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Summary: A stunning indictment of the modern media......
Review: One word comes to mind to describe Ann Coulter's writing style: pithy.
This book successfully describes in brilliant detail the day-to-day numbing of public opinion by a few powerful media types in New York City that control all of the news we as citizens receive and govern our lives by.
I agree completely with her analysis of the NY Times as a bastion of left-wing reactionism, and outright hatred for the current President Bush. For example, terms like "enormous Bush tax cut that caused the deficits we now face..." that isn't news, that's commentary! Yet the Times will say that in their straight stories, not the editorials only.
Her take on Katie Couric and the Today show is right on the money, how they, in their own perky morning way, try and slant stories towards a Leftist point of view time and time again.
A work like this is especially important now, when our country faces the imminent threat of attack and we are relying on the media to give us the straight story and not advance a political agenda or try and pull down our President.
Hopefully, this will have the effect of raising the awareness of enough people in this country to realize we shouldn't just accept the gutless reactionism of left-wing media types.
Go get 'em Ann!!!!
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Summary: A must read for liberals and conservatives!
Review: Ever wanted to call out a liberal on one of their illogical positions, be it social or fiscal? Ann Coulter not only brings out the truth in the liberal media slant but makes delicious arguments based totally on well-documented FACTS. Sure, there's a good degree of spin; remember, Ann has NEVER pretended to be an "objective journalist". She, like Rush Limbaugh is a proud Republican and makes no attempts to ever hide that fact and that they're both conservative analysts and commontators. She uncovers the deception in the media as those with the liberal agenda hide behind their "objectivity" and says "B.S.!" So, Ann is perfectly able to deliver her opinion from well researched point of view instead of from mere passion. There is much entertainment and humor value in this novel; you'll laugh one page and be surprised the next. Ann is unpredictable as she can switch off the sexy charm and whip out the venom in lightning speed, which is what makes her so dangerous and feared by liberals. This is great work!
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Summary: I laughed until I cried
Review: I received this book from Amazon the day of publication (6/25/2002) having pre-ordered it. Once I got it I couldn't put it down, and I was laughing so much my wife moved to another bedroom for the night. There is humor everywhere in this book (sample chapter heading ' 'The Joy of Arguing with Liberals: 'You're Stupid!'').Coulter is certainly funny, but she is also brilliant (law degree from U. Michigan, then clerked for a federal appeals court ' a job offered to only the best and brightest law grads) and her insights on this country's recent political history are fresh. Even better, every example of liberals' conduct she cites is footnoted, so there can be no question as to authenticity (and some of the items are so outrageous one would expect them to be fabrications). Even some of the footnotes are good reading, and I enjoyed reading them along with the chapter to which they refer. Liberals have had hegemony over the media for so long that they have gotten lazy. They don't have any original ideas and don't have to meet conservatives' substantive ideas (school vouchers, Strategic Defense Initiative, welfare reform, flat tax, privatizing social security, to name a few) on the merits to be covered. They can just label Republicans 'dumb' and their ideas 'stupid' and their remarks still get broadcast and covered. Coulter proves this over and over. Liberals should read this book (perhaps getting it at the library to avoid paying royalties :>)) if only so they can avoid the bad rhetorical habits that so many on the left have adopted. In these times above all, we need honest debate in our public discourse -- not name-calling, fear, envy and race-mongering.
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Summary: Slander is not a hyperbolic title
Review: Ann Coulter's rhetoric may at times seem a bit bombastic and colorful, but her arguments in Slander are cogent and cautiously stated. It is also not a book written solely for a conservative audience . On the contrary, Slander deserves the attention of everyone regardless of their own personal political predilections. Coulter provides abundant evidence that our national discourse has been skewed by the major media outlets. Thus, how can concerned citizens make wise decisions if legitimate and thoughtful positions are taken out of context and distorted? Many Liberals have no intention of taking any prisoners, and long ago tacitly realized that slander is an effective weapon to use against their perceived ideological foes. This hostility is so intense that even economic self interest does not get in the way of pushing their uncompromising agenda, adds Coulter. TV ratings may suffer and newspapers remain unsold, but an immature and anti-intellectual Liberalism remains in control. Liberal politicians and intellectuals may endlessly make fools of themselves, but these individuals have little to worry about. The Liberal media will simply look the other way and cover up their misdeeds. Not so, for those embracing a more conservative temperament. The latter are exhaustingly nitpicked and maligned as extremists committed to destroying our constitutional values and human dignity. Ann Coulter is hopeful that the Drudgereport and other independent voices on the Internet will do much to ameliorate this sad situation. The larger media concerns must now worry that they will be taken to task whenever engaging in such outrageous misbehavior. This was not the case just a few years ago. Coulter, it must be noted, is not a pessimist wallowing in defeatism. Americans are not victims, and she believes victory is realistically achievable. We merely need to grab the bull by the horns. The author has lighted the way---and the rest is up to us.
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Summary: Join the club
Review: Ms. Coulter's book is a well thought out, logical, even handed display of what it means to be a true American.
Finally a voice that is not afraid to say "We are right and you are stupid and evil".
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Summary: Turn Off Media Earphone Mannequins & Turn On Your Own Brain!
Review: Ever notice how TV Talk Show Hosts are dependent upon Earphones to think and ask questions? And they still cannot ask the right questions to liberal politicians at the right time? Finally, a book that points out how weak our media elite has spiral into de-evolution. The book will undoubtedly cause a commotion among the dying media privileged. For it shows how they have disparage others over the years to grovel favor not from the masses but from their bosses. I do not always agree with all of Ann Coulter's views, but I am thankful for her courage to speak out and respect her very much. The author points out how American leading media institutions actually use propaganda tactics in labeling anyone who advocates common sense approaches to serious public interest subjects. Coulter modus operandi is to take on left wing cynics with sound arguments to enlighten their stone wall empty minds of media's' misinformation mush. The liberal left media is faced with a serious problem when it actually goes into topics they cannot understand and revert to using fascist tactics under the disguise of multiculturalism. This identity politics mixing is used effectively by communists who often blend a little truth into falsehoods that in the end confuses the real issues at hand for egotistical power reasons. The media need not be left or right, just candid with both views and quit disrespecting people advocating the conservative side that uses facts over fiction! In this book, she is challenging the media's laissez-faire witch-hunting mentality to be thoughtful, accountable, and straightforward about problems they often buildup and never resolve for self-interested purposes. It is time to end the race baiting mocking sticky tag towards conservatives so a proper public debate can take place on all subject matter under discussion. The media finds Ann Coulter fear provoking because she is well educated, not afraid of genuineness and is more attractive than most liberal TV personalities who often lack the brains for any substantive dialogue. Ann Coulter earn an education at Cornell University and the University of Michigan Law School. She went on to be a Law Clerk for Court of Appeals, Legal Counsel on Senate Judiciary Committee, and an Attorney for the Department of Justice. Even the late publisher Katherine Graham cannot match those kinds of qualifications. Now when you compare Ann Coulter's credentials to Katie Courics, Maureen Dowd, Gloria Steinem, Dan Rather, Arthur Sulzberger and Howell Raines, one can see why few of them could ever take her on without an earphone and even with it cannot humiliate her. What the writer is advocating is that the American Media elite deserves being scrutinized due to the hiring of incompetent fashion models and newsreaders that cannot think of a decent question for a liberal politician. They have created a world of star obsessed people over an educational electorate. In the end, they have contributed to their own demise when the very people they choose to influence no longer values the news because of its bias. The public needs an Investigative TV Show that follow our own media darlings around and report on who they are dating, cheating with, or have covered up for their own benefit. And see how many "No Comments" of their lack of education and knowledge they would have to address. All the writer did in this book is depict reality and everyone in media is shocked that they have been ensnared in scornful name calling for years. If Coulter is wrong, each can file a lawsuit for slander or libel against her. Go ahead and make her day, but truth is an absolute defense against libel and slander with or without malice! Now that the media have been trapped the only question left is what to do with them? Ann Coulter has the answer, turn them off as she turns anyone with a thinking brain on, not by her looks, but by her words of wisdom and wit merge with the facts. The perfect formulas to inoculate you against any media's mannequin reproduction dummies that crave to be advertised to sell themselves like manure in Nebraska! The public cannot smell them through their TV's but Americans know when they stink, yet remain polluting our airwaves with their ignorance! Ultimately, Ann Coulter wants what all-thoughtful people want from our media as written by Plato, Symposium 203E-204A. "None of the gods love wisdom or desire to become wise, for they are wise already -- nor if someone else is wise, do they love wisdom. Neither do the ignorant love wisdom or desire to become wise; for this is the grievous thing about ignorance, that those who are neither good nor beautiful think they are good enough, and do not desire that which they do not think they are lacking." So using typical media tactics may I say, Right Wing Radical Philosopher Aristotle often proved his tutor Plato wrong on many subjects, but agreed with Plato's commentary that cultivates knowledge over prejudice; just like Ann Coulter is doing to today's media elite by writing this book.
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Summary: Only a myopic liberal could dislike this book
Review: Fact after fact, time after time, liberals have been proven to hate America, distort the major public media outlets, and attack anything that goes against their PC, anti-Christian, anti-American agenda. Now people can see an absurd amount of these instances compiled at great length and with great humor in one single serving of fantastic writing by one of the most brilliant political authors of our time. A great read, don't believe your liberal friends, because I'm sure they didn't read it. Think for yourself, read for yourself, keep an open mind, and decide for yourself...
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Summary: A book by Coulter called Slander?
Review: Now that is funny. With all the accuracy of a scud missile, Coulter uses broad generalizations to paint a picture of liberals that is laughable. "Liberals hate America." "Liberals hate The flag." "Liberals hate Christ." "Liberals make coats out of dalmation skins." Blah, blah, blah. What is a liberal you might ask? Well, pretty much anyone who disagrees with Ann Coulter. Now figuring out what Coulter actually believes may be a bit of a challenge because she seems to be opposed to things but isn't in favor of much other than being the current administration's lap dog. Coulter projects to liberals the things that she deep down sees in herself in this book. This book is an interesting psychological study about "Narcissist Personality Disorder" because Coulter is a classic case. Amazing that she has been able to make a living off her own imbecility.
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Summary: The reviews prove the book's premise....
Review: It's not hard to see why the book's premise pretty much plays itself out in these reviews alone. Notice how many reviewers (from New York, New York to boot) simple rely on insults to criticize Ann's book.
I enjoyed this book, mostly because it does make some very valid points which I've noticed myself, personally as a Republican in a democrat family. For instance, my sister, a democrat, i.e., liberal, while arguing with me about President Bush, always makes her argument that he's dumb, or stupid. Once, when I was watching the Republican convention on TV, she even said, "I could sort of agree with some of their policies, except I hate Bush, he's so dumb." Yep, that's her argument, he's dumb. Most democracts seem to hate President Bush personally, as opposed to any single one of his policies. Also, something that really shamed me, I found my sister to be a liberal bigot as well, when we were arguing about why President Bush beat Kerry, she said, "the only reason he won is because southern hicks who marry their cousins didn't want gays to marry." I was stunned to hear that, since I didn't believe anyone in our family could be that racist, stereotypical, and a bigot about the South. By the way, we live in New Jersey in a city that's right next to the Lincoln Tunnel, so NYC is like 10 minutes away by bus. NYC democrats are really the worst, having myself experienced their "views."
The idea of this omni present, all powerful "religious right" as Coulter points out, is rather silly. For one thing, it's fun to see how she portrays the many deaths of the "religous right" at the hand of liberals, only to have it resurrected again, and again, and again. I also found it funny how she ponders how one becomes part of this so called "religious right." It can't just be believing in God and being a Republican, because that would pretty much mean almost the entire Republican party would be the "religous right."
Her conclusion is quite funny, as she points out for the most part of the last half century, the democrats have been wrong about everything. They were certainly wrong about President Reagan (who they, surprise, called dumb too). They were certainly wrong about welfare, and that it took Republican policy to reform it. I was especially floored with laughter by this little paragraph, because it's so true, it hurts.
"It's not an accident that, today, the left's single biggest cause is "global warming." This time, conservatives won't be able to prove them wrong for a thousand years."
I'm all for reducing reducing pollution, since it's nasty stuff, but I'm not one of those people who take the rather sketchy science about Global warming and the causes of it.
Great book, not meant to convince liberals or convert them, since they wiill most likely hate the book for pointing out the obvious. Rather, this book is to allow Republicans, such as myself, to laugh at liberals and their bumbling efforts, if only because to argue with them is not really much of a challenge.
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Summary: 2004 Election Campaign show's she's right
Review: This book is fun reading because, as pasionate as Coulter is, her bulldog attacks are done with a smile on her face. In other words, her tone can be outrageous but, I think she is cogizant of just how over the top her style is and, therefore, the book is a hoot to read. If you ever see Coulter on TV, she talks in the same tone and manner that she writes in but, there is always a smile and twinkle in her eye.
One of the main slanders that she cites is the one that lables conservatives as stupid. This slander was applied to other conservatives as well, most notably Ronald Reagan. Fortunately, Reagan proved them wrong. George W. Bush has degrees from both Yale and Harvard. Al Gore, on the other hand, obtained a degree from Harvard with a grade point average similar to Bush's. On the graduate level, Gore was a failure. Somehow, however, Bush was the one who considered stupid by the left. A problem developed for the left; Bush was decicive and clear in his response to terrorism. Therefore, the attacks changed to his being somewhat evil as he unilaterally ditched allies to obtain his nefarious goals. When the insurgency in Iraq dragged on, the left was delighted because, proving Coulter's premise to be correct, they got to fall back on their old position that Bush is an idiot.
Fortunately, a majority of voters did not buy the slander and reelected Bush. After successful elections in Iraq (much to the left's consternation) they will have to regroup in finding new slanders. I think, that this book, for the most part, is on target and, whether you agree with Coulter or not, it is certainly entertaining
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