Laxi-dasical

It kills me to mention Ann Coulter here, since she's a black hole as far as I'm concerned, a quantum singularity.  She offers nothing to rational discourse.  Her only attribute is a singular dark wit that appeals only to the farthest rightwing acid-spitters in the spectrum.  She has nothing to say of substance, and uses so much irony and hyperbole that you can't really understand what she means, or even what she's saying most of the time.

Consider these quotes:

"[Clinton] masturbates in the sinks."—Rivera Live, Aug. 2, 1999

"God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.' "—Hannity & Colmes, June 20, 2001

The "backbone of the Democratic Party" is a "typical fat, implacable welfare recipient"—syndicated column, Oct. 29, 1999

To a disabled Vietnam vet: "People like you caused us to lose that war."—MSNBC, Oct. 11, 1997

"Women like Pamela Harriman and Patricia Duff are basically Anna Nicole Smith from the waist down. Let's just call it for what it is. They're whores."—Salon.com, Nov. 16, 2000

"I think there should be a literacy test and a poll tax for people to vote."—Hannity & Colmes, Aug. 17, 1999

"My libertarian friends are probably getting a little upset now but I think that's because they never appreciate the benefits of local fascism."—MSNBC, Feb. 8, 1997

Completely over the top, vicious, vitriolic sarcasm, as acid as you can possibly get.  She is not to be taken seriously.  But people can't help themselves! 

Just consider the irony:  this week Scooter Libby was convicted and Walter Reed was revealed to be a snake pit, but what is everyone talking about?  Ann Coulter.  It simply boggles the freaking MIND.

Having said all that, I need to say one more thing about Ann Coulter calling John Edwards a faggot.  I accept her defense on Hannity & Colmes that she was not calling John Edwards a homosexual, but it was a schoolyard taunt.  But doesn't that suggest that she's simply a bully?  I've been called that word several times in my life and it's always been awful.  Coulter goes on to say that the word should only be used to impugn people who are not actually gay, that it shouldn't be used against actual gay people.  At that point the mind boggles again. 

But doesn't that position destroy her so-called "joke?"  The joke, such as it was, was a reference to Isaiah Washington, first calling coworker T.J. Knight on the set of Grey's Anatomy, a "faggot," and then compounding the problem by saying it again at the Golden Globes or the Emmys (I don't remember which).  At that point Washington entered treatment--not for homophobia, but for his anger issues, which lead to two very public displays of inappropriate behavior.

Washington was not free to call T.J. Knight a faggot because they were coworkers and just about every major corporation in the United States protects its employees from harassment.  Calling someone a faggot is harassment.  Now, T.J. Knight wasn't physically present for either one of these remarks.  He was late to the set when Washington said it the first time, and he wasn't on the red carpet when Washington said it the second time.  However, those around Washington who heard the word were sufficiently upset and harassed; and the corporation he worked for was embarrassed.  Thus Washington, in an attempt to save his job, and by extension his career, sought appropriate help for his bad behavior. 

I'm sangfroid about the Washington situation.  But if a coworker used that word as an expletive anywhere around me, you bet I'd let Human Resources know toot sweet. 

The insidious, rotten message at the bottom of Ann Coulter's joke, scurrying like pill bugs over an upturned rock, is that she, like the schoolyard bully she is channelling, cares not a whit for any sensibility at all--she simply exists to shock, annoy and offend.  And she couldn't care less who gets hurt in the process.  Maybe it's her payback against all those liberal professors during her college and grad school (she's a lawyer) who discounted her brains and talent.  I don't know, but I do know poison when I see, hear or taste it.  And she's as toxic as they come.