Ann Coulter has done it again, and done it big. One thing you can count on is that the High Priestess of Anti-Liberalism will never drop out of site for very long.

When the news on this broke and went viral, I thought Oh God here we go. Being a fan and admirer of Ann I wanted to defend it but honestly it is not easy. But trying to be objective, I got the quote in context and tried to analyze it.

And examining this, I see a problem, and it isn’t just Ann.

First, what she said¹:

“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,’ so I - so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards.”

Obviously her comment was geared to link to the recent controversy with the two Greys Anatomy stars. In an on set fight, Isaiah Washington reputedly called gay actor T.R. Knight a Fag. In an awards ceremony, Isaiah made matters worse by saying² essentially that he never called Knight a faggot.

During a backstage interview Monday at the Globes gala, Washington denied involvement in a heated on-set incident in October during which an anti-gay remark was reportedly uttered.

“No, I did not call T.R. a faggot,” Washington told reporters. “Never happened, never happened.”

Afterwards, Isaiah simply for the use of the word was branded a homophobe. He then decided to get help, and ended up in rehab, for using the word faggot.

“With the support of my family and friends, I have begun counseling,” Washington said in a prepared statement. “I regard this as a necessary step toward understanding why I did what I did and making sure it never happens again. I appreciate the fact that I have been given this opportunity and I remain committed to transforming my negative actions into positive results, personally and professionally.”³

Washington took a break from filming Tuesday to meet with gay rights activists and offer help in educating the public about the cruelty of such words, an offer the activists called sincere.

Now the parallel is obvious. So we know what she said and why she said it.

But here is what she did not say: She did not say John Edwards is a faggot or gay. She may have used an oblique sort of paraleipsis,⁴ saying it without saying it directly. She might have just said it to stir the pot, and perhaps she has a good reason to.

Recently I have written two blogs about Liberals and rudeness⁵ and in both one sentiment was made clear: Liberals love to press the limits of what we would quaintly call old fashioned polite conversation. 

But they are quick to point out that such conduct is either ok, as free speech, or needs to be evaluted depending on context.  A columnist is held to a different light then a commenter, for example.  

At HuffPo they deleted rude comments in the Dick Cheney fiasco, but allowed a post that was just as bad, one that asked his heart to stop working one more time, to stay.

In fact Ariana Huffington, the big cheese at HuffPo wrote that it was essentially unfair to blame all liberals for the derangement of a few commenters, not realizing apprently that her own blog writers cross that line often.

The problem, in other words, is that it is not a few, and it is not just the anonymous commenters.

Consider people like Randi Rhodes, Al Franken, Charlie Rangal, Dick Durbin and many others who in recent years have been called to task by conservatives for pressing the boundaries of decency and offensiveness. Perhaps John Edward’s own ill fated choice of a Blog Mistress Amanda Marcotte is another good example.

All of these people have targeted someone in a tasteless way, often using graphic, racial or discriminatory terms.

And the response on the left is typically crickets chirping. Sure, in the recent Dick Cheney Death Wish Craze, the HuffPo editor’s chose to end the hateful comments, but sadly that is the exception not the rule.

The left, in other words, does not police it’s own. They typically either ignore it or dismiss it as free speech.

Well Ann’s is free also, right?

Not really. You see with Ann, the reactions have been negative from both sides. You see the conservatives will tend to denounce their own, as Ann has felt before. Examples:

Hot Air-

I’m no fan of John Edwards, but that’s just a stupid joke. It’s over the line. The laughter it generated across the room was more than a little annoying.

Michelle Malkin-

…and ended with a cheap one-liner about John Edwards being a “faggot.” (Paraphrasing) She said she would refrain from commenting on Edwards because “if you say faggot, you have to go to rehab.”

A smattering of laughter.

Not from this corner.

Reihl World

I’m not going to attack Ann Coulter for exercising her right to free speech by calling John Edwards a faggot today at CPAC. For better or worse, it’s her right to exercise as she sees fit. However, the clearly too self-centered and all too self-promoting Coulter should be denounced for her selection of venue.

All have a point. All make valid arguments about the tastelessness of it, and the inappropriateness of “where” she said it.

As for the left, assume they are frothing, ranting and demanding her head on a plate.

But where is the outrage on the left for the Moores, the Frankens and all the rest? When does the left take a stand as the right does?

You see, at least the conservatives will stand up when a conservative oversteps it and they will express dismay and or condemnation. They care about the actual issue of being reasonable and appropriate. They care about the issue of rudeness and fairness.

And they are not ashamed to correct their own.

The left ignores it, snicker in their sleeves or defends it.

So bottom line, while I sometimes cringe at Ann’s comments, I am glad for them, glad she is blasting away at what she wants to and glad she is outrageous, because every time she pushes it too far, and generates outrage on both sides, she exposes the left’s hypocrisy.

I think she is smart enough to know what her comments do, and I wager she is more calculating then she appears.

The left lives in a happy, ignorant hate filled world of double standards, and Ann is a great litmus.

Consider: If Al Franken had made that comment, and used Kike instead of Faggot, would the left denounce him, or just call it satire? Free Speech? Anti-semitism is very often used on the left, as is racism, sexism and other forms of ignorance.

How do liberals really self police?

So Ann, shame on you, and thank you very much.

1. No, I am not including a warning or disclaimer of strong language. Grow up [back]
2. I dare you to do a google search to see what he said, almost no one will print it… [back]
3. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16791621/ [back]
4. A pretended or apparent omission; a figure by which a speaker artfully pretends to pass by what he really mentions; as, for example, if an orator should say, I do not speak of my adversary’s scandalous venality and rapacity, his brutal conduct, his treachery and malice. [back]
5. Here and Here… [back]

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