Elizabeth Edwards, wife if presidential candidate John Edwards, called in to MSNBC while Ann Coutler was being interviewd by Chris Matthews, and she politely asked Coulter to stop using personal attacks (you know, like when Ann called John Edwards a 'fag'.....stuff like that). While a noble endeavor, it's similar to asking a crackhead not to smoke crack - it's probably not going to happen.
If there was any doubt that Ann Coulter was a vile, hateful woman (some may speculate on my use of the word "woman" as the adam's apple has already been mentioned), it should disappear. Notice, in the transcript below, the hatred and lies that spew forth from Coulter. Just to be clear, "M" is for Matthews, "E" is for Edwards and "C" could be a four-letter word, but we'll stick with 'Coulter' to keep it somewhat nice:
M: You know who’s on the line? Someone to respond to what you said about
Edwards yesterday morning. Elizabeth Edwards. She wanted to call in today, we
said she could. Elizabeth Edwards, go on the line. You’re on the line with Ann
Coulter.
E: Hello Chris.
M: Do you want to say something directly to the person who’s with me?
E: I’m calling — you know, in the south, when someone does something
that displeases us, we want to ask them politely to stop doing it. I would like
to ask Ann Coulter to — if she wants to debate on issues, on positions — we
certainly disagree with nearly everything she said on your show today — but it
is quite another matter for these personal attacks. The things that she has said
over the years, not just about John but about other candidates, lowers our
political dialogue precisely at the time that we need to raise it. So I want to
use the opportunity, which I don’t get much because Ann and I don’t hang out
with the same people…
C: I don’t have enough money.
E: …to ask her politely stop the personal attacks.
C: Okay, so I made a joke, let’s see, six months ago, and as you point
out, they have been raising money off of it for six months since then.
M: But this is yesterday morning, what you said about him.
C: I didn’t say anything about him, actually, either time.
E: But that — Ann, Ann, you know that’s not true, and once more, this
has been going on for some time.
C: And I don’t mind you trying to raise money. It’s better this than
giving $50,000 speeches to the poor just to use my name on the webpages. But as
for a debate with me, yeah, sure. Yeah, we’ll have a debate.
E: I’m asking you politely to stop, to stop personal attacks –
C: How about you stop raising money on your web page then? No, you
don’t have to because I don’t mind.
E: I did not start with that. You had a column a number of years ago
where you suggested — wait till I finish talking please…
C: Okay, the wife of a presidential candidate is calling in asking me
to stop speaking.
M: Let her finish the point. Let her finish the point.
C: You’re asking me to stop speaking? “Stop writing your columns. Stop
writing your books.”
M: Ann, please.
E: You had a column several years ago which made fun of the moment of
Charlie Dean’s death and suggested that my husband had a bumper sticker on the
back of his car saying, “Ask me about my dead son.” This is not legitimate
political dialogue.
C: This is now three years ago.
E: It debases political dialogue. It drives people away from the
process. We can’t have a debate about the issues.
C: Yeah, why isn’t John Edwards making this call?
M: Well, do you want to respond? We’ll end the conversation.
E: I haven’t talked to John about this call. I’m making the call as a
mother. I’m the mother of that boy who died. My children participate — these
young people behind you are the age of my children. You’re asking them to
participate in a dialogue that is based on hatefulness and ugliness instead of
on the issues, and I don’t think that’s serving them or this country very well.
[Applause]
M: Thank you very much Elizabeth. You wanna respond? You have all the
time in the world to respond.
C: I think we heard all we need to hear. The wife of a presidential
candidate is asking me to stop speaking. No.
M: No, she asked you to stop being so negative to people
individually.
C: Right, as opposed to bankrupting doctors by giving a schyster Las
Vegas routine in front of juries based on science — wait, you said I’d have as
long as I would have, then you instantly interrupt me.
M: Go ahead, go ahead.
C: As I was saying, doing these psychic routines in front of illiterate
juries to bankrupt doctors who now can’t deliver babies, and to charge a poverty
group $50,000 for a speech. Don’t talk to me about how to use language.
M: Elizabeth?
E: …the language of hate, and I’m going to ask you again to politely
stop using personal attacks as part of your dialogue.
C: Okay, I’ll stop writing books.
E: If you can’t write them without them, that is fine.
M: Why do you call out Hillary’s chubby legs in your book? Why do you —
this may fall under the category of personal attacks, I don’t know, but why do
you do that? Why do you talkabout Monica Lewinsky’s chubbiness? If she were
skinny, would it have been okay?
C: Um, I don’t know, read the sentence.
E: I read the whole sentence. I couldn’t feel the context.
C: Well you have to give it to me and I could explain.
E: Why do you make fun of Hillary’s chubby legs?
C: I don’t know, you’re going to have to give me the sentence.
M: It’s in the afterword of your book, I just read it this morning.
C: Then read the sentence.
M: We’ll be back and read the entire sentence. We’ll come right back. I
don’t know why we’re reading — the full intellectual context will be coming in
just a moment.
Think Progress has the above transcript and a video of the exchange.
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