Editorial: No taming of this shrew

Sunday, June 11, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

What in the world is wrong with Ann Coulter? The conservative author and darling of far-right politicians and talk-show hosts plunged over the edge of decency when she described 9/11 widows as "self-obsessed" millionaire "witches" who thrive on their celebrity status.

"I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much," Coulter writes in her new book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism." She was referring to the four women whose efforts resulted in the creation of the 9/11 Commission that investigated the terrorists' hijackings and attacks.

The caustic commentator also asks, "And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they better hurry up and appear in Playboy."

"Harpies" is how Coulter describes those victimized by the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil in the nation's history? To call the remarks thoughtless too easily lets this malevolent windbag off the hook. Coulter thought long and hard about her mean-spirited, indecent commentary and, after careful consideration, she wrote it anyway.

Coulter has the means and the national audience to provide thoughtful commentary, but she wastes that opportunity on creating noxious garbage. It could, on some unscrupulous level, make sense if Coulter simply spewed her hate to sell a book.

But Coulter actually believes this drivel and believes others agree with her. In an e-mail to Reuters News Service, she said, "A lot of Americans have been seething over the inanities of these professional victims for some time." Evidently, Coulter hangs out with the wrong sort - if anyone can stand to hang out with her at all.