This is a rush transcript from “Hannity & Colmes,” December 13, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Hillary Clinton personally apologized to rival Barack Obama for comments her adviser made implying voters should ask Obama about his past drug use. Actually, that’s not what he said. What he said was, if you start opening that door, other people will start asking about it. The co-chairman for the Clinton campaign, Bill Shaheen, resigned today, saying Senator Clinton or the Clinton campaign did not authorize his comments, and he deeply regretted what he said.
Joining us now is the author of “If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans,” Ann Coulter. Look, what Shaheen said was, once you open that door, you shouldn’t talk about it because then you’ll get all these questions. He wasn’t suggesting that Barack Obama was a drug dealer or that he should be asked that question.
ANN COULTER, AUTHOR, “IF DEMOCRATS HAD ANY BRAINS”: I agree with that.
COLMES: Once you ask — talk about it, you ought to talk about that.
COULTER: I agree with that. Why do you expect me to argue back on that?
COLMES: Because you argue with everything I say. You never like anything I say.
COULTER: I think that’s what Obama shouldn’t have said it to begin with. I think it’s irresponsible for adults, especially successful adults. That’s why George Bush wouldn’t answer questions about his drug use. To say oh, yes, I did drugs. And by the way, now I’m president, so don’t worry about it. I don’t think that’s a useful lesson.
COLMES: Clarence Thomas admitted he did Marijuana. Right? That’s why it’s called the high court.
COULTER: Have you been planning to use — saving that one up for this discussion.
COLMES: In terms of issues of religion, the issue is that Democrats — it’s not that they don’t like religion. It’s just that they don’t feel it —
COULTER: If I ever tell a joke like that, I want to be hooked off the stage.
COLMES: You’ve told worse — you’ve said a lot worse and you know it.
COULTER: Mine are at least funny.
COLMES: Ooh, that hurt. That hurt. Democrat — you want to paint us as Godless.
(CROSS TALK)
COLMES: We just don’t believe it belongs in the public sphere. That’s what the issue is. It’s not that Democrats are Godless
COULTER: Joe Biden nearly quoted a hymn, which is something we sing in church for the liberals — and…
COLMES: Or synagogue or mosque.
COULTER: And suddenly all the knob goes down, that he’s citing what he heard in church, which is some place Christians go on Sunday.
COLMES: Well I wish every politician would stop pandering about this religion thing whether it’s people on the right or the left.
COULTER: No. You people hate a mention of God. Frank Luntz — we just got it from the X-Men, Frank Luntz.
COLMES: We don’t think it belongs — it’s not governments — why do you want government to put creches on public property?
COULTER: You want them talking about pot, but not church.
COLMES: You want the government to say your religion is OK. Very, very funny.
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: That was actually funny.
COLMES: You probably have some scripted lines you’ll have with when you come in the studio, right?
COULTER: I never know what idiocy you’ll come up with. I’m sorry.
COLMES: YBut you really hurt my feelings. Do you care?
The fact of the matter is this religious divide is hurtful to America; this you’re religious or I’m religious, and you’re not. It divides people.
COULTER: No, It’s not. No, I know the liberals and the secularists and atheists love this point that it’s so bad, it’s dividing America. I promise you, people who get — believe in God get along just fine, even though we have lots of different beliefs.
COLMES: You use words like secularists.
(CROSS TALK)
COLMES: We are a secular nation. We are not — many people are religious, but our nation is basically a secular —
COULTER: No, we aren’t.
COLMES: Sure, we’re secular.
COULTER: It absolutely is not. That’s absurd. All of our founding documents, the entire idea of this nation, is based on a Christian ideal of men being equal under God. That’s absolutely preposterous. It is true that we’re not a theocracy. The government institutions were not ruled by priests. But to say it’s not a theocracy is not the same thing as saying it’s not a Christian nation.
HANNITY: There is something called the free exercise thereof, and more over, to use your phrase, which is one you use often, our founding documents did have those little words in there that we are endowed by our creator. That’s our founding document.
COULTER: Right, and it is a crucial — it’s a crucial point.
HANNITY: Very crucial.
COULTER: I mean, this was a — We take so for granted what this country is, which is why we may lose it if we don’t keep reminding people. This was a revolutionary experiment, the idea we wouldn’t be ruled by kings, that the only way one man has power over another man is through that man’s consent.
HANNITY: And they wrote at length that the natural inclination of the human soul is to be free and that governments at best are instituted by men to preserve and protect the liberties that God gave us.
COULTER: Oh, yes.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this.
COULTER: Let’s get back to the pot.
HANNITY: What Shaheen said was, quote — I’m talking about the drug use — “when was the last time? Did he ever give drugs to anybody? Did he sell them to anyone?”
COULTER: Oh, he did say that? I take it back.
HANNITY: And then he said, there are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. Meanwhile, he’s dumping all of this on Barack Obama. But this is what Clintons do. Politics of personal destruction, smear, besmirching, character assassination. And then, oh, I had nothing to do with this.
COULTER: Right, and the idea that this did not come from Hillary is completely preposterous. We saw the Clinton White House for eight years. We saw James Carville out attacking Ken Starr, using the same phrases, the same words, the same animosity that his boss, Bill Clinton, would use.
HANNITY: When Bob Novak had the column that the Clintons were holding back on this big smoking gun they might have on Barack Obama —
COULTER: The Kindergarten essay?
HANNITY: That’s a real important thing, what he wrote back then. He’s a real hypocrite; he wanted to be president. But David Axelrod, chief strategist for Barack Obama — he’s on “Face the Nation.” He’s up against Howard Wolfson. They brought up a smear there about, “a slush fund” about Barack Obama. They have been planting stories, planting the notion and idea that he is corrupt and that he is not going to be electable. This is what they do, the Clintons.
COULTER: Yes, and the other thing I’d say about it that is peculiar — I mean, for one thing, I don’t think it’s going to work against Obama. The one thing — the one thing I would say in his favor is that, unlike the Clinton family, it’s not a completely dysfunctional family. He seems like a normal fellow who has had a nice life. But the other thing is that it’s even getting to this level shows you how the Democratic party is really utterly bereft of ideas. It’s like a junior high school cat fight, that they’re talking about what happened in Kindergarten and pot smoking.
HANNITY: And he’s likable and she’s not.
COULTER: That is absolutely true.
HANNITY: Ann Coulter, we love having you. Thanks for being here.
COULTER: Love to be here. Thank you. Thank you, Alan.
COLMES: Happy generic holiday.
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