-African Americans.

Just to be clear, Coulter's Apr 3 column and FOX appearance (1) equated Sen. Obama with the most notorious genocidal dictator of modern history, (2) this accusation went out to millions of Americans, (3) there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever for Coulter's assertions, and (4) it was never redressed by any watchdog group as being in violation of broadcast standards.

More recently, Coulter has turned to defining Sen. Obama as a  terrorist by dropping the end of his first name and referring to him as "B. Hussein Obama."  In addition to the Hitler smear, this framing also implies that Obama has a violent agenda that he will unleash on the American people.

Yesterday's column by Coulter opens up a second level in the 'terrorist' frame by equating Sen. Obama with the violent tactics of the 1970s group The Weathermen.  In addition to publishing the lie that Obama is 'pals' with The Weathermen --  Coulter also included the flagrant and defamatory lie that Obama specifically makes political alliances with people because they have committed acts of violence against the American government:

If he had only said he bombed the building in Oklahoma City to protest American "imperialism," McVeigh, too, could be teaching at Northwestern University, sitting on a board with and holding fundraisers for presidential candidate B. Hussein Obama.

The "he" in this case refers to Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma  City bomber.

Coulter's strategy for framing Obama in violent terms takes on a new depth in her latest column.  And as tends to be Coulter's pattern, the violent rhetoric she unfolds in her syndicated column will likely be broadcast to exponentially more viewers through an appearance on FOX.

Important To Shine A Light on This Problem
Many Americans are quick to dismiss this kind of language from Coulter as insignificant and not worth even noting.

To skeptics, I would simply point to the fact that Ann Coulter is one of the most dominant voices in American political media.  Coulter currently has multiple best-selling books on the Amazon.com ranking page, appears regularly on broadcast TV, and has the backing of a massive right-wing publishing and PR machine that promotes her work as part of a larger strategy to control political debate.

It is absolutely crucial for Americans to shine a light on this problem.  When a major figure in print and broadcast media repeatedly accuses a U.S. senator of being a genocidal dictator and a terrorist, the American people have a right to protest.

Cross posted in Frameshop.

Follow Jeffrey Feldman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeffreyFeldman

Comments

[Chris7982]

it is not that simple to ignore her, she is watched by millions on FOX news and what she is saying about a US Senator is highly treacherous and needs to be looked into by Congress and denounced by the Republican party....noone should have to be smeared like that becuase they belong to another party and running for President...I know she makes money from all the stuff she writes about and says but there is a degree to which we need to stop this!!!!

[munimula]

I agree that it should not be so easy to dismiss her rantings. For as outrageous as all of this sounds, this crap sticks a little. Remember how many Americans believed that Saddam Hussien was responsible for 9/11? And how many Americans currently believe the Obama is a Muslim? She needs to be called out at every turn.

[Siryn]

Ann Coulter is important because you should never underestimate the power of a stupid idea, no matter who it comes from.

[ExPatriot70]

I think her mother should have been PRO-CHOICE and used the option. She is a disgrace to the country and all women and to the human race. She is a evolutionary failure, she never evolved past the amoeba stage.

[mesuki]

she needs to be put to sleep like the mad that she is!

[dadw5boys]

THESE PEOPLE HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES AND ARE PAID FOR THIS!!!!!

IMAGINE THE MIND OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE PAYING THEM FOR THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!

[MWChris]

Ann Coulter is a total clown, who says things only to shock. She needs a man...

[JiminNC]

Would you close your eyes next to her? No way!

[Joeinloth]

Or a trip to Sam's Club for more batteries!

[Arguman]

She IS a man.

reference: Mr. Show "GloboChem"

"Yeah, but what happened to Grandma Betsy? She looks like a man!"

"She is a man!"

"The fastest growing segment of our population are transsexuals -- they buy and spend for two."

[PennP]

Has she covered Bill's gift to Hillary of the unsolicited pardoning of 16 members of the FALN, which terrorized NYC and other areas during the 1970s, destroying property and killing at least 9 people? The FALN members never asked to be pardoned, but Nita Lowey and other members of Hillary's support team for her bid for the senate sure did, to shore up the Puerto Rican vote. Bill pardoned the terrorists for Hillary's benefit, and it worked--she won her election. Of course, when the public discovered what had been done there was a real outcry. Behaving true to her coreless form, Hillary then had problems with the pardons.

Is Ann Coulter talking about thaT?

[Joeinloth]

No - and she hasn't discussed the ass clowns that Hillary ran against, either. Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dumber!

[xcrunner77]

Anyone who takes Coulter seriously is already 3/4 of the way into a self-induced lobotomy. The few factual points that (s)he attempts to make are so easily refuted that the rest aren't worth spending moments of your life on. But here's the first: no one has read Obama's biography. First of all, it's an AUTO-biography, but I guess (s)he missed that day in third grade. Second, if no one's reading it, why has Obama made millions off the millions of copies that have been sold? All those copies are gathering dust, unread, on someone's coffee table? Really? Really, Ann?? Really???

She's so absurd. But there's a large audience out there to watch a circus freak do its tricks so no doubt (s)he will not go away.

[presto]

Coulter is horrendous, but this is nothing new. Obama is not exactly her first victim and no one has stopped her yet. Fox and Co. could exercise some self-restraint and just not bring her on. The newspapers that syndicate her column could stop doing it. But, so far, they haven't. Most people have the sense to ignore her. She loves all this attention.

[MichaelTempler]

I use to really like her

she's hot

but the fact is SHE IS A BOOK WHORE

it's not surprising she is not married

woman that beautiful that are alone are usually psycho

you don't have to go on a date to figure that out

[Kynn]

Ummm, she's a man.

Man hands and an adam's apple spells man.

[JiminNC]

yup

[julieeiluj]

Would you please NOT insult the transgender community by referring to her as one of them?

[Aleka4]

WTF

This makes me seriously ill that she is getting away with this garbage. What is the matter with this country that anyone CAN libel someone like that and not get in trouble?

[robiform]

Coulter is "getting away with this garbage" for the same reason that Rush Limbaugh is getting away with pleading for riots in Denver during this summer's Democratic convention--the First Amendment and all that. However, there are libel laws, and there's that little prohibition against yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater in order to create chaos. Perhaps a lawsuit or two might persuade these toilets-for-brains to STFU.
Incidentally, I didn't see this on HuffPo, but apparently Coulter was invited to speak at Furman University by the conservative student group last week. The only place on campus where she could have an autograph session was the ladies' loo! Totally appropriate!!

[GaryWolf]

Ann Coulter - "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee" - Jan. 26, 2006

Since Faux News and their ilk seem all to eager to taint Sen. Obama through guilt by association and comments taken out of context, it's high time somebody confront Sean Hannity and his ilk. By their own logic, their close friendship with Coulter can only mean that they themselves must favor poisoning Supreme Court Justices who they disagree with. (Ironically, Stevens was appointed by a Republican! )

I wanna see them throw Ann Coulter under the bus! Under the bus! Under the bus!

These people are seriously deranged!

[GaryWolf]

And how could I forget her more recent statement?...

"If I’m going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot." - Ann Coulter, June 25, 2007

Who's calling who a terrorist?

[mlaiuppa]

If Obama becomes President and Coulter continues....at what point can she be arrested?

[zizyphus]

Coulter always reminds me of The Exorcist, that poor, vomit spewing girl...oh, that explains it. Possessed. Someone get her a priest.

[Sandmann]

This woman makes absolutely zero positive contributions to the United States (or this planet for that matter). It is (snarkily) probable she is a product of a CIA MK-ULTRA type failed experiment. If you have to wonder what Hitler would really look like as the POTUS, just marker in a moustache on her upper lip.

Thankfully her main goal is to sell books, in this case I'm thankful that greed outweighs ambition.

[08timefortruth]

Please God, help this poor woman, I think the poison that comes out of her mouth spread to her brain and is eating her alive. Any day I expect her tongue to rot off from all the filth that comes out of her mouth.