Clownin' on Coulter; Ducks in a barrel next

I'm really through with going off about Ann Coulter.

Okay, if you believe that, you'll also believe that I'm running for president in 2008. Please send money.

Seriously though, she's so far beyond even being worthy of hatred. I'm now convinced there's something very mentally wrong with her. (Some of you might think I'm a little slow on the uptake.)

Maybe Coulter and Britney should be sentenced to go away for a long, long time. I've got an idea - send them both to the South Pole to watch the glaciers melt. What's the difference? They're both going to be very, very lonely people when they get older anyway. And if they're not, it'll just be because they have money, or at least enough money to hoodwink some unlucky soul to spend any time with either one of them.

At any rate, my outrage at Coulter has achieved a sort of numbness. I'm actually now grateful for her, because she serves as an effective benchmark for the normal, sane people walking the planet.

For example - if there's someone out there who's a conservative, and maybe even a fringe conservative, a barometer of the craziness could go something like this:

"Yes, I know Conservative So-and-So is a little out there, but is he/she Ann Coulter crazy?"

Coulter's latest publicity stunt to make headlines sounds like something out of MTV's The Real World. Yesterday, at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Coulter called Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot."

"I was going to comment on John Edwards," she told conference attendees, "but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you say the word faggot."

What's more, only moments before her comments, she was introduced by presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Oops.

The only question now is, will she be marginalized by the right, and the candidates who have cozied up to her?

I seriously doubt it.

Her résumé of hate is long, sparkling and distinguished, if you're a fan of the hate mongering far right. Let's take a look at her checklist, shall we?

● Questioning the legitimacy of former Georgia Senator Max Cleland's war wounds while serving in Vietnam. (He lost three limbs)

● Accusing 9-11 widows of "enjoying their husband's deaths"

● Calling liberals "Godless" people "Who hate America"

● Questioning the legitimacy 2004 Democratic Presidential Nominee John Kerry's three purple hearts

● Accusing former President Bill Clinton of a whole host of crimes, for which he was never changed or convicted

● Stating that any country responsible for 9-11 should be bombed and their people converted to Christianity

● Saying this of the New York Times during an interview: "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building"

● Saying anyone who doesn't "support the troops" "hates America"

● Calling 2008 Presidential Candidate John Edwards a "faggot"

I wonder what could be next?

What's more, I wonder what she could possibly say to make her irrelevant and ignored? Fat chance of that happening.

As long as there are young, horny neoconservative men who will vote for a Republican at any cost, Coulter will always have a ready-made audience who will snap up her books and fawn over her every word.

The only way you can affect someone like Coulter is to put your money where your mouth is and not buy her books. As long as she has an audience, she will continue to pimp this made for headlines hate to sell books and make money.

I thank God that my country has free speech, but Coulter is the downside to that free speech. I guess we have to live with tolerating the intolerance, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

As of 3 p.m. today, I haven't heard or read of any Republican presidential candidate condemning Coulter's remarks. We'll see how this one plays out.

UPDATE:
McCain, Romney and Giuliani have all condemned Coulter - I just read it in a story on the New York Times Website. However, nothing on AP's Website, and nothing from the New York Times in today's story about the CPAC conference. The Washington Post's story today about the CPAC conference buried any reference to Coulter's comment, putting it in paragraph seven, but the paper did not print the word "faggot." The Times only ran a story about Coulter's remark when McCain, Romney and Giuliani spoke out against her. By the way, the Post and Times are typically accused of being two of the most liberal papers in the country.

One final note ~ not one of the Republican candidates' Websites has any reference to Coulter whatsoever, so this is anything but a strong condemnation.

I read this on another blog this morning, and it about sums it up:

John Edwards and John Kerry stated the truth, that Mary Cheney is a lesbian (to
point out the GOP's
hypocrisy on gay marriage), and all hell breaks loose.

Coulter calls Edwards a
faggot...

[crickets]