Ann Coulter, in Her New Column, Repeats Holocaust Jab At 'NYT' and Rall

By: Dave Astor In her latest print column, Ann Coulter repeats the verbal statement that caused much discussion in the blogosphere during the past week and drew a threat by editorial cartoonist Ted Rall to take her to court.

Coulter, a Universal Press Syndicate columnist, had said last Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.: "Iran is soliciting cartoons on the Holocaust. So far, only Ted Rall, Garry Trudeau, and The New York Times have made submissions."

In her latest column, posted today on AnnCoulter.com, Coulter writes that one "Iranian newspaper is soliciting cartoons about the Holocaust. (So far the only submissions have come from Ted Rall, Garry Trudeau, and The New York Times.)"

When asked for his response, Rall told E&P today: "Now it's slander AND libel." He added that Coulter's decision to repeat her remark could make his case stronger.

As E&P reported earlier today, Rall said his attorney has told him he'd have a case if he sued Ann Coulter. But the cartoonist also said he'd need to raise more funds if he's going to take legal action.

Rall -- who, like Coulter, is syndicated by Universal -- said his supporters have pledged about $7,000 so far. Asked how much he would need to file a lawsuit and pursue it to the end, Rall said he's not sure yet. The cartoonist did emphasize that if he asks pledgers to actually send money for a lawsuit, the money would go straight into an account for his attorney. Rall said he would personally not touch that account.

If he won a lawsuit against Coulter, Rall said he would give any monetary damages to a political action committee or divide the money among those who donated to fund the legal action.

Some of the e-mails Rall received during the past week accused him of "dishing it out but not being able to take it." In response, Rall told E&P: "I'm as much a free-speech purist as it comes. But in my opinion, this is not a free-speech issue. This is about hijacking my politics and trying to equate my opposition to the Bush administration with anti-Semitism and Holocaust revisionism. Ann Coulter is planting the seed among millions of readers that I'm a Holocaust revisionist, which I'm not. I'm not going to tolerate that."

Many readers take the content of Coulter's column seriously, said Rall, even if she has claimed at times to be "joking."

Coulter's current column -- in addition to repeating the line about Rall, "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau, and The New York Times -- also seems to stereotype all Muslims as violent.

She wrote: "The amazing part of the great Danish cartoon caper isn't that Muslims immediately engage in acts of mob violence when things don't go their way. That is de rigueur for the Religion of Peace. Their immediate response to all bad news is mass violence. ... The 'offense to Islam' ruse is merely an excuse for Muslims to revert to their default mode: rioting and setting things on fire. These people have a serious anger management problem. So it's not exactly a scoop that Muslims are engaging in violence. A front-page story would be 'Offended Muslims Remain Calm.'"

Coulter added: "Perhaps we could put aside our national, ongoing, post-9/11 Muslim butt-kissing contest and get on with the business at hand: Bombing Syria back to the stone age and then permanently disarming Iran."

Echoing a comment in her speech of last Friday, Coulter also wrote: "I believe our motto should be after 9/11: Jihad monkey talks tough; jihad monkey takes the consequences. Sorry, I realize that's offensive. How about 'camel jockey'? What? Now what'd I say? Boy, you tent merchants sure are touchy. Grow up, would you?"

And, in her last paragraph, Coulter wondered if "the conventions of civilized behavior, personal hygiene, and grooming [are] inapplicable when Muslims are involved."