Fair Enough

Ross Douthat points out that I was skeptical that conservatives would feel pressure to distance themselves from Ann Coulter in response to her "faggot" remarks but, in fact, many conservatives have so distanced themselves. And good for them. I assumed they wouldn't because, frankly, calling Edwards a faggot is pretty small potatos for Coulter. Obviously, I'd forgotten the Conservative Rule of Decency which is that calling, explicitly or implicitly, for one's political rivals to be killed and/or imprisoned is fine, but using naughty language is not. Coulter, by unleashing the other F-Bomb, joined me in forgetting this rule and wound up being punished. Still, it still is odd. If Coulter had accused Edwards of Treason nobody on the right would have batted an eye. But these are the rules of the game. Of course, nobody's actually fired Coulter for anything so it's not like her little screwup has really cost her anything.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2007/03/fair-enough/41612/