Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Kathy Griffin
gets big points today. Her response to Ann Coulter's insulting screed on “Today” was priceless. All we got from the Matt Lauer was driveling sycophancy.

The truth is that Ann Coulter represents Republicans. They happily embrace
her. They encourage her to get them votes by appealing to the lowest common
denominator. It is disgraceful.

Coulter said she's not been allowed to respond because the women are 9/11 widows. Rubbish. But there is a way to respond that respects the person's tragedy that doesn't include calling them millionaire broads, while claiming she has “…never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much.”

Coulter knows exactly what she's doing. Though she obviously didn't know it was morning when she wore her little black dress from the night before on TV at 7:00 a.m. in the morning.

However, by the time Coulter appeared with Tucker Carlson late today she'd bathed, changed her clothes and put on another coat of war paint. It didn't help, but at least she didn't look hung over. She'd also had sufficient caffeine to be able to respond beyond a squeal.

I was just emailed this press release from someone who knows someone close to the 9/11
“broads,” more respectfully known as 9/11 advocates, that Ann Coulter insulted
today. I thought you'd be interested. (Also see Crooks & Liars)

For Immediate Release June 6, 2006 Statement of September 11th Advocates Response to “Godless” We did not choose to become widowed on September 11, 2001. The attack, which tore our families apart and destroyed our former lives, caused us to ask some serious questions regarding the systems that our country has in place to protect its citizens. Through our constant research, we came to learn how the protocols were supposed to have worked. Thus, we asked for an independent commission to investigate the loopholes which obviously existed and allowed us to be so utterly vulnerable to terrorists. Our only motivation ever was to make our Nation safer. Could we learn from this tragedy so that it would not be repeated? We are forced to respond to Ms. Coulter’s accusations to set the record straight because 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. It is in their honor and memory, that we will once again refocus the Nation’s attention to the real issues at hand: our lack of security, leadership and progress in the five years since 9/11. We are continuously reminded that we are still a nation at risk. Therefore, the following is a partial list of areas still desperately in need of attention and public outcry. We should continuously be holding the feet of our elected officials to the fire to fix these shortcomings. 1. Homeland Security Funding based on risk. Inattention to this area causes police officers, firefighters and other emergency/first responder personnel to be ill equipped in emergencies. Fixing this will save lives on the day of the next attack. 2. Intelligence Community Oversight. Without proper oversight, there exists no one joint, bicameral intelligence panel with power to both authorize and appropriate funding for intelligence activities. Without such funding we are unable to capitalize on all intelligence community resources and abilities to thwart potential terrorist attacks. Fixing this will save lives on the day of the next attack. 3. Transportation Security. There has been no concerted effort to harden mass transportation security. Our planes, buses, subways, and railways remain under-protected and highly vulnerable. These are all identifiable soft targets of potential terrorist attack. The terror attacks in Spain and London attest to this fact. Fixing our transportation systems may save lives on the day of the next attack. 4. Information Sharing among Intelligence Agencies. Information sharing among intelligence agencies has not improved since 9/11. The attacks on 9/11 could have been prevented had information been shared among intelligence agencies. On the day of the next attack, more lives may be saved if our intelligence agencies work together. 5. Loose Nukes. A concerted effort has not been made to secure the thousands of loose nukes scattered around the world – particularly in the former Soviet Union. Securing these loose nukes could make it less likely for a terrorist group to use this method in an attack, thereby saving lives. 6. Security at Chemical Plants, Nuclear Plants, Ports. We must, as a nation, secure these known and identifiable soft targets of Terrorism. Doing so will save many lives. 7. Border Security. We continue to have porous borders and INS and Customs systems in shambles. We need a concerted effort to integrate our border security into the larger national security apparatus. 8. Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Given the President’s NSA Surveillance Program and the re-instatement of the Patriot Act, this Nation is in dire need of a Civil Liberties Oversight Board to insure that a proper balance is found between national security versus the protection of our constitutional rights. September 11th Advocates Kristen Breitweiser Patty Casazza Monica Gabrielle Mindy Kleinberg Lorie Van Auken