It's ALL hate speech

Nobody could be happier than I that Ann Coulter is finally being shunned by the establishment, right wing and otherwise, after her use of a homophobic epithet for John Edwards at a recent conservative conference. But I'm seeing the fallout, and all I can think is IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME. The more I think about it the more I wonder, why was THIS the straw that broke the camel's back? I get that the thing she said is horrible, unacceptable but it's not like Ann's been playing nice for the last few years until she just let slip an untouchable word. (One that she believes is just a "schoolyard taunt." What the hell school did she go to, and since when are schoolyard taunts acceptable political discourse for a woman in her 40's?) Coulter has been spewing vile hate speech in all directions for as long as anyone can remember.

Let's recap just the biggest hit examples of the shameful vitriol that's been flying out of Ann's mouth and off her keyboard for years:

* She said after 9/11 that we should "invade [the hijackers'] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."

* She mischaracterized Vietnam veteran and former Georgia Senator Max Cleland's loss of three of his limbs as resulting from him "dropping a grenade on himself," when actually he saved the lives of several soldiers in picking up a grenade that another soldier dropped during a combat mission.

* She suggested that Congressman John Murtha is "the reason soldiers invented fragging," the practice of intentionally shooting a member of one's own unit, as a result of Murtha's advocating that American troops be redirected out of Iraq.

* She accused former Michigan Congressman John Bonior of "fronting for Arab terrorists." That one's a new one!

* She suggested that President Clinton should have been assassinated.

* She suggested former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee should have been shot.

* She accused the New York Times of treason that "could have gotten them executed." (She has called or more than one occasion for the execution or bombing of the New York Times' editors and staff.)

* She stated that not only did she believe that both Bill and Hillary Clinton might be gay, but also that Al Gore is a "total f*g."

* She said that without affirmative action, California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who is black, couldn't have a job "that didn't involve wearing a paper hat."

* She said about the widows of men who died on 9/11 "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."

* She wished the American military were targeting journalists.

* She suggested someone "beat [her] to the punch" and poisoned Supreme Court Justice Stevens.

* She called Islam a "car-burning cult."

And those are just the ones I found before I got tired of looking!

Apparently all of that stuff was just fine with the many sponsors of her website, the newspapers that run her columns, and the many so-called "news organizations" that give her a mouthpiece to spew her crap to the masses. (I'm not even going to get into her publishers or those who buy her books because that is clearly a machine that's all about outrageousness=sales $.) But now suddenly, after she made a "little joke" about Edwards that included an epithet for a homosexual beginning with the letter F that I will not be repeating here (because to me it is every bit as vile as the N word), Coulter has been denounced by all the major Republican candidates, had her column dropped by at least one newspaper, lost multiple advertisers to her website including Verizon, Sallie Mae, and Netbank (good for them! Except why the fuck were they advertising with her in the first place?!), and been denounced by half of the right wing blogosphere and many other right wing pundits (though the jackasses at Fox News Channel continue to stick up for her.)

Why did it take all of these people so long? She used basically a shorter version of the same word to describe Al Gore over a year ago and nobody gave a damn. Hell, Chris Matthews responded just moments later that they'd love to have Ann back on. She has suggested that multiple elected officials, public servants and members of the press deserve to be killed. She has used hate speech directed at racial minorities, other religions, and gays and lesbians. She has suggested that entire countries filled with people should be wiped off the map, tortured or converted to Christianity for the sins of their leaders or the sins of a select few of their countrymen. Ann Coulter has been off the reservation for a long, long time and so pardon me if I can't take much joy in the rest of the right wing finally turning on her when politically expedient even as they've been listening to this crap and taking it in stride for years now.