Pundit stands firm: 9/11 widows are "witches, harpies"

NEW YORK — Fresh from slamming a group of Sept. 11 widows as "witches and harpies," Ann Coulter turned her attention to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., on Wednesday after the senator challenged the conservative writer's comments.

Clinton was among politicians Wednesday who said Coulter's new book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," went beyond the pale by painting four Sept. 11 widows known as "the Jersey Girls" as self-obsessed opportunists.

"I find it unimaginable that anyone in the public eye could launch a vicious and mean-spirited attack. ... Perhaps her book should have been called 'Heartless,' " Clinton said.

During a radio appearance on Long Island, Coulter countered that Clinton was attacking her "for being mean to women. This is, I remind you, Bill Clinton's wife.

"If she's worried about people being mean to women, she should talk to her own husband."

In her book, Coulter, the hard-right pundit known for her below-the-belt punch lines, writes that "the Jersey Girls" love being Sept. 11 widows because it made them rich, gave them national attention and let them criticize President Bush without fear of reprisal.

She dubbed the women — Kristen Breitweiser, Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg and Patty Casazza — "The Witches of East Brunswick," after the town where two live.

"How do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies?" Coulter writes. "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."

New York Gov. George Pataki said Wednesday that Coulter was "far worse than insensitive. ... I have spoken with many, many grieving family members, and the hurt is real. The pain is real."

Coulter singled out the women because they criticized Bush, pushed to establish the Sept. 11 commission and argued that the nation's security loopholes still haven't been plugged.

The widows tried to stay above the fray Wednesday, saying the nation shouldn't focus on Coulter's words but on security problems such as porous borders, wasteful Homeland Security funding and intelligence agencies that don't work together.

"Contrary to Ms. Coulter's statements, there was no joy in watching men that we loved burn alive," they said in a statement. "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."

Coulter didn't back down, lashing out again: "The 9/11 widows are witches and harpies. You can't argue with them. You just have to listen."

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.