Ann Slanders

(AP)

Well, say this for Ann Coulter: She knows how to keep herself in the news. Speaking at the gathering of right-wing true believers known as the Conservative Political Action Conference, Coulter threw out this rhetorical bomb: ""I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot.'"

The statement was, of course, good news for the press corps, even one that has grown a bit weary of Coulter's antics. An unrepentant and polarizing national figure making an outrageous and offensive comment about a presidential candidate and earning cheers from conservatives for doing so? Stories don't come much more nicely wrapped than that. (OK, sometimes.) Coulter herself is probably also pleased with the dustup – comments and coverage like this just sell more books. (She wrote this on her Web site: "I'm so ashamed, I can't stop laughing!" More charming Coulterisms here.)

Edwards is a winner as well, since his base can't stand Coulter, something the Edwards campaign quickly tried to exploit by appealing for "Coulter Cash" in the wake of the comments. The only losers are the Republican candidates who appeared at CPAC. They need to appeal to their base, but they don't necessarily want their association with folks like Coulter widely publicized. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, the two Republican frontrunners, quickly repudiated Coulter's comments.

There are those who argue that Coulter should be ignored. I'm not sure that's the right approach. Journalists seem to have tired of Coulter, at least a little bit – in the first 24 hours, as Howard Kurtz points out, her comments were met with a "collective shrug." They did eventually jump on the story, however, and rightly so. Coulter is an important figure in the far-right movement, a bestselling author who inspires reverence in one portion of the population even as she inspires disdain in another. If she were a lone nutjob – Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church springs to mind – the press corps would have no justification beyond sensationalism for paying attention to her. But she has a not-insubstantial following, as her CPAC invite illustrates, and reporters thus have an obligation to hold their noses and report what she has to say.

[dryden5]

It could have been worse. She could have referred to Edwards by saying "Drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you'll find." Oh --- that's already been quoted by another. Who was that again and why doesn't he get the same rightous indignation

[atpay1]

Someone should sue Ann Coulter she is vicious and hateful and she thinks she is witty and funny calling her a *** is too kind ! I'm sure her angry personality is why she has never been married and doesn't date, what man would put up with that mouth !??!

[ozarkhobo]

A $2 dollar bill in the back seat of a '49 Ford is all little Annie wants.

[ozarkhobo]

A $2 dollar bill in the back seat of a '49 Ford is all Annie wants.

[debatable]

Why would anyone invite her? Because they think she is correct. They think she is funny. An they think when people portray her as the hate mongerer she is wqe are being unfair to her.

The Right has a skewed sense of what qualifies as satire, just watch the 1/2 Hour News Hour on Fox News Sunday's at 10:00 pm. This type of comment is routinely defended by those that give her her platform as misunderstood satire.

It is hate filled bile spewed by her on a routine basis. The conservatives think it is funny.

[yorkark]

Ann Coulter is a vile human being and the only one that thinks she is funny is her. I think let it alone and go away. She thrives on the attention, take it away and she will either do something way over the top and get sued or she will fade into the sunset.

[joycewest]

After I wrote my comment I thought again and realized that Coulter has made derogatory comments about religion as well, specifically Islam. She does choose a variety of targets. Most people just ignore her. But ignoring bigotry and cruelty effectively condones it. There may always be a niche market for mean pundits in this fractured media world, but it would be encouraging if they were denied access to the most prominent platforms. Why would anyone ask her to be their speaker, talk show guest, or columnist?

[tmarino5]

What can anyone say about "Man" Coulter. She is a disgrace as a woman and as a human being and I can't think of a more ugly individual (both inside and out). How sad for her!

[ikez78]

Ann is a fool. If you had taken the time you'd see that the overwhelming majority of conservative blogs are shredding her too. But this is just another CBS cheapshot. Damning the facts that get in the way of trashing conservatives.

Can you explain why this blog and CBS in general has no problem with Bill Maher's far more egregious comments? Why Mr. Montropoli? Why aren't you reporting Maher's comments that NOONE on the left is denouncing? CYA for another lib?

[joycewest]

The frustrating thing about the Ann Coulter situation is the fact that the weight of public opinion against her hasn't been enough to send her scurrying to obscurity. If her slurs were about race or religion, she'd be out of the spotlight by now. Ignoring her doesn't work, and yet apparently she hasn't been frowned upon and chastised enough to have great effect. Judging by her past appearances on talk shows, I think the tendency among some in the media has been to view Coulter as a conservative who just speaks more harshly than most. In fact, she is a horribly cruel, ignorant person who should be shunned. I think talk shows should avoid her, reporters should expose her and her allies, and we should all express disapproval more vociferously.