Paris is burning and news, you lose

The news media gets no love these days.

Conservatives endlessly complain that virtually the entire news media, save for AM talk radio and the FOX News Channel, are infiltrated by liberals seeking to brainwash the masses. On the flipside, liberals are saying the opposite about the news industry, and that AM talk radio and FOX Noise are just agitprop trash.

What do I think? I don't see the legit news media, which consists of television, print and radio, as being overly biased one way or another. Oh sure, FOX Noise is basically nothing but conservoporn, a whitewashing of the news to make it seem more palatable to whiny conservative hotheads. And conservative talk radio is really just a bunch of phony disc jockeys reading GOP talking points and acting outrageous in order to pad their affiliate base and get ratings.

In general, I see them as dumbing down the news. Let's face it, the news media in America these days really does truly suck. Putting out a legitimate news product is not a priority. The goal is ad revenue. It's about cutting costs (particularly in newspapers). It's about ratings.

This is why CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, ABC and even FOX are more obsessed with tragic blondes, helicopter chases, real-life soap operas, bizarre stories and celebrity gossip than real stuff that affects our everyday lives. Thanks to 24/7 cable news, for instance, we can actually stalk Paris Hilton's house as we see the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department extract this dangerous fugitive from justice from her home to take her to jail over traffic tickets. We can look down at crime scene investigators scour over a field in Ohio as they remove a young woman who was brutally murdered, though ignoring the fact that this type of stuff, unfortunately, happens more frequently than they would lead us to believe.

And cable news gives valuable face time to know-nothing pundits like Ann Coulter, who pisses and moans because one of the targets of her venomous tirades calls her on her hateful rhetoric. Ooooh, a catfight! Now this one is utterly ridiculous. The outrageously creepy Chris Matthews of MSNBC's "Hardball" had this vampire on the show for the whole hour, allowing her to spout her usual ill-informed insults and violent rhetoric (see the video here). For some reason, the "Hardball" staff felt that Coulter, who the day before expressed her wish that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards be "killed in a terrorist assassination plot," was important enough to devote the entire show to. They went so far as to set up an outdoor town hall with an audience and even took viewer phone calls. Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, decided enough was enough, and called in to MSNBC during the show, politely asking Coulter to knock off the personal attacks and cheap shots and just stick to the issues. You can read the entire transcript at the "Hardball" blog.

Of course, there's much divided opinion on this little scuffle, most of it anti-Coulter. Even right-wing stalwarts such as Pat Buchanan and Armstrong Williams have no real respect for Annthrax Annie's evil ways. However, Coulter's few defenders are, as usual, shifting the blame, with the oft-whiny Brent Bozell-owned Newsbusters going so far as to point the accusatory finger at a former blogger on Edwards' site, who was let go months ago. In addition, they're beating the same dead horse of liberal bias in the media, blah blah blah.

Brian Maloney, the Radio Tranquilizer, is crying that Coulter was blindsided and that Edwards' phone call was a set-up to ambush the Queen of Mean. Never mind that in recent months, Maloney has become even more irrelevent than before, having been reduced to merely being Rush Limbaugh's ass-kisser and overall suckup to right-wing pundits. In this instance, he has made an even bigger ass of himself. No, Coulter was not blindsided. She was told of the possibility of Edwards calling in prior to the airing. She knew. Besides, someone who has built a career out of spouting as much vile, hateful and insulting rhetoric as possible should have the foresight of being prepared to defend it, and be ready for blowback. Live by the sword, prepare to die by it, as the saying goes.

But I've gone on way too long about Annthrax Annie. The intent of this article is to question why Coulter and her ilk often get so much attention from our so-called mainstream news media. And I think I have the answer.

News coverage in days gone by was not profit-oriented. It was considered a public service. And the various news divisions in the media were run with the utmost integrity. Earlier, I posted excerpts from an interview Mike Malloy did with Buzzflash. The most interesting parts of the article were about Malloy's time as a newswriter at CNN back in the Ted Turner era. According to Malloy, "News writing was very restrictive... Again, this was back when CNN was run by Turner, and it was run as a news organization. It is not run as a news organization now. But it was very restricted back then. Our senior editors, senior producers, supervising producers, would tell us repeatedly they did not want to find even a nuance of opinion in what we wrote, to the extent that it became a game." The same, sadly, cannot be said today.

What happened? News these days has become a profit center for broadcasters. The television news operations (and I'm using them as an example in this case) are all about shock and titillation. They evidently feel that a real, honest, serious debate won't go over as well as stalking Paris Hilton does. Or bringing on gasbag pundits to scream at each other.

When and why did it all go wrong? It probably started one night in 1994 when every news channel and network outlet in America showed helicopters following O.J. Simpson's white Ford Bronco around the Los Angeles freeway system. Is the flash n' trash approach created by FOX Noise Channel a few years later also to blame for why our news media sucks? Perhaps. I am of the rare opinion that FOX is not necessarily bound to a political philosophy. Sure, Rupert Murdoch has made gaining political clout a goal in various media endeavors, particularly with his purchase of the New York Post in the 1970s. As Time claims in a recent issue, Murdoch has a stubborn populist streak, going so far as to publicly voice his approval of assertive moderate power players like Tony Blair and Hillary Clinton, and his populism finds an outlet on Fox News, a channel that gives voice to angry middle-aged white guys. Piling it on a bit thick, Murdoch dismisses the idea that FOX is basically a right-wing agitprop outlet. "If you look at our general news, do we put on things which favor the right rather than the left? I don't know... We don't think we do. We've always insisted we don't. I don't think we do. Aw, it's subjective. Neither side admits it." So is Fox News an expression of his political views? "Yes! No! Yes and no. The commentators are not. Bill O'Reilly certainly not. Geraldo Rivera certainly not. But Brit Hume and his team on the nightly news? Yes. They play it absolutely straight!" Okay then.

So, am I saying that FOX Noise is not all about carrying GOP water? I am of the opinion that cable news outlets are in the business of making money, first and foremost. And FOX found a gullible demographic to accomplish just that. Basically, they zeroed in on a target audience (whiny conservative hotheads) and milked them for all they could. Sure, FOX is a complete joke of a news channel, but I don't consider them to be news anyway. FOX Noise is an entertainment channel, putting out slanted and gussied-up news and loads of celebrity gossip and other crap that allows simpletons to just turn off the brain for awhile. It's merely just tabloid TV.

Unfortunately, the other news channels have tried to emulate this approach. Rather than hard news, it's non-news stories, dead blondes, screaming pundits, celeb gossip and silly lifestyle stories. And at least some newsreaders have finally had enough of this shit, particularly MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski, who went so far as to say on-air that she would not lead with the Paris Hilton story. She even tried to burn the copy with a lighter on-air before feeding it to the shredder. You go girl! And to his credit, CNN's Lou Dobbs has been adamant in allowing no mention of Hilton on his show.

This morning, I decided to take a little online stroll through our news media. Gleaming the web pages often gives a pretty good glimpse of what it is they're covering (aside from helicopter chases and stalking Paris Hilton's house). Of course, the websites tend to emphasize real news more than their on-screen counterparts do. I decided what I felt should be key components of a news website, particularly a mix of real news events, political news, and even some watercooler stuff (like Paris Hilton), kept to a minimum, of course. Sports coverage is always key as well.

Of the various media outlets and cable 'news channels' (and we're suspending belief here for a minute and classifying FOX Noise as a 'news channel'), CNN looked the most pathetic at the time I checked. Here's what "The most trusted name in news" deemed noteworthy earlier today:

• Hilton talks about drugs, jail and God
  
• Immigration bill faces make-or-break vote
  
• Eleven dead in Texas floods; more rain expected
  
• Firefighters make headway in battling Tahoe blaze
  
• Police: 20 decapitated bodies found near Baghdad

Now, to be fair, there's some Iraq War coverage in some of the remaining headlines. The highlighted story was about five cheerleaders who were killed in a New York car wreck. No mention on the front page of the breaking story regarding subpoenas being sent to the White House and the Vice President. Oh, and did you know the Spice Girls are reuniting? But Paris Hilton as the top story? Above the Immigration Bill, killer storms and the War? I don't care if Larry King got an exclusive interview with the trust fund sword swallower. She has gotten way too much mileage without accomplishing a single damn thing in her useless life.

To be fair, I kept returning to the CNN page, to see if anything was updated (i.e. the subpoenas) and to give themselves a chance for redemption. I wasn't holding my breath.

MSNBC did a slightly better job on their front page this morning. They featured much more 'real' news than CNN did. Someone could actually have the chance to learn what's going on in the world by gleaming the top headlines, while, of course, getting all the Paris Hilton news they can really handle:

• Texas to get more rain; 11 dead
  
• Israeli president resigns, no jail time
  
• 20 beheaded bodies found in Iraq
  
• Security workers killed in Afghan blast

The latest on THAT ex-jailbird


• Hilton says jail was 'traumatic'
  
• Scoop: Heiress may sue lawyer

The subpoena thing gets a graphic banner and link prominently at the top of the page.

Meanwhile, over at FOX Noise, the New York cheerleader thing got more play (they assume Americans are overly obsessed with tragic stories involving young, pretty girls). They feature the immigration bill, and there is even an orange breaking news banner about the subpoenas. Ideological slant is somewhat evident as well (note the Elizabeth Edwards headline, emphasizing the fundraising talking point forwarded by Annthrax Annie):

• Texas to Get More Rain; 11 Dead
  
• Israeli President Resigns, No Jail Time
  
• Benoit, Wife Feuded Over Child Care
  
• Tahoe Blaze 55 Percent Contained
  
• Israeli Troops Battle Fatah in West Bank
  
• Former Leaders of Ex-Gay Ministry Apologize
  
• 2 Teens Busted After Body Found in Desert
  
• Edwards Fundraises After Fight With Coulter

Okay, not terrible. There is actually some substance there. Of course, in typical FOX fashion, they sex it up a tad with these headlines:

• Cop Fired Over Jailhouse 'Sex Show'
  
• No Bail for Man Jailed for Consensual Sex
  

And a video about some cheesecake calendar in Tempe, AZ. That's FOX for ya!

Desire hard-hitting news from CBS? Keep dreaming. After all, this is the same network with "Katie's Half-hour o' Fluff," a.k.a. what loosely passes for the "CBS Evening News" every night. No subpoena story as of yet, but CBS tells us that our president believes that we need to get more excercise. That's the top headline. They do, however, deliver a graphic about the Iraqi beheadings. Immigration and the storms in Texas are also prominent. Oh yeah, Paris Hilton gets big play here. Ick. Just plain ick. A terrible website for seeking out news. What would Edward Murrow or Walter Cronkite say? We already know what Dan Rather thinks.

ABC News has a pretty good reputation for playing it straight in their news coverage. They do own a 24/7 news channel, ABC News Now, that does not get the exposure that CNN, MSNBC and FOX get. You can find them on satellite, some digital cable systems and on a few HDTV side channels. To their credit, they don't bombard audiences with shrill talking heads screaming talking points at each other. They don't go out and get some think tank goons or half-assed radio talkers' opinions on every issue. They basically just read the headlines. And their web page is pretty much a mixed bag of the latest stories, in addition to the stuff they think people are talking about (i.e. Paris Hilton). The breaking news banner is about the U.S. Supreme Court blocking the execution of a mentally ill Texas inmate (though that never stopped Dubya in his governor days). The storms in Texas are getting big play here, as are the immigration bill, the New York cheerleaders, the Edwards/Coulter brewhaha, the tragic story about WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and his family, and something about Mitt Romney strapping his dog to the roof of his car (WHAT???). All in all, a typical mix of news water cooler talk. No mention of the subpoenas as of yet, though.

I go back to the CNN site. Still the same. No subpoenas story.

NPR's front page is pretty serious stuff. They have the subpoena story up front. Also highlighted are the storms in Texas, the removal of the bald eagle from the 'threatened species' list, and the immigration bill. Entertainment coverage is pretty highbrow. Links to profiles of Miles Davis and Joni Mitchell. Not a single mention of Paris Hilton or the Spice Girls.

I decide to go international. BBC has a phenomenal news site devoted to very hard-hitting news, much of it international in focus. Prominent is a story about the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Pan-Am bombing over Scotland. He just got a chance for a second appeal. They're covering the subpoenas story from across the pond. They also break down various headlines by continent as well. So as not to ostracize casual news readers, they do have something about Paris Hilton. And since this is Great Britain, there is a Spice Girls story.

Up north, CBC and its privately-owned rival, CTV, are, not surprisingly, very Canada-centric in their coverage. Not a whole lot of United States stuff here, but for Canadian news junkies, they're pretty serious. Paris Hilton and the Spice Girls do get a small mention, though.

The old gray lady, the New York Times, is pretty hardcore in their approach to the news. Very in-depth, very highbrow. They are often regarded as talking a bit over many readers' heads, which is probably why they are criticized so much as being 'elitist'. Hey, if conservatives are too stupid to understand it... Nonetheless, there is definitely a place in this world for really serious news, minus most of the fluff. Or anywhere. Hell, take a look at their top headlines. The White House subpoenas, tainted Chinese toothpaste, immigration, the Iraq War are the big stories here. And they are the only site so far mentioning a Supreme Court decision regarding race and public schools. Some human interest stuff is included, such as a story about a teenage girl and her 7000 horsepower jet tractor. Well, that's different. And, for some strange reason, there is a link to a Paris Hilton story in the Arts section. To their credit, the Times pushes this way down on the page.

I go back to the CNN page, to give them another chance. The second headline is about the subpoenas. They've also got a news alert about the Supreme Court decision. Paris Hilton now exists on page one as a ridiculous poll question, asking readers if she will 'fix her image'. Oh brother!

Fast forward to this afternoon, and I check back with CNN. It looks like they've cleaned up their act somewhat. Paris Hilton must finally be old news, as she is shoved down the front page. I wish I could say the same about the subpoena story. It's gone. In its place is a lot of fluff, such as a story about a 7-year old girl trapped in a boy's body, a case of face-eating bacteria and an expedition to search for Bigfoot.

So here ya go, America. This is your news media. I am curious to know if we are really as concerned about Paris Hilton and whatnot as the news media seems to think. I for one could give a rat's ass. And I could certainly care less what someone as nasty, ugly and misinformed as Ann Coulter thinks about anything.

Attack of the conservative crybabies

It certainly hasn't been a good week to be a conservative.

For a movement that endlessly exclaims from the highest perches to 'support the troops', they certainly don't walk the talk, especially considering that the Bush Administration allowed the top military hospital in the country to descend below care facilities in third world countries. This week, we found out what their idea of 'supporting the troops' really meant, as a scandal involving Walter Reed Hospital resulted in many heads-a-rolling. Yes kids, 'supporting the troops' is much more than waving flags and listening to country music.

Then Annthrax Annie Coulter's childish schoolyard antics at last Friday's Conservative Political Action Conference created such an outcry that even the most strident supporters of the 'Minister of Hate' have practically abandoned her. And advertisers on her website pulled out. It's rather telling that they supported her attack on the 9/11 widows and her call for death sentences against Muslims and liberals, but an immature schoolyard taunt looks to finally drive a stake through the heart of the beast.

A few days later, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., close aide to Vice President Cheney fell on his sword for the sake of the administration and was convicted of four felony counts related to the administration purposely blowing the cover of former CIA agent Valerie Plame. Tsk, tsk. Of course, this does not bode well for the rather shaky foundation on which the Bush Administration currently sits. Cries for impeachment are getting louder and louder, and even Bush's Iraq boondoggle could come to a quicker end, since the Democrats in Congress are close to setting a deadline for withdrawal. For once, the buck just may stop at Bush's desk, as Plame is set to testify before Congress, and more and more roads are increasingly leading to the White House. Sucks to be Dubya right now.

Former House Speaker and perrenial hypocritical Republican scumbag Newt Gingrich, who led the witch hunt against former President Bill Clinton in the '90s over his extramarital dalliances, admitted to Focus on the Family's James Dobson (who usually seems way too concerned about focusing on everyone else's families) what the whole world already suspected - he was having an affair of his own while bashing Clinton over his. In the understatement of the year, he confessed, "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards." Evidentially, Gingrich assumes that coming clean in this fashion would help bolster his already dead-in-the-water presidential bid. Well, hate to break it to you Newt, but you have no standards. You dumped your first wife on her deathbed, for cryin' out loud!

And the wingnuts' favorite whipping boy, Air America Radio, looks to have a new lease on life. Of course, this being a blog about liberal/progressive talk radio and alternative media, the focus of this entry was originally going to be about reaction to the changing of the guard at the network, particularly the reaction from Air America's harshest critics. I started this article a few days ago and let it sit and ferment with age. And a few other articles here in the past few days got tons of attention and took away some of my time, including one quickie entry about Air America's webstream problems and one I wrote about John Edwards' boycott of the FOX 'News'-sponsored Democratic debate this summer. Buzzflash took note of my FOX 'News' article and linked it prominently on their front page (they had done previously last month with an article I wrote about Thom Hartmann). Needless to say, this link placement generated roughly 1,500 more hits on this site. Thanks guys!

Since there are other blogs that cover Annthrax Annie's antics and the Libby Trial much better than I possible could, I'll stick to what I know. So, Air America has risen from the ashes, and of course the wingnut blogs are talking about it, though not as much as the bankruptcy filing a few months ago (they really hate good news). Still, the usual gang of idiots weighed in with their predictable responses.

Ravenous Air America cheerleader Brian Maloney, aka the Radio Equalizer Tranquilizer is enthusiastic about the change, raving about new company president Mark Green's "bold vision." He continued, "You’re going to incorporate blogs, audio streaming and video clips into your website? Nobody’s ever thought of that!"

He also seemed rather enthusiastic about Stephen L. Green's purchase, and what it meant for his brother, "Hey Bro, thanks for the gig!" Of course, this statement from Maloney is quite ironic, since he should be the last person to get snarky about anyone's employment status (Green already has a successful career, BTW). He also pondered how liberal 'investors' have no real idea how a radio network should be run. Kinda like getting fired from a part-time radio gig and setting up an attack blog directed at your former employer, right? Gee, how professional. Remember, always question the source.

Maloney also lamented the loss of their affiliate in Burlington, VT. Also ironic in that it is quite unlikely he could actually find Burlington on a map.

He concludes with a tease that there will be "an elephant in the room," a veiled threat promise of new piles o' steaming hot Radio Tranquilizer silliness, soon to be delivered to the gullible readers of his blog, who will no doubt swallow every single nonsensical word. I'll bet he really, really misses Al Franken.

So, what exactly is this 'elephant'? Well, the very next entry on his blog contained perhaps the most earth-shattering development to have come thus far in the whole Air America affair. Something that will rock the network off its shaky foundation. And a development that could go so far as to disrupt the earth's axis. Yes indeed, someone at Mother Jones dissed Air America. Yawn. Not like its a big deal anyway. They don't like Air America and that's fine. And the ancient hippies folks at Mother Jones spend more time sucking up to the likes of Maloney than their own side. I say piss off to them. In the age of the internet, they've become a leftist relic of the past. So, in essence, this whole thing boils down to "yeah, what he said." Sheesh! No wonder why the effeminate-voiced Maloney can't move beyond 'whiny fringe part-timer' in radio. That and the squeaky voice, of course.

Of course, while Maloney and his ilk love it when people on the left devour their own, he's rather mum about a recent notable act of cannibalism on his side of the fence. Even his own buddy Michelle Malkin figures into this rather prominently. So, back to Eva Braun Annthrax Annie Coulter. Ol' Horseface, while playing her usual game of 'how low can you go,' referred to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot," proving once and for all that her education level had not progressed beyond fourth grade. Well, none of her ilk really said anything about her until the proverbial shit hit the mainstream media fan. And when it did, she started losing many friends. Maloney's partner-in-grime Malkin was one of those to blast her boorish behavior, saying Coultler "sullied the hard work of hundreds of CPAC participants and exhibitors and tarred the collective reputation of thousands of CPAC attendees." Funny, the Tranquilizer has been very, very mum about this backlash, as he has with Walter Reed, Scooter Libby and anything else not FOX 'News'-approved. In fact, in keeping with his typical fashion, he's really said nothing that makes a whole hell of a lot of sense. An article that, as is often the case with Your Radio Tranquilizer, is really about nothing. Ironic, since this incident has virtually exploded throughout the mainstream media, and even spilled over onto his beloved talk radio. Yet, nary a peep from Screech. Instead, we hear about how some nobody at Mother Jones is skeptical about the future of Air America. Hmm...

Let's be honest here, Maloney's a parasite. He needs Air America more than Air America needs him. They're still in business and everyone currently there still has a job, while he's still trying to hold together a career of infrequent radio fill-ins, ridiculous attempts at self-promotion, flogging cheese baskets via Amazon and trashing former employers in the media while trying to make himself into a very low-tiered pseudo-celebrity. He's merely a whiny attention whore, endlessly wallowing in misery to help prop up his ridiculously low level of self-esteem. In short, the guy's a complete loser.

Speaking of losers, further down the nutosphere we find Lone Wacko over at BoreAmerica, who has been blogging on the fringes and eating Maloney's scraps for going on three years, hovering around Air America since day one like a ravenous vulture waiting for his feast to drop dead. In another example of pure irony, BoreAmerica got shut down for most of Tuesday afternoon, replaced with a message demanding payment to the site's host. Guess he forgot to toss more quarters in the coin slot next to the hard drive, huh? So, the guy who blasts Air America for not paying their bills can't pay his own. I just can't make this stuff up! Anyway, he must have cleared a little room on the Visa card and got back on, with the first hasty post accusing Air America's new owners of trying to profit from the Iraq war. Interestingly enough, I have yet to see any mention of Halliburton on that site, but should I really be surprised?

And with his Air America-attack blog looking to buy the proverbial farm, Lone Wackjob is directing his energies elsewhere, attacking Wikipedia for (get this)... bias. He's even been spamming the comments on Tranquilizer's blog to pimp this ridiculous endeavor. Guess he didn't get the memo that anyone can edit Wikipedia, including dumbasses like him. Duh! Well, let's just hope he can pay the hosting bill. If not, he could always go to Conservopedia, a new wiki that should be a bit more friendly to his ilk. Where else can you find out that dinosaurs and man coexisted? Remember, never let something as simple as facts get in the way of anything!

And of course, there's the gang over at liberal message board Free Republic. They're so optimistic about the changes at Air America that they chime in with their own business advice:

If this was a business under the same roof the only hope they would have would be arson to collect the insurance money, then go under.

He is going to end up with a small fortune on Air America, by starting out with a large fortune.

...and just what he go for his money and assumed liabilities?

I've got some good advice for him if he wants to turn a profit: Book conservative talk shows.

Ahhh... you can just feel the love!

If you prefer your commentary bordering on the absurd, mentally-challenged wanna-be toughguy and lower-tier blogger Leather Penguin Idiot gets in his own two cents, once again demonstrating his complete lack of knowledge of the radio industry:

Yes, Virginia, the firesale WAS about finding that moron Markie a job:

Skippy? You’re paying WWRL three mill per for a shit signal… and have outstanding debts that will keep you in court for years. You netlet don’t currently control morning drive on your alleged “flagship.”

You’re hosed.

In full disclosure, last fall, I threw a bone to this guy, adding a comment that politely corrected some very, very wrong information that could flat-out embarrass him (as if he needed any additional help in that regard). Needless to say, the Penguin lost it completely. The best he could muster was "blow me." I'd print the rest, but I'm trying to keep this thing somewhat short, and to keep this as kid-friendly as possible (hey, I'm tryin').

Funny thing is, around the time of the exchange, I checked his readership stats. For all that work, he was pulling in less than 50 readers a day. And it certainly hasn't changed much either. Lotta work for no readers, don'tcha think? How 'bout less South Park, more maturity?

Elsewhere, there are still some wingnuts that have fully convinced themselves that Air America is no longer in business. Take this guy, Steve Yuhas, who even titles his op-ed, "If only liberals still had Air America..." Ironic , since his station, KOGO in San Diego, is right down the freaking hall from KLSD, a station that carries... Air America Radio! One would think he'd realize this, even with his one-hour Sunday evening show. And this nut actually thinks they're out of business as well! Lesson to be learned: Being on the left means never having to make shit up.

And conservatives should grow thicker skins and stop acting like crybabies.

Ann Coulter commits a felony (Will she do the 'perp walk'?)

Not only does conservative screecher/shrill media whore Ann Coulter condone election fraud, it looks like she practices what she preaches.

Ann the Man has refused to cooperate in an investigation about whether she voted in the wrong precinct, so the case will likely be turned over to Florida state prosecutors, Palm Beach County's elections chief said Wednesday.

After all, why should she? Anyone who disagrees with her is just Godless, right?

Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson said his office has been looking into the matter for nearly nine months, and he would turn over the case to the state attorney's office by Friday.

Coulter's attorney did not immediately return a telephone message Wednesday and her telephone number in Palm Beach is unaccessable to the little people. Her publisher's publicist also would not respond to messages.

Anderson's office received a complaint in February that Coulter allegedly voted in the wrong precinct during a Feb. 7 Palm Beach town council election. Since then, Anderson said he has made repeated attempts to resolve the matter with holier-than-thou Coulter and her attorney but has been rebuffed. The horse-faced pundit's registration lists the address of her realtor Suzanne Frisbie, rather than her own, Anderson said.

Anderson said an initial letter was sent to Coulter on March 27 requesting that she clarify her address for the voting records "or face the possibility of her voter registration being rescinded.'' This little setback would obviously prove to be a tad embarassing to rather political hack, wouldn't it?

Three more letters were sent to Coulter and her attorney over the next several months, but she has yet to respond with the information requested, Anderson said.

In July, Anderson said, he received a letter from Coulter's attorney, Marcos Daniel Jimenez D'Clouet (who says she doesn't like the French?). The letter said the attorney would only discuss the matter in person or by telephone because he complained Anderson had given details to the media. After all, she's the only one allowed to point the accusatory finger at people in the media. Anderson said the matter had to be discussed in writing.

Knowingly voting in a wrong precinct is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, said Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach.

Edmondson said his office generally reviews such cases, then turns them over to local authorities for a full investigation that could result in an arrest if intent is proven.

Of course, given such a polarizing figure as Ann the Man, reaction to this is, not surprisingly, mixed. "No wonder the Arabs and the North Koreans want to bomb us and wipe us out. This country has stupid politicians and the voters are the ones to be blamed," said one person who goes by the name 'Voter'.

Some think the people at the polling place should be arrested instead, since they let her get away with it in the first place, which seems fitting since the Republicans are the "blame everyone else" party.

Another poster, Mario, thinks that "five years in prison may be a bit too severe for knowingly voting in the wrong precinct. I think several sessions in one of Dick Cheney's waterboards in the middle of City Place might be more appropriate, if she's convicted."

'Devout Republican' from Boca Raton says it's the fault of us evil lefties. "The only thing that's corrupt are the liberals that want to persecute and prosecute a fine American like Ann Coulter. She speaks the unbiased truth, yet is persecuted for her Christian beliefs. While the right stays Right, the left attempts to slander truth and morality. Fortunately, they will find their fate in eternal damnation.

"Pick on the insanely biased, slanted Left like Stewart, Maher and Franken if you want to go after someone. Ann Coulter, like Rush Limbaugh, is fair, open-minded and stands behind her convictions. For that she has the respect of every god-fearing Christian in the greatest country in the world.

"Anyone with half a brain can see that one party seeks fairness and the truth while the other is full of lies and deceit. It doesn't take a genius to tell which is which."

Mmmmmm.....okaaaaaaaayyyyyy.

The Powerline mafia in Minnesota must be astroturfing, as there are several posts in a row from Minneapolis (gee, I don't even recall knowing any freepers when I lived there). One says that just because others do it, it's perfectly okay for them. "Somebody should point out how many thousands of people in each state unwittingly vote at the wrong place each election. There is no crime here." The other Powerline Punch drinker throws out the cliched talking points by claiming that "JFK would not recognize the George Soros Michael Moore Democrats of today."

Uhhhh... George Soros? I sure wish someone would tell me what crimes George Soros committed, and why the wingnuts like to put this guy up as the anti-Christ. I mean, sure he has money. But anyone who supports a party propped up by nefarious characters like trust-fund muckraker Richard Scaife, cult leader/Washington Times owner Sun Myung Moon Swiftnut Bob Perry and Amway pyramid schemer Richard DeVos shouldn't cast stones from within the proverbial glass house.

Another person has a suggestion about future roommates, thinking that "she can share a cell with Limbaugh and Foley."

'Patriot' in Delray Beach chimes in with "As a proud Republican I can say, without being accused of being a "liberal Democrat", such behavior is typical of the neo-con scum that run the country."

However, the best line of 'em all comes from 'Who Knew' in Pompano Beach, who exclaims "It's amazing that a man can look that good in a dress." Runner-up is from 'Jerry S', who compliments her 'manhands'.

There's an old saying, "one who lives by the sword dies by it." In other words, it's a concept known as karma. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Perhaps a fitting punishment would be from The Jersey Girls, whome the Queen of Mean refers to as 'witches' and 'harpies' (and who should know better, right) beating her with sticks.