NJ assemblywomen call for boycott of new Coulter book The Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. - Commentator Ann Coulter's incendiary words about outspoken 9/11 widows have led two state lawmakers to calls for a boycott of her book in the widows' home state of New Jersey.
Assemblywomen Joan M. Quigley, D-Hudson, and Linda Stender, D-Union, on Thursday called on New Jerseyans to stop buying the book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," and for retailers in the state to stop selling it.
"Coulter's vicious characterizations and remarks are motivated by greed and her desire to sell books. By making these claims, she proved herself worse than those she is attempting to vilify - she is a leach trying to turn a profit off perverting the suffering of others," the two assemblywomen said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Crown Forum, the publisher of Coulter's book, did not immediately return calls for comment Thursday.
In her new book, Coulter writes that a group of New Jersey widows whose husbands perished in the World Trade Center act "as if the terrorist attacks happened only to them."
She also wrote, "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."
The comments drew criticism Wednesday from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who said the book should be called "Heartless," and New York's Republican Gov. George Pataki, who said he was stunned by the remarks.
Coulter appeared Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show and stuck by her stance, saying the women used their grief "to make a political point."
Her criticism was aimed at four New Jersey women she dubbed "The Witches of East Brunswick," after the town where two of them live.
The women - Kristen Breitweiser, Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg and Patty Casazza - have spent the years since the 2001 terror attacks supporting an independent commission to examine government failures before the attack. During the 2004 presidential race, they endorsed Democrat John Kerry.
