Ann Coulter

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter got her start in the Clinton years, but really came into her own after 9/11, when her then-innovative blend of shock-comedy ghoulishness and unhinged provocation found an enemy and an era ideal for its angry, eccentric distortion of reality. In the years since, Coulter's flame has dimmed—first weakened by the success of Barack Obama, which undermined her basic worldview, and then by the ascent of vibrant, charismatic swindlers like Alex Jones, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump, who took her style of performative grievance to levels she could only dream of. But Coulter has soldiered on, filing her weekly syndicated column, tweeting to her legion of bot followers and starting a Substack, even as her self-righteous, corrosive fury has diminished to a limp, pro-forma racism that would embarrass even Ben Shapiro. Below is a selection of her ripest takes from the glory days, juxtaposed with her tepid attempts of later years. If time turns us into caricatures of ourselves, what happens to those who were caricatures to begin with? Coulter's example shows us one answer: they become degraded copies of their old personas, destined to grow thinner and more incoherent as the world barrels on without them.

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6/30/04
Hed: Saddam in Custody—Moore, Soros, Dean Still At LargeThesis: “The Americanization of Iraq proceeds at an astonishing pace, the Iraqis are taking to freedom like fish to water, and the possibilities for this nation are endless.”
Most baffling quote: “Wouldn’t Soros like Bush if he were similar to the new pacifist, America-hating Germans? If not, why did liberals keep pestering us to get Germany’s approval before we invaded Iraq?”
Thirstiest quote: “Come to think of it, it’s no surprise they want Saddam Hussein back. He made the Democrats seem moderate by comparison.”
Juice Level: Odwalla

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3/2/22
Hed: IF ONLY PUTIN HAD INVADED MEXICO …
Thesis: An overview of differing administrations’ foreign policy toward Russia/Illegal immigrants are bad.
MBQ: “Clearly, Republican primary voters thus had a choice of two very divergent views of Russia. They picked the guy who wanted to have a better relationship with Russia.”
TQ: “… my position on Russia has been as unchanged as the Rock of Gibraltar, at least since the end of the Cold War. Coincidentally, it is exactly the same as my position on Taiwan, Haiti, Uganda and North Korea. It is this: Tens of millions of illegals are pouring across our border and must be stopped.”
JL: Kool-Aid

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8/10/05
Hed: It’s ‘Let’s Roll,’ Not ‘Let’s Roll Over’
Thesis: America's aggressive stance in Iraq is preventing further terrorist attacks on U.S. soil (unlike airport security measures).
MBQ: [About terrorists]: “In the Las Vegas of life they’re at the convention center with the other ‘Star Trek’ fans.”
TQ: “Even if the next attack comes tomorrow, it is worth pondering that we’ve gone 47 months without the savages being able to mount another terrorist attack in a country virtually designed for terrorist attacks, a country where we search the purses of little old ladies so that recent immigrants from Saudi Arabia named “Mohammed” wearing massive backpacks don’t feel singled out.”
JL: Sunny D

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6/3/20
Hed: ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE’S RODNEY KING …
Thesis: The video of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police could be selectively edited by liberal media, as was the video of the Rodney King beating.
MBQ: “The 99% are demanding that the 1% ‘hear their voices’”?
TQ: “All this is detailed in my book Mugged: Racial Demagoguery from the Seventies to Obama, but at the time, the public knew none of it, thanks to our activist media.”
JL: Capri Sun

2/8/06

Hed: Calvin and Hobbes — and Muhammad
Thesis: Islam is a fundamentally violent and intolerant religion
MBQ: “Protestants don’t make a peep about other people eating food off one another’s plates. (Just stay away from our plates — that’s disgusting.)”
TQ: “Muslims are the only people who make feminists seem laid-back.”
JL: Juicy Juice

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2/11/15
Hed: Bryan Cranston: From Meth Cook to Hitler Apologist
Thesis: A blacklisted midcentury Hollywood screenwriter was essentially a Nazi, and so’s the dad from Malcolm in the Middle.
MBQ: “(And remember: This was before the U.N. came along and made Jew-hating a legitimate foreign policy.)”
TQ: “When asked by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) whether [Trumbo] was a member of the Screen Writers Guild ... he screamed at the committee, ‘This is the beginning of an American concentration camp!’ (If only Hillary had thought of that!)”
JL: Tang

7/28/04
Hed: Dems’ New Slogan: No Teacher Left Behind
Thesis: Democrats are lying, un-American freaks unconvincingly posing as normal humans.
MBQ: “Democrats are representative of the nation only if the nation we’re talking about is Brazil. For Democrats, there is only the maid and millionaires.”
TQ: “Democrats are not angry about 9/11. Sad, maybe—sad that it didn’t happen on Clinton’s watch so his legacy would be more than a semen stain.”
JL: Tropicana Extra Pulp

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5/29/24
Hed: THE MEDIA GUIDE TO SHOOTING JOGGERS
Thesis: Leftist mainstream media is both manufacturing and covering up racial motivations for otherwise straightforward murders, depending on the skin color of the victim.
MBQ: “Indeed, a Times reporter wrote that ‘even if Arbery had been trespassing in the house, it doesn’t justify his shooting.’ (Say, can we get Malachy Browne to write an article on Officer Michael Byrd’s deadly shooting of Ashli Babbitt for trespassing at the Capitol on Jan. 6?)”
TQ: “[NOTE: THE AUTHOR, GREG MANTELL WILL BE INTERVIEWED ON MY SUBSTACK ON JUNE 1!]”
JL: Squeezit