Has Ann Coulter Gone Too Far?

There is a point when you’re on a verbal roll when you finally break that last barrier. You touch on that last nerve. You say the thing that you really shouldn’t say, whether it is true or not. When you have finally gone too far.

During the Joe McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950’s, there was that one moment when someone finally stood up to the infamous crusader and called him on his tirade. It was Joseph Welch, the attorney general for the Army, who gave the infamous line "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" It was at that moment that the American people finally woke the hell up and realized that what McCarthy was doing was actually DESTROYING America, not protecting it, and certainly not preserving it.

I call it the “McCarthy Moment”. It is that point when you really lose any credibility.

Bill Clinton experienced it when he wagged his finger at the world and said “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”. Dan Rather experienced it when he bet the farm on the phony documents about George W. Bush’s war record and verbally attacked anyone who questioned those documents.

Well it could very well be that conservative firebrand Ann Coulter may have finally had her McCarthy moment.

In a mutual admiration gathering… aka Conservative Political Action Conference… Coulter thought she would pull a quick zinger on 2-time presidential hopeful John Edwards. She concluded her address to the cons and neo-cons by saying that she WANTED to say something about Edwards, but that conventional wisdom dictated she go into counseling if she used the word “faggot”.

You know, there’s a lot that can be said about Edwards… but the word “faggot” is definitely NOT one of them!

Maybe she was trying to be funny. I mean, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned junior high school put-down to liven the spirits, right? Maybe she was hoping that Edwards would retort along the lines of “I know you are but what am I?” I mean, that is the appropriate response for that mentality.

And she should be thankful that we live in the 21^st Century! A century earlier she would have had to defend her comments with pistols at 10 paces. Then again, if it was a century earlier, she probably would either be a disgruntled schoolteacher or a psycho-sadistic nun. Now that’s progress, baby!

Unfortunately for us, we can’t really know if this is Coulter’s “McCarthy Moment” until we see the full scope of the reaction and any possible backlash. Coulter is known for outlandish comments, such as attacking the widows of 9/11, and this certainly is her breed of venom. Hey, some women get off with a “back massager”… Coulter apparently gets off by throwing childish remarks while at the same time trying to look pretty for the cameras.

PLUS Coulter can easily claim to be “the victim” of any backlash that she created, and her neo-con acolytes will eat it up. They would eagerly paint her as the biggest martyr since John the Baptist.

The Democrats certainly want this to be her “McCarthy Moment”, because it would completely bury the conservatives just in time for the 2008 elections. Edwards would love to cash in on the backlash because it would improve his chances against Obamamania and the Banshee.

Personally, I think this matter should be settled with pistols at 10 paces. At worst it would just remove one more presidential wannabe.