Cannibal Woman in the Avocado Jungle… of Lies*

Last week, in those halcyon days before 6/30 Changed Everything, I took Ann Coulter's side in a partisan pissing match. My bad.

Basically, Coulter refused to walk back her "faggot" insult of John Edwards in an interview with Chris Cuomo. One of her reasons was that "about the same time [as my joke] Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished [Vice President] Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack."

I figured it was fair for Coulter to say that and unfair for Elizabeth Edwards to Dowdify her quote and attack her with it. But Maher never wished upon a star and crescent and never said Cheney should die. Here's the transcript of the show, where Maher clearly 1)defends a dude in a blog comment thread who said that without endorsing the comment and 2)proposes that if Dick Cheney wasn't in office, or was dead, fewer people would die. Here's how he defended the commenter:

MAHER: What about the people who got onto the HuffingtonPost - and these weren't even the bloggers, these were just the "comments" section - who said they - they expressed regret that the attack on Dick Cheney failed. [laughter]

…

FRANK: [overlapping] They said the bomb was - they said the bomb was wasted. [laughter] [applause]

MAHER: All right, but, seriously, if this isn't China, shouldn't you be able to say that? Why did Arianna have to - my girlfriend, I love her - but why did she take that off right away?

Here's when Maher talks about Cheney:

MAHER: [overlapping] But I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldn't be dying needlessly tomorrow. [applause]

RIDLEY: Okay, but-[voices overlap under applause]

SCARBOROUGH: But, let's talk - let's talk about your show for a second, very quickly. If somebody on this panel said they wished that Dick Cheney had been blown up, and you didn't say-

FRANK: I think he did. [laughter]

SCARBOROUGH: Okay, did you say--?

MAHER: No. No, I quoted that.

FRANK: You don't? Oh, you don't believe that?

MAHER: No, I'm just saying that if he did die-

SCARBOROUGH: [laughter] Okay, but if - oh, let's just say-

MAHER: [overlapping]-other people - more people would live. That's a fact.

So Maher, as is his shtick, played devil's advocate to heat up a discussion, and Coulter twists his words to cover her own ass. Classy, especially since Maher regularly defends Coulter from blow-ups like this and invites her own his show.

*I can't believe I originally got the title wrong. 

Comments

[JasonC]

I, for one, am shocked that Ann Coulter would act in such an egregious manner. That said, I am also mentally retarded.

[Taktix?]

...Maher never wished upon a star and crescent...

I made a sound that was simultaneously a laugh and a groan at this one.

I will now call such a sound a "Weigel."

[Swede]

I don't really follow the personal lives of media people and don't really care and am pretty stupid to top it all off, but did Maher indicate in that conversation that Arianna Huffington is his girlfriend? I'm just curious.

[David Weigel]

I will now call such a sound a "Weigel."

I always thought that was called a "Kaufman."

[Taktix?]

Touche...

[parse]

Swede, if you heard the tone of voice Maher used when he made the remark, it would be clear that he didn't mean that Huffington is literally his girlfriend.

[TLB]

He didn't necessarily "wish" it, but he did say that "more people would live" if Cheney had died.

did Maher indicate in that conversation that Arianna Huffington is his girlfriend?

I think he meant it in the "you go, girlfriend!" sense, such as Oprah would say. Everyone knows Arianna is saving herself for me.

[yeah]

Ariana is Bill's girlfriend the way Courtney Cox is Jennifer Aniston's.

[ed]

I don't really follow the personal lives of media people and don't really care

I'm against the arbitrary awarding of victories to alleged thread-winners,
but that remark "wins" the thread. Bravo!

[Marcvs]

Weigel, I always thought the words "I took Ann Coulter's side" would cause someone cough of blood. Did it?

[Minuteman]

wacko-
don't you know arianna's a furriner? why should it matter if she's saving herself for you?

[GILMORE]

Wait... im confused.

Is it still OK to call politicians "faggots" or not?

[JasonC]

Lonewacko only types LikeThis when he is writing about immigration. Weird. Perhaps it's a Jekyll and Hyde thing?

[Reinmoose]

I saw this movie in my youth and the images have always stuck in my head. It was glorious, and I have since not been able to find it to rent. 🙁

[ChicagoTom]

He didn't necessarily "wish" it, but he did say that "more people would live" if Cheney had died.

So?
Unless you are trying to wrongfully equate wishing for something to happen with stating the consequences if something were to happen.

On a side note, one of my favorite (and simultaneously sickening) moments was when Maher had Cokie Roberts and Bob Barr (or Rep. Kay Granger -- but I am pretty sure it was Barr) and started railing about Corn subsidies and how they cause over-production of corn and pushes the demand of HFCS, and Cokie and Barr (or Granger, but again I am pretty sure it was Barr in studio that night) basically stopped and said something to the effect of :

"You're not going to get me to say anything bad about corn. Corn is great. I love corn. We should support the corn farmers. I have no problems with corn. It's as american as apple pie"

It was a moment that made me just shake my head in disbelief. Afraid to even talk about corn subsidies honestly.

[ChicagoTom]

Is it still OK to call politicians "faggots" or not?

Only if you hate gays. I mean seriously, what homosexual would want to be equated with politicians? Calling a politician a faggot is an affront to homosexuals everywhere

[JasonC]

You got a problem with corn, ChicagoTom? It's fuckin' delicious!!!!

[Warren]

Classy, especially since Maher regularly

Oh no you Dih'n. Oh ouch. Oh that stings. Oh that's going to leave a mark. Oh David, have you no shame? Did you give no thought to how hurt Ann will be at being characterized as "Classy" sarcastically?

[Vanessa]

"You're not going to get me to say anything bad about corn. Corn is great. I love corn. We should support the corn farmers. I have no problems with corn. It's as american as apple pie"

Hey, I wonder if this would fit on a baby doll tee. I see marketing potential.

[ChicagoTom]

You got a problem with corn, ChicagoTom? It's fuckin' delicious!!!!

Yes, yes I do. I don't trust anything that can come out in the exact same state as it goes into my digestive system

[ChicagoTom]

FYI : I can't find any video of it, but the corn comments were from the August 6, 2004 episode if Real Time

[crimethink]

Corn subsidies are the third rail of American politics.

Actually, a better way of putting it would be that third rails are the corn subsidies of mass transit.

[crimethink]

Yes, yes I do. I don't trust anything that can come out in the exact same state as it goes into my digestive system

If that's true, you should have no problem eating it again after it comes out, right?

[Anthony]

You should be able to say whatever you want. Shit Fuck Dike Mick NIgger Cracker Faggot Breeder Bitch Spic Chink Dego Guinea Asshole Kike Kraut Honkey Cunt

[the innominate one]

Anthony:

you can say whatever you want without legal ramifications, but there may be social ramifications, such as ostracism

[ChrisO]

If people stopped talking about Coulter and Maher, would they continue to exist?

[jkp]

David,

Your mistake was assuming Ann Coulter checked her facts. On what basis could you possibly have made that assumption??!?

[CFisher]

Is it still OK to call politicians "faggots" or not?

Only in the archaic sense of the word: that is, if you plan on tying a bunch of politicians together and use them for kindling.

(Otherwise, if you're using the modern sense of the word, see ChicagoTom's comment.)

[Bazil]

We should ban Stars and Crscents from being depicted less then 30 yards from each other. Otherwise accidental wishing on it may occur but upstanding G-d fearing citizens who'll become preverts and their bodily fluids contaminated.

[Anthony]

the innominate one,
You ostracize yourself when you let others get under your skin.

[Warren]

BTW David,
The title is "Cannibal Woman in the Avocado Jungle of Death". Would have worked a little better I think, unless you work a book plug into the post.

[jerry]

Sad that a libertarian refers to standing up for free speech as "schtick."

[Franklin Harris]

*I can't believe I originally got the title wrong.

It's a terrible movie, anyway. Who makes a z-grade jiggle movie starring Shannon Tweed and doesn't even have her take her top off?

Speaking of Mrs. Gene Simmons, I seem to recall some Skinemax thriller of hers in which she was clutching a copy of Reason during one scene. "Sexual Response," I think it was, but those Skinemax movies all run together after a while.

[just another lurker]

Wow, another piece from Weigel about Ann Coulter. **yawn**

Anyway, I can't remember exactly where I heard it, but I understand that Bill Maher and Ann Coulter are actually friends. You know, in the off-the-set, have-dinner-together sense. Someone can correct or confirm me on this.

So it doesn't surprise me at all that he has her on his show periodically. Or that maybe they both understand that their political stances are a shtick that they can play up a bit to get a little controversy (= publicity) going.

[Isaac Bartram]

...Bill Maher and Ann Coulter are actually friends. You know, in the off-the-set, have-dinner-together sense.

Yeah, and they probably laugh about how many rubes they get pissed off between the two of them.

[t. j.]

bill maher says some obnoxious things sometimes and i don't agree with him on some issues (other then social issues) but you guys can't really lump him in with coulter. she's on a whole other level of b. s. petty partison controversy. i haven't seen maher get mainstream press attention for something he said since his move to hbo. coulter has a big overinflated "controversy" in the news at least once a year. i saw her on the tonight show a while back when her last stupid book came out and all i can say is i wish i thought as highly of myself.
i don't even think she comes off as all that conservative(socially) really. i never really buy it with her. i believe someone like dr. laura or whoever believes what they're saying. coulter's schtick (and it is schtick) is more being anti-liberal then sticking up for conservative positions. she'll defend the christian right and any of it's figure heads but i think she'd probably be more comfortable having dinner with bill maher then pat robertson. all the things she says are such cartoonish. ("i would never sleep with a liberal" etc) anyway, she basically just lives to say insulting things about liberals/democrats and it's very boring.

[Dave]

So in other words, Maher isn't sayin'. He's just sayin' that other people are sayin' and that those other people are right.

Ok. Major difference.

[t. j.]

i think he didn't make himself clear. he was defending that bloggers right to say that but i don't think he was saying cheney should die either just that if he wasn't around (like if that administration hadn't been elected twice) less people would be dying. it would stupid to say if cheney died, lives would saved. the bush administration would still be in power and it wouldn't likely change foreign policy just cause they lost their vice president.

[Johnny]

What's the difference between defending or agreeing with Coulter and defending and agreeing with say...Castro?

To small a difference to matter. Welcome the the wacky world of the small minds.

Dave, you rank up there with such brilliant luminaries like Cindy Sheehan and Sean Penn.

[TMW]

According to the Wikipedia page on Ann Coulter, she and Maher actually dated. Wikipedia may be telling lies, though.

[t. j.]

maher likes to make jokes about it from time to time on his show. coulter seems like she lives a single new york life style like the samantha character on sex and the city then goes on tv and pretends to have "church lady" values.

[Walter E. Wallis]

Or perhaps Colter does not need to broadcast her sex life. The term faggot refers to a type of behavior, not necessarily a sexual disfunction. Maher says some dumb things that are not real funny.