My War Against Ann Coulter
How someone who spews such hateful vitriol and who revises history at the drop of a hat can, a) be so popular and b) get away with it so much, I haven't a clue. But somehow, our Ann muddles through, topping the NYTimes best seller list (with her latest, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)) and continually getting gigs on FoxNews. (Well, I guess the latter is very explainable, since their bar is set so low for Right Wing propagandists/apologists).

But this week, there are some, well, cracks in the facade that is our Ann. First, this QuickTime video of Ann being interviewed by the CBC (that's the Canadian Broadcasting Company), sticking to her guns that Canada sent troops to Vietnam. It's too bad she came up against a Canadian who has a bit more of an historical footing about Canada's involvement in 20th century wars. Too bad for her, but utterly entertaining for us.

Second is delightful video (in both QuickTime and Windows Media; via Crooks and Liars) of Ann up to her usual shenanigans on the Hannity and Tool show, where she first denounced the Democrats as "a party that supports killing, lying, adultery, thievery, envy," then went on to call Tool (um, I mean Colmes) a liar. That didn't sit too well with Colmes (formerly Tool; could be again), who managed to find his backbone for once.

Colmes asks for her condemnation of a quote from a Republican who likened Dean to an Al Qaeda brand terrorist.

Coulter, after initially dodging the question altogether, in pure wing nut fashion responds, "I refuse to respond to your characterization of the facts because you lie." (Nevermind that it's a FRIGGIN' QUOTE!!)

- DEAD SILENCE -

Furious, Colmes cranes his head in a fashion I've never seen and asks, "ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR?"

Coulter: (quivering laughter) Come on, you can't be serious.

Colmes: (Stares intently, looking DEAD serious)

Media Matters also reports that our Ann was back to her vile, race-baiting shenanigans with her most recent column:

Universal Press Syndicate (UPS), which syndicates right-wing pundit Ann Coulter's weekly column, did not distribute a version of her February 24 column that referred to Hearst Newspapers columnist Helen Thomas as "that old Arab Helen Thomas." Instead, UPS sent out an edited version of the column to its clients, which referred to Thomas instead as "that dyspeptic, old Helen Thomas." But the version posted on Coulter's personal website, which includes the race-based attack, is nevertheless marked: "Copyright 2005 Universal Press Syndicate." Thomas is of Lebanese descent.

In a non-Ann related story, Robert Novak (whom John Stewart refers to as "Douchebag of Liberty") is playing fast and loose with facts and figures this week. Not content to rest on his laurels for outing a covert CIA operative (former Iraq ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame), he's taken to misrepresenting a Howard Dean quote about Social Security. Dean's quote, as reported by the Cornell Daily Sun, was "if Social Security were left alone for 30 years, benefits would be reduced to 80 percent of what it is now." Which is the correct assumption about what will happen when the Social Security trust fund becomes insolvent--there will still be payouts to Social Security beneficiaries, but at a reduced rate, because of monies that continue to be collected. But here's Novak's take on the quote, which he used on CNN twice (via Media Matters)

NOVAK: The Democratic line that this isn't a problem -- Howard Dean gave a speech at Cornell on Thursday of this week in which he said that 80 percent -- over the years, 80 percent of the Social Security benefits will be lost. There is a problem. So, Howard sometimes tells the truth. He doesn't get the exact line.

How do these people get away with this shit? Well, they don't always, thank goodness. CNN's Judy Woodruff made good:

WOODRUFF: CNN's Robert Novak reported an item about Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean. He said that when Dean spoke to students at Cornell University last week, Dean remarked that in 30 years, Social Security would lose 80 percent of its benefits. Bob Novak misquoted Governor Dean, it turns out. Bob tells us that he intended to report that Governor Dean said that in 30 years, if nothing changed, Social Security would be reduced to 80 percent of its current benefits. We apologize for the mistake and are happy to set the record straight.