WHY WON'T MITT ROMNEY DISAVOW ANN COULTER'S VICIOUS ANTI-AMERICAN BRAND OF BIGOTRY?

I suspect that the pressure will build on Romney-- from, you know, "decent" Republicans and normal Americans-- to denounce Ann Coulter's hateful, anti-gay remarks and that he'll buckle. (I mean even his own campaign dubbed him Flip Flop Mitt last week.) Romney isn't trusted by the Republican base-- and for good reason: his lifelong record in politics-- and being endorsed by a wild-eyed extremist beloved of the furthest right and ugliest part of today's GOP, was a major coup. Unfortunately, she went and messed it up by... being exactly what makes her so beloved of those extremists.

Pam's House Blend and Glenn Greenwald have a far better understanding of what Coulter is really all about and why, more importantly, Republicans tolerate her. In fact they more than tolerate her; they depend on her. "Having people denounce her comment is irrelevant," explains Glenn. "They will do that. Even their most extremist partisans are already doing it. They do that every time she says something like this. Creating comment-specific 'denouncement' as the standard does nothing but help the people who should be attacked for this. By demanding that they 'denounce' her comments, once they do that, then they've fulfilled their obligation. Then they get to immunize themselves from the whole thing because now they've done what has been demanded of them by Edwards, the HRC, etc."

This way, they get the best of both worlds. They can continue to reap all the benefits of having filthy, bigoted hate-mongering sessions at their events that attract their followers and energize their base, while never being held accountable (because they "denounce" whatever the most outrageous remark is upon demand).

The issue is that the leaders of the right-wing political movement continue to embrace her and share a stage with her because those sentiments drive that movement. She did exactly the same thing last year and they invited her back. She made the same comments three weeks ago on Fox and none of them complained or demanded that she be excluded. Demanding that they denounce one comment doesn't change any of that and it obscures the real issue: why does Ann Coulter maintain such intense popularity among conservatives and conservative political leaders?

The corporate media made a huge deal out of the Amanda Marcotte "controversy" and went ballistic when some commenters on some of the liberal blogs wished aloud that the suicide bombers at Bagram last week had managed to kill one of the embodiments of evil on earth. This one seems to be going away pretty fast, partially because she's a paid clown who pulls this routine so frequently and partially because the Democrats have no idea how process, analyze and to respond to this kind of outrageousness from the heart of the Republican movement. It's very nice that Edwards' campaign will use it to generate some campaign cash and that the HRC will call some attention to itself but where is the real point made about the integral nature of the relationship between a vicious anti-American hate monger like Coulter and the essence of today's Republican Party. As conservative columnist Andrew Sullivan admits, Ann Coulter was "in her element" and that "she truly represents the heart and soul of contemporary conservative activism, especially among the young."

Will Mitt Romney really take a stand against Coulter and the kind of hatred and intolerance and Know Nothingness she and her followers represent? Don't be silly. Mitt Romney has no guts. He's the ultimate "respectable" flim flam character, a perfect front man for the hatred and bigotry represented by the Republican Ann Coulter wing of the Republican Party.


UPDATE: RUDY McROMNEY WINKS, NODS... GOES TSK, TSK TO RIGHT WING HARRIDAN

As predicted, the wing nuts and their candidates all feigned horror at Coulter's par for the course savage behavior. I didn't hear anyone talking about not hiring her to entertain at their functions any longer or not broadcasting her vile bigotry on their networks. Nor did I hear Flip Flop Mitt disavow her endorsement of his pathetic campaign.