Read the comments section of the bloggers who are speaking out against Coulter. Her supporters far outnumber the ones who agree with the bloggers. So yes, most right wingers are lapping it up. It’s only the upper echelons who are now beginning to realize what she and those like her are doing to the party because of how it turns off the independent voters. Let’s face it, Coulter isn’t going to lose any appearances on Fox. Town Hall won’t ever turn down anything she would consider letting them post. Her publishers aren’t going to drop her because conservatives will still buy up any screed she types. The odds are probably even that she’ll be back at CPAC next year. She did get massive applause after the slur, after all. Frankly, you’re just completely blind to the realities of where your party has gone since 1994.

I assume you’re trying to raise a separate issue that you see more evidence of conservatives who accept or tolerate this kind of rhetoric. Of course I already addressed that point in comment #29:

The haters on the right may sell more books or gain more advertising dollars for their radio shows, but there are also more people on the right who are calling for an end to the venom. We seem to be more polarized on the issue, I guess, whereas on the left, it’s all just seen as par for the course (well, everyone crosses the line sometimes, I wouldn’t want every word on every blog to be picked over with a fine-toothed comb, etc etc.)

I fail to see how this separate issue has anything to do with holding both sides accountable, and you haven’t addressed that at all. Why is it so hard to just say, “there are people on the left and the right who say outrageous things and it’s up to reasonable people from both sides of the spectrum to hold them accountable for it”?

The reality instead of what’s left after CS engages in that favorite hobby of the ideologue (That CS constantly tries to pretend she isn’t.) to distort what others say is that the point of comparison between Marcotte and Coulter isn’t what standards they should be held to but rather what they mean to their respective sides of the political debate.

Have you been taking lessons in lying from your hero, Ann? Or are you just incapable of reading?

But since Pat is just like you I have no doubt your “audience� appreciated it.

And likewise, Jim, I’m sure your “audience” appreciates your inaccurate characterization of my comments.

You emphasize the difference between Coulter’s celebrity and Marcotte’s relatively unknown status (prior to the coverage she got after the Edwards campaign hired her of course), and for this reason you feel there is a big difference in the standards to which each woman should be held. Which is exactly what I said that you guys were saying. Which is what you said I was purposefully misrepresenting. OK, thanks for setting me straight!

CS shovels this:

Pat,
That’s what I thought too until some nice folks here set me straight. See, what I was overlooking is that Marcotte isn’t as commercially successful as Coulter so she shouldn’t be held to the same standard…or something like that.

The reality instead of what’s left after CS engages in that favorite hobby of the ideologue (That CS constantly tries to pretend she isn’t.) to distort what others say is that the point of comparison between Marcotte and Coulter isn’t what standards they should be held to but rather what they mean to their respective sides of the political debate.

I am only one of many who tend towards Marcotte’s side of the political spectrum who have never heard of her even if John Edward’s people had. What I saw of her posts when this big brouhaha started I didn’t like. But CS and her cohorts shovel statements about how the left didn’t make an outcry against her statements. Well, it’s hard to make an outcry against something you’d never read.

But Coulter sells millions of books to the faithful. She is invited as a commentator on Fox News, the only source of news that millions of conservatives trust. She is invited to events like CPAC to appeal to the politically active true believers.

That was the point of the comments that you purposefully misrepresented. But since Pat is just like you I have no doubt your “audience” appreciated it.

What are the invitation and reception about? Obviously things Coulter couldn’t have done on her own. And if she’s now on the outs, is it because of what she said or because now she’s spoiled goods politically? After all, what she said at this event was really pretty tame by her standards.

As a leftie myself, I’m no more impartial than anyone else in the which-side-is-nastier argument. That having been said, I think Patterico’s list (linked to by Austin Roth) actually makes Greenwald’s point. Compare that motley assortment to what you can find here on a fairly regular basis. Orcinus

1) Hillary Clinton and 98% of the Democrats in Congress
2) Michael Moore
3) Bill Maher (half of the time)
4) Al Franken (3/4s of the time)
5) Cindy Sheehan (half of the time)
6) George Clooney (1/4 of the time)
7) Jesse Jackson
Al Sharpton (7/8s of the time)

The comments in this thread are again convincing me that the left has a terrible double standard about speech. Tolerate theirs, ostracize everybody else’s, because they’re wrong or evil or irrational.

That shows that a lot of these conservative bloggers are doing this because they have an audience, and are thus accountable.

Exactly right, carp, so what some of us conservatives are saying is, “where’s the accountability on the left?” because when leftwingers use hate speech it’s defended. We can all defend this stuff with a First Amendment argument and I don’t think anyone is saying that these people ought not be allowed to say these things. But what I’d like to hear is more people on BOTH sides of the political spectrum calling out people on their own side when lines of decency are crossed. The haters on the right may sell more books or gain more advertising dollars for their radio shows, but there are also more people on the right who are calling for an end to the venom. We seem to be more polarized on the issue, I guess, whereas on the left, it’s all just seen as par for the course (well, everyone crosses the line sometimes, I wouldn’t want every word on every blog to be picked over with a fine-toothed comb, etc etc.)

Not even the slightest acknowledgment for doing the correct and appropriate thing.

This is hardly the worst thing she has said. This is par for the course for her, that’s what makes this different from Bill Maher or Alec Baldwin. They are generally reasonable people that go overboard now and then.

Ann Coulter is always overboard. She throws bombs all the time, it’s the media coverage that is forcing them to condemn her.

For all her faults, she draws a lot of attention to the conservative movement, so it will be interesting to see if they are serious enough to ditch her. Attention=attendance=money for the movement.

The reaction here? “They don’t mean it, it won’t last, they should have done it sooner.”

Not even the slightest acknowledgment for doing the correct and appropriate thing. You know if there wasn’t an outpouring of condemnation from the Right, then there would have been outrage about that.

And please, provide some recent examples where the Left has denounced their own saying a crude slur, or inappropriate language, or attacking a whole class of people.