Friday Night Fights: Ann Coulter Takes on Norah O'Donnell
NEWSBUSTERS
Posted by Noel Sheppard on July 16, 2006 - 15:00.
It wasn't the barnburner it could have been, but there was a wonderful mini-flyweight boxing match Friday night on MSNBC's "Hardball." In the left corner, weighing 105 pounds, Norah O'Donnell. In the right corner, weighing 100 pounds, Ann Coulter (video to follow).
The crowd got a sense before the opening bell that O'Donnell was ready for a donnybrook when prior to Coulter even stepping foot out of her dressing room, O'Donnell referred to her opponent as a "conservative provocateur." The first actual fisticuffs though came early in round one with O'Donnell jabbing at Coulter over the recent hostilities in Israel and Lebanon being the fault of the Bush administration:
The last time Condi Rice was in the region was in November. President Bush today spoke on the phone with Arab leaders, but not the Israeli prime minister. Is this administration doing enough?
Coulter parried: "They took two Israeli soldiers and you have peace through strength, generally the liberal idea is to be nice to your enemies, punish your friends. No, I think you should punish your enemies and be nice to your friends."
O'Donnell responded with a nice right-left combination: "And even Dennis Ross, who I know you know, says that disengagement by this administration is in part the reason that`s brought us to this. Has the U.S. ignored, and this president ignored the problems festering for a while there?"
Coulter took these punches without flinching:
It`s not like they were gentle little lambs before Bush went into Iraq. It`s not like we needed to -- everything was peaceful, and don`t upset that apple cart. This has been a problem for a long time, and we do support Israel.
End of round one, with one official giving it to O'Donnell, while the referee and the second official scored it in favor of Coulter.
In round two, as if she knew she had not performed well in the opener, O'Donnell came out swinging:
The Democrats have a new Web video in which Republicans say they are outraged by, this new Democratic ad on the Internet, which they were using for a fundraiser. They have since taken that fundraising out. It shows flag-draped coffins of the U.S. The Democrats say this is legitimate, to show that men and women are coming home in this way. What`s wrong with that?
Coulter responded with a strong upper-cut to the jaw:
I think it`s about one step above what the terrorists do, showing the bodies hanging when they`re dead. I mean, there`s no reason to be exploiting the deaths like this. If they want to run the numbers, that`s fine, but I think there`s a lot more to say about this ad. I mean, that I think is somewhat serious on the more comical areas. You know, they keep talking about a new direction and then all we see is pictures of Bill Clinton.
O'Donnell seemed shaken by this combination, but quickly countered: "Well the president used, in fact, a flag-draped coffin and we have video of that in the 2004 campaign, which was right after the 9/11 attack, so that is equally as egregious."
Coulter now looked a bit rattled, and wildly missed her target with a couple of flailing hooks: "I haven`t seen it, so I can`t really comment, but I`ve seen the Democrat ad and I don`t like it."
Round two ended with O'Donnell appearing to have evened things, with both officials giving it to her, and the ref calling it a draw. Feeling this change of momentum, O'Donnell again came out swinging in round three: "Are the Republicans headed for complete disaster in November?"
Coulter seemed unable to counter this attack: "This should be the Democrats big year."
However, O'Donnell misjudged the strength of her attack, and poorly ended the round with a clearly false conclusion: "All right, you heard it here first, Ann Coulter predicting the Democrats are going to retake Congress."
Although it didn't come until several rounds later – with rounds four and five being somewhat even – Coulter couldn't let this mistake by her opponent go without retaliation. In round six, Coulter moved in for the kill:
Oh, and by the way, if I could just mention on the prediction thing -- and this is relevant to my answer here. I did not technically make a prediction, Norah. I don`t make predictions about how people will vote, because you never get credit when you`re right and they always remember when you`re wrong. I`m just saying in the grand sweep of history, this ought to be the Democrats here, but I`m not like Michael Barone. I haven`t gone to each district, I don`t know how the elections are going.
That clearly hurt O'Donnell, with the knockout blow coming moments later when O'Donnell jabbed Coulter over the now notorious part of her "Godless" book concerning the Jersey Girls. Here is the decisive and exciting exchange between the fighters:
O`DONNELL: But Ann, you admit that it was cruel, and you don`t want to be cruel.
COULTER: No, I don`t. No, I don`t at all. I don`t think it`s at all cruel. I think it`s cruel to be...
O`DONNELL: ... Do you ever admit you`re wrong?
COULTER: Yes, when I`m wrong, I admit I`m wrong. I think it`s cruel to be foisting a 9/11 commission on the nation, making terrorist attacks more likely by turning into a Clinton whitewash committee.
I think it`s cruel to be endorsing John Kerry for president in the middle of a war on terrorism, the guy who voted for funding for troops before voting against it. I think it`s cruel to be going around claiming the president of the United States is responsible for these women`s husbands` death. I think that`s cruel because that`s going to put a lot of other women at risk for becoming widows and there`s a lot of 9/11 widows out there, Norah, and I`m hearing from a lot of them who don`t think I was harsh enough.
The winner, and still champion…Ann Coulter
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