I feel a bit guilty writing about Coulter because I don’t want to give her the attention. FOX continues to house her cage in their studios, and major networks continue to inexplicably feature her as she hawks her new screeds. As she becomes more and more of a caricature and her looks continue to fade, she has been lashing out in louder, more bigoted, more racist ways in a desperate attempt to get people talking about her. She seems to enjoy being hated, seeing it as proof that she is pushing the right buttons. However, sometimes people don’t hate you because you’re getting under their skin — sometimes it’s just because you are a horrible person. Even though racism is all the rage with conservatives these days, being un-PC doesn’t make you cool or a rebel any more than it puts your racist, homophobic grandpa on the cutting edge. As Coulter told George Gurley of the New York Observer:

If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine… -snip-
It is kind of embarrassing, the Democratic Party ought to be hanging its head in shame, that it has so much difficulty getting men to vote for it. I mean, you do see it’s the party of women and 'We’ll pay for health care and tuition and day care -- and here, what else can we give you, soccer moms?'

Hmm. Coulter, who claims to be a woman, says women shouldn’t vote and democrats should be embarrassed to be associated with women. Why would she say that? Maybe because...(Austin Powers voice) SHE’S A MAN, BABY!

But as ridiculous as Coulter is, she does need to be taken seriously. Not because her racist, hateful ideas have any validity, but because she speaks for the republican/conservative base. No one can deny that she is one of if not the most popular conservative author in America. There are millions of people who buy her books. They make up the base of the republican party. They hear comments like the one above and say, “Right on, Ann! She’s saying it like it is! Women are idiots!”

Take a good look, republicans. Ann Coulter is your standard bearer. Your representative, your spokesMAN. She is speaking for the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, backbone of your party. Your party would not exist without this base that she represents. And because of this base, this identity, the republican party has tied itself to a sinking ship.