Coulter: I've Never Seen Any Issue Lied About As Much As Ariz. Immigration Law

Conservative author Ann Coulter Friday said she's never seen the press lie about any issue as much as they have about the new anti-illegal immigration law in Arizona.

"Everyone is blatantly lying about what this law does," she told Juan Williams who was filling in for the regular host of Fox News's "O'Reilly Factor."

"I've never seen anything, a law lied about, any public issue lied about so much," she continued.

"And I don't mean commentators on other stations. I mean, they are delivering the news, claiming that this is going to be racial profiling. The cops can stop anyone. It's like Nazi Germany. Just blatant, blatant lying" (video follows with transcript and commentary, h/t The Right Scoop): 

JUAN WILLIAMS, SUBSTITUTE HOST: But a new Gallup poll shows that those Americans who've heard about the Arizona law, 51 percent say they favor it. 39 percent oppose it.

With us now to analyze, conservative columnist Ann Coulter.

Ann, what do you think of this law? Is it about racial profiling as we're hearing from the pop stars?

ANN COULTER, CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST: No. Though I like listening to air-headed celebrities is almost identical to listening to news broadcasters on every station except FOX, excuse me.

No, everyone is blatantly lying about what this law does. Specifically racial profiling is prohibited by the law. Cops, by the way, cannot initiate contact with anyone under the law whom they could not initiate contact with before. It's when they're in the process of stopping someone or arresting someone if there's a reasonable suspicion that the person is here illegally, not based on race, not based on a suspicion of the person's national origin. But you know, other reasons. If a cop stops a, you know, a van pull full of car, a van that's speeding and 20 people get out and run in 20 different directions, that would cause reasonable suspicion. And it's not like Arizona is inventing this legal principle.

WILLIAMS: But wait a second.

COULTER: There are decades of law interpreting reasonable suspicion.

Yes there are. Readers are encouraged to read "Joe Scarborough Calls Arizona Immigration Law 'Un-American'" for an example of such interpretations. But I digress: 

WILLIAMS: Hold on. But today, for example, you have people in the state legislature who helped draft the bill saying you know what? We're making changes. They call it modifications, clarifications, in order to address this racial profiling issue. So, maybe they think there's an issue.

COULTER: That is certainly what all of the news has been. I mean, I've never seen anything, a law lied about, any public issue lied about so much. And I don't mean commentators on other stations. I mean, they are delivering the news, claiming that this is going to be racial profiling. The cops can stop anyone. It's like Nazi Germany. Just blatant, blatant lying.

WILLIAMS: Well, wait a second. When I hear from Rick Perry, governor of Texas, and a true conservative that you know what, I don't want anything like this in Texas.

COULTER: Right.

WILLIAMS: I think to myself, hey, something's up. When I hear from people who are conservatives.

COULTER: Right.

WILLIAMS: Connie Mac in Florida.

COULTER: Yes.

WILLIAMS: He says this is like the Gestapo.

COULTER: And Marco Rubio.

WILLIAMS: Asking people for their--and Marco Rubio.

COULTER: A little upset about that. Thought you were going to be good, Marco.

WILLIAMS: All right. And Karl Rove says, you know what? He doesn't think it's going to be an effective law.

COULTER: Right.

WILLIAMS: All right, so what do you say?

COULTER: I think they are responding to the nonsense that's being published out there. I mean, people get bullied into taking silly positions as I said in my email to you earlier.

WILLIAMS: Right.

COULTER: I bet you -- I mean 51 percent supporting the law, I'm shocked it's even that high based on what it is said out there in the press. I mean, people are busy. They have jobs, they have families. They're listening to the commentary. They're not going and reading the law. And let me just say, everything you've heard about the law, except here tonight, is a lie. And also shockingly, yesterday, "The New York Times" ran an op-ed, which I link to it anncoulter.com, telling the truth about the law. Read that before saying whether or not you support the law.

But I think not only most Americans, but most recent immigrants from Mexico would support this law. Who are illegals taking jobs from?

WILLIAMS: But let me tell you, there's an effort underway to even have a boycott--

WILLIAMS: Right.

COULTER: A boycott of the all-star game. There are lawsuits underway.

COULTER: Right.

WILLIAMS: We're going to talk about that later in more detail, but it seems to me that there is a nationwide movement of people saying, you know what, this is--

COULTER: Right.

WILLIAMS: --this is not American. Asking people for their papers.

COULTER: Yes.

WILLIAMS: It reminds me of something.

Here's the money paragraph, and what EVERY journalist in America should be required to inform his or her readers, viewers, or listeners: 

COULTER: They're not, no, no, okay on the papers thing. Immigrants to this country, noncitizens are already under federal law required to carry papers. There's nothing new added by the Arizona law. This only allows the cop to ask someone whom he has already legally stopped for probable cause and whom he has reasonable suspicion is an illegal to ask for something that an illegal or rather that an alien is required to carry by law anyway. So that isn't something--

Exactly. That's what the term "lawful contact" in the law means. Continue: 

WILLIAMS: No, hang on, hang on. If you're a naturalized citizen of this country--

COULTER: Naturalized citizen, no, no, no. But you're allowed to be here and be an immigrant.

WILLIAMS: Yes, you don't have to have any papers.

COULTER: Yes, do you.

WILLIAMS: And -- no, you don't. And let me just--

COULTER: No, if you're a noncitizen alien.

WILLIAMS: If you're a naturalized American citizen.

COULTER: Or (INAUDIBLE).

WILLIAMS: Let's say you're -- no, you don't have any papers. And let's say you're born in the country.

COULTER: Right.

WILLIAMS: And you're Hispanic, you don't have to have any papers.

COULTER: No, no, no, that's right. But if you are an immigrant from the Ukraine, I don't mean a citizen yet. You're allowed to be in the country and not be a citizen.

WILLIAMS: No, once you're a citizen. Right. No, no, but let's say--

COULTER: But if you are here legally and a noncitizen, you're required to carry your immigration papers.

WILLIAMS: Okay, okay, but here's my point to you. You're driving down the street.

COULTER: Right.

WILLIAMS: Your family's been here for generations. Mexico- Americans, whatever. Cop says hey, you got a taillight out, I want to see your papers, Ann Coulter.

COULTER: Well--

WILLIAMS: You look brown skinned to me.

COULTER: I'm glad you asked that.

WILLIAMS: Oh, you're glad?

COULTER: Because, among the things you can produce are a driver's license, that driver's license that people get who don't drive, whatever is that is called. There are a billion other things you can produce. And at that moment, the questioning stops.

Exactly. What media members are either missing or intentionally lying about is that folks are either being pulled over or stopped for probable cause, meaning suspicion that they have violated or are about to violate the law. Whether or not they have identification at the time of the stop is not the issue. They're not being stopped to identify them. They're being stopped for possibly having broken or intending to break the law:

WILLIAMS: So you think that what we were just hearing from Linda Ronstadt, who says I'm light-skinned Mexican American, so it's not going to be a problem. The cop will never ask me for my papers, but I never ask Ann Coulter for her papers, but they'll ask Juan Williams for his papers because he's got brown skin.

COULTER: No, it's because you are a Democrat.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: Well, good, now I get it. Now I get it. I was wondering my whole life.

COULTER: No.

WILLIAMS: You know, I asked my mother this. I said, mom, why? You're a Democrat. I figured it out. Thank you.

COULTER: But no, if I am driving a van with a busted taillight, and I'm speeding and taking illegal left turn and a cop stops me and 20 Hispanic-looking people who don't speak English leap out of the van and run in all directions, yes, they will ask me for my papers. And, by the way, if I give them a legal driver's license, poof, that's it. No more questioning.

WILLIAMS: It couldn't be the local soccer team?

COULTER: Well, there is -- there are legal principles to determine whether there was reasonable suspicion. And I just want to say one more thing on all the idiot celebrities and apparently Rick Perry and Marco Rubio and the other one.

WILLIAMS: You're just going after people tonight.

COULTER: There is also a great belief or has been up until we got snow in all 50 states this year in global warming, sometimes causes are just chic and chubby co-ed girls who want to fit in all claim to believe in global warming and claim this totally logical Arizona law is, you know, Nazi Germany.

WILLIAMS: All right. We're going after chubby girls.  

In reality, all the media hyperventilation about this issue is born of either staggering ignorance or blatant dishonesty. As Coulter pointed out, there's no other explanation.