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Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter

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Ann Coulter is a star attraction in what Mark Halperin and John F. Harris describe in their new book, "The Way to Win," as the "Freak Show." Her methods are innuendo, personal attack, misrepresentation and sloganism. Joe Maguire is not the first to take her on; reviewers have for years pointed out that her so-called "facts" are lies, her arguments illogical and her conclusions preposterous. The thing is, Ann and her audience discount criticism as easily as they do the truth. And why should this be surprising? Does anyone think that people who argue, and apparently believe, that the theory of evolution is a left-wing conspiracy are interested in reality? While it's satisfying to see Ann kicked around (she deserves it) and, hopefully, Maguire and his book will get air time, the truth is that other than, perhaps, Fox News producers and Ann's publishers, who profit from her antics, no one who is not brainless takes Ann seriously anyway -- she is a freak, and so are the members of her fan club. Therefore, this book won't change anyone's mind. Nonetheless, in systematically taking Coulter apart, Maguire does a public service. Reality needs to be recorded, particularly in the era of the Freak Show.

about time there were some books about ann coulter...the way she runs her mouth and that god-awful adam's apple spewing hateful comments...it's nice to see her get slapped for a changed!!! when is joe maguire gonna do the talk show circuit to promote this book?

Since political alliances affect one's view of this book, perhaps I should state that one of my friends once described me as a "conservative anarchist", and all my other friends thought that was very apt.

I applaud Maguire for his desire to denounce ad hominem attacks in place of substantive arguments and mindless partisanship instead of real consideration of the issues. One of the few criticisms that I have for the book is that he didn't adhere more firmly to that worthy goal and occasionally drifted into sounding partisan. At the end of the book he mentions that we should also avoid Coulter's equivalents on the left. Would he had thought of that at the beginning: he sometimes overtly or covertly makes it clear that he objects not only to Coulter's tactics, but her political allegiances, which muddies his point. If I seem a bit stringent, it is because I support his call for careful, reasoned discourse. I have ignored Al Franken ever since reading Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot. The "idiot" part of the book was interesting, the "fat" part was embarrassing to read.

One might object that Maguire is making ad hominem attacks at times, but I accept it in this case since he is generally mirroring Coulter. One hopes that the person who thought Coulter was funny when making vicious, irrelevant personal remarks will see the matter differently when she is subjected to similar statements.

[Added later: Maguire made a point of mentioning that Coulter has been engaged several times, although never married. I recently saw a video of someone else asking Coulter if that didn't violate "the sanctity of marraige." It was a weak point to begin with, and I hope that this silliness will not continue. I don't find it any more apropos to the issue than questions about gay marriage.]

For most of the book, Maguire carefully documents Coulter's errors, meanness, and hypocrisy. It's a pretty damning expose.

I do have a few cavils. The alternate title to one of the chapters; "Under a series of men is not the only place she lies", isn't the most tasteful bit, and does make me wonder if Maguire, et al., are consistent in their standards when they more or less suggest that Coulter is a tramp. If he wants to make an issue of Coulter's apparent hypocrisy about sex, I applaud him. On the other hand, if he is going to make MORAL judgements about her sex life, I have to ask if he, and the people he quotes, apply the same standards to everyone. The sexual hypocrisy of conservatives like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggert are well know. It seems to me that liberals, on the hand, often have a sudden attack of puritanism when it comes to their opponents, condemning conduct that they consider acceptable in their friends. It is fine to attack hypocrisy, it is fine to attack stupidity, but double standards are not acceptable.

A small correction, since this seems to be a point of confusion. One will find scientists saying the evolution is a fact. The Neo-Darwinian Synthesis (NDS), AKA modern Darwinism, is ONE theory of evolution, and not even the first, although the current favorite. For most intents and purposes, NDS, Darwinism and evolution are used interchangeably, but they are in fact different. Some scientists will argue that evolution is proven, and that it is the mechanism, as provided in the NDS, that is theoretical.

I have read very little of Coulter, finding her work viciously absurd and absurdly vicious; one consequence of reading this is that I have paid more attention to her writings and videos. The more I see, the more I think that Maguire is dead on.

I have been recommending this to almost everyone I know, and having read the library's copy intend to buy my own. I shall hope that this is a step towards making reasoned discourse fashionable.

As a rule, I don't buy books that I call "chop jobs" -- where an author attacks another, even if it is someone with whom I disagree a lot -- like Ann Coulter.

However, I made an exception in this case. I was reluctant to do so, but to be honest, I was curious to know what Maguire would say. When I read works by authors like Ann Coulter, I get so emotionally hung up in the nasty writing and outrageous statements that to be honest, it's hard to be objective.

I'm a centrist who is probably more conservative than liberal, but I have been appalled by the way conservatives in general have been behaving. I'm tired of the demonizing of certain groups. AS a woman, I'm tired of having my voting rights attacked. I'm sick of the uncivility, name calling and the insults and sarcasm thinly disguised under the "goo" of a "good sense of humor." And I am thoroughly sick of someone who wears skimpy dresses and miniskirts accuse other women of "exhibitionism."

I won't re-hash the book here. I agreed with a great deal of what Maguire said, although he's not above doing some name calling himself. But I think this expose is helpful, and it's worth reading, even if I am basically opposed to let's-cut-em-up writing. Ann Coulter deserved what she got in this book.

I think it's time for political and social pundits and "talking heads" to grow up and start dealing with issues rather than insulting and demonizing those who don't agree with us. Name calling may be more fun, but discussion and dialogue do more good, even though it requires more intellectual work.

And that's something both conservatives AND liberals need to know.

I challenge any conservative, any conservative at all, to do the following: Read a list of quotes from Jesus, and then read a list of quotes from Ann Coulter, back to back, and then explain to the world why Ann Coulter has any right whatsoever to call other people GODLESS.

This book is here for all the sane, rational people in the world who see Ann Coulter for what she is: A violent, GODLESS, infantile hate-monger.

Well done.

An earlier review of this book reads "Notice that this rag has 11 reviews, whereas Ann's actual book has over 1800." That's the same one sidedness that Ann has tried to promote throughout her career- she's popular so she must be right. Maguire rips Coulter and her arguments to shreds, showing time and time again where she lambasts the liberal perspective for doing one thing and then defends the conservatives for doing the same thing. (See the chapter "Ann Has it Both Ways") He shows how out of touch Ann is with the common man: Unlike Michael Moore, who is criticized for criticizing the upper class while he has gone on to become a wealthy man, Ann was BORN INTO wealth and privelage rather than Moore who was BORN INTO the working class life of Flint, Michigan. Maguire debunks Coulter over and over again, revealing her to be the arrogant, racist, lying, hateful, vicious, and heartless person that she is. If you thought that maybe her comments about the "Jersey Girls" were insensitve or, more appropriately, sickening, then you should see what she said about Princess Diana shortly after the woman's death. Realizing that Ann Coulter is a vile and horrible person does not make you unpatriotic, it does not make you a terrorist sympathizer, and it does not make you a sissy. It makes you a thinking person who can see the obvious.

I've been fed up with Ann Coulter and her boorish, ignorant divisive ways for a long time, so it was with great pleasure and amusement I read J Maguire's book, pretty much in one sitting. Fan's of Ann need not bother, for they will be infuriated. Enemies of same may get gleeful pleasure.

In any case, if you really feel the need to read this, make sure you are not on Ann's good side.

I almost passed on buying this as Coulter is such an easy target, I couldn't imagine a book debunking her already-debunked garbage would be worth the time. So glad I didn't miss it. Joe hilarliously takes her weak arguments, poor research and mind-numbing hypocrisy apart page after page with redoubtable aplomb. Well-written, researched and unflinchingly honest about the Neocon Queen Bee.

Good work, Joe. Too bad the damn "liberal media" fired you over writing this.

And in the defense of truth, I'll admit I am getting this book, but haven't yet read it -but obviously neither have the other two knee-jerk repug-nicans who wrote pseudo-reviews. Having followed the career of Ann Coulter and being a reasonably intelligent person who actually spends time researching the supposed "news" of the day so I can learn what is really going on, it has been clear for a long time that Coulter is a liar and worse. A book which points out the damaging nature of her lies and malicious diatribes against any group of people who do do not think like her is bound to have hoards of detractors. It's hard to face reality sometimes. I, for one, am looking forward to this book of actual journalism that reveals the dangers of the radical republican agenda, and the lack of ethics or legitimate analysis that characterizes Coulter and her ilk.

Here are some of the things Ann Coulter has said:

"I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo."

"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building."

"They Shot the Wrong Lincoln"(referring to senator Lincoln Chafee).

Rep. John P. Murtha is "the reason soldiers invented fragging" (military slang meaning the intentional killing of a member of one's own unit).

It doesn't take much objectivity (or brains) to conclude that Ann Coulter is a raving lunatic and a hypocrite: one of those self-proclaimed "pro-lifers" who think that, by the way, millions of people should be killed--simply because they disagree with her.

While I defend Coulter's right to spew hatred and nonsense, I think she deserves nothing better than being ignored, just like Holocaust deniers.

Having said that, I can't blame Maguire for taking all of Coulter's idiotic statements and her lies, and contrasting them with the facts. Of course, once he does that, you see Coulter for what she is: an intolerant, hating, lying woman whose "arguments" melt once exposed to the truth. But hey, there are people who still believe the Holocaust didn't happen, so it's not surprising that regardless of the evidence, there are people who think Coulter is accurate and truthful. But you can't blame Maguire for proving otherwise.

PS: Oh, and will someone please tell her than only prostitutes wear little black dresses to Central Park during the day?