Thursday, April 21, 2005
Micro Cloud-Coulter update: From the Time magazine cover story: (emp add) Eight months later, Coulter's relationship with MSNBC ended permanently after she tangled with a disabled Vietnam veteran on the air. Robert Muller, co-founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, asserted that "in 90% of the cases that U.S. soldiers got blown up [in Vietnam] Ann, are you listening? -- they were our own mines." (Muller was misquoting a 1969 Pentagon report that found that 90% of the components used in enemy mines came from U.S. duds and refuse.)
Coulter, who found Muller's statement laughable, averted her eyes and responded sarcastically: "No wonder you guys lost." It became an infamous and oft-misreported Coulter moment. The Washington Post and others turned the line into a more personal attack: "People like you caused us to lose that war." The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz: (blockquote) One personal quibble. In 1997, as an MSBNC commentator, Coulter was debating a disabled Vietnam veteran. She says she told him, "No wonder you guys lost." This, says Time, was "oft-misreported" by the likes of The Washington Post, which turned the line into a more personal attack: "People like you caused us to lose that war."
I can now reveal my source for that quote. It was: Ann Coulter, recounting the incident in explaining why MSNBC dropped her. I did note that, according to Coulter, the vet was appearing by satellite and she didn't know he was disabled.
posted by Quiddity at 4/21/2005 11:20:00 AM
3 comments
Yeah, if only she had know he was disabled, she NEVER would have libeled all Vietnam vets.
If there is any justice in the world, Cloud's career as a "journalist" is over. Unfortunately, the more likely outcome is that he will be elevated to editor and associate publisher. Such is the way of the world today: Win a Pulitzer and get let go, write an error-riddled cover story filled with demonstrably false statements and get promoted.
The most absurd thing about this to me is, how big a difference is there really in the connotations of these two possible comments? Cloud acts as if there is a huge difference. Someone explain it to me.
Secondly, did Cloud actually see the tape? How else does he justify the statement "She averted her eyes and remarked sarcastically...." And what is the point of telling us she averted her eyes? It almost seems to imply that she did know the vet was disabled as otherwise, from what did she avert her eyes? But she told Howie that the man wasn't in the studio and she didn't know he was disabled. I would like to see this question put to Cloud directly.
For shag, I would have thought with a name like that you wouldn't besmirch the name of Tonto, and know she had her way with Silver.
Oh yeah, and I would have thought it would have helped to sell magazines if he had asked her outright about her gender and any possible gender changes over her lifetime.
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