Coulter stands by ‘harpies’ comment
NEW YORK – Fresh from slamming a group of Sept. 11 widows as “witches and harpies,” Ann Coulter turned her attention to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Wednesday after the senator challenged the conservative writer’s comments.
Clinton led a parade of outraged politicians from both parties who said Coulter’s book “Godless: The Church of Liberalism,” went beyond the pale by painting four Sept. 11 widows known as “the Jersey Girls” as self-obsessed opportunists.
“I find it unimaginable that anyone in the public eye could launch a vicious and mean-spirited attack on people whom I’ve known for the last 4 1/2 years to be deeply concerned about the safety and security of our country,” Clinton said in Washington. “Perhaps her book should have been called ‘Heartless.’ “
During a radio appearance on Long Island, Coulter countered that Clinton was attacking her “for being mean to women. This is, I remind you, Bill Clinton’s wife.
“If she’s worried about people being mean to women, she should talk to her own husband.”
Coulter, the hard-right pundit known for her above-the-knee hemlines and below-the-belt punchlines, wrote that “the Jersey Girls” love being Sept. 11 widows because it made them rich, gave them national attention and let them criticize President Bush without fear of reprisal.
“How do we know their husbands weren’t planning to divorce these harpies?” Coulter writes. “I’ve never seen people enjoying their husbands’ deaths so much.”
Gov. George Pataki said Wednesday that Coulter was “far worse than insensitive. … I have spoken with many, many grieving family members, and the hurt is real. The pain is real.”
Coulter’s criticism was aimed at four New Jersey women who have spent the years since the 2001 terror attacks supporting an independent commission to examine government failures before the attack, and in the 2004 presidential campaign they endorsed Democrat John Kerry.
The women are Kristen Breitweiser, Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg and Patty Casazza.
The women, who are still pushing for changes in how the government guards against future attacks, issued a joint statement after Coulter’s television appearance Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show.
“We have been slandered. Contrary to Ms. Coulter’s statements, there was no joy in watching men that we loved burn alive. There was no happiness in telling our children that their fathers were never coming home again. We adored these men and miss them every day,” the women said.
But an unrepentant Coulter didn’t back down – instead using her appearances to lash out again at the widows.
“The 9/11 widows are witches and harpies,” Coulter said, refusing to apologize for the scathing comments in her new book. “You can’t argue with them. You just have to listen.”