By Micah Danney
Conservative commentator and columnist Ann Coulter drew laughter and applause March 31 at Stony Brook University by criticizing liberals who, Coulter said, “want to do nothing” when their country faces a crisis and by announcing that she was backing Democrat Hillary Clinton over Republican John McCain.

The GOP presidential hopeful, Coulter said, was a “fragile vessel” for the Republican message, adding that Clinton might even be more conservative than McCain, whom she dismissed as a “liberal.”

Coulter also derided Barack Obama, Clinton’s Democratic opponent, as “B. Hussein Obama,” and said the Illinois senator was “weaselly” and lacking in experience and credibility.

Coulter spoke to an audience in a half-filled auditorium for more than an hour, taking questions and concluding the appearance with a book signing. The event was organized by the university’s College Republicans.

Coulter began with a remark on the size of the audience, saying the $5 ticket cost must have kept liberals away. “After the spring break, they’re all at the free clinic,” she said.

She defended the policies of President Bush and criticized his detractors.

“George Bush has kept us safe as no one could have possibly imagined,” she said.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the Patriot Act were, in Coulter’s view, measures initiated by Bush that increased American security.

Coulter addressed media criticism of the conditions at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Despite reports to the contrary, Coulter, called the prison an “all-inclusive resort for terrorists” and said accommodations were similar to “a freshman dorm at a state university.”

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not escape Coulter’s dart-like commentary. “If the terrorists took her hostage, they wouldn’t even have to blindfold her, she’s so stupid,” Coulter said.

The speaker bashed liberal views ranging from global warming to the war on terror.

“In wartime, their instinctive idiocy is quite threatening,” she said.

At several points, Coulter referred to Obama as “B. Hussein Obama,” invoking the senator’s middle name in a way similar to radio talk show host Bill Cunningham’s controversial use of it during a McCain rally earlier this year in Cincinnati.

Also unspared was Obama’s wife, Michelle, who offended some Americans when she said that her husband’s successful presidential drive had made her proud of the United States for the first time.

“Michelle Obama is an abomination,” Coulter said. “She is a hateful person.”

Coulter criticized McCain for his moderate views and a Senate voting record that Coulter said was suspiciously un-conservative. His candidacy was regrettable, Coulter said.

“McCain, unfortunately, is a very fragile vessel for a very important message,” she said.

To a question about her reaction to the resignation of former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Coulter said she was “absolutely transfixed” by the case and called Spitzer a “frenzied masturbator” who should flee the country.

Asked where she thinks the Republican Party should look for strength, Coulter said, “I think it has to come from the youth right now because the traditional Republican leadership is dead.”

Rebecca Travaglini, 19, an anthropology major at Stony Brook, said she appreciated Coulter’s controversial style.

“This is her business,” she said. “When you pick apart her arguments, a lot of them are valid.”

Robert Beckham, 18, a computer science major, also thought Coulter made sense.

“If you listen to her, she loves America,” he said.