Via Atrios, this post by Peter Daou.

If Ann Coulter didn't exist, someone would invent her. Or however that saying goes. She and her ilk can't be debated or engaged, because how do you debate or engage vitriol and hatred.

If she can sleep at night after performing her little hate-based theater, then bully for her. I don't get it, but there are lots of things in this wacky world that I don't get.

The real criticism goes to the producers and editors who showcase her. Check it: if you give her the platform, you are complicit. Don't kid yourself that she deserves an audience, because she has an audience, or that because she's controversial, you have to cover the controversy, or some other self-perpetuating and self-serving bullshit.

Producers and editors, you know her shtick. She is not going to enlighten anyone, she is not going to change any minds, she is only there to provoke hatred, either hatred of her or hatred of whoever she is attacking. You put her on, you lower yourself to the level of carnivals and back alleys.

You aren't serving a news function by putting her on. You are cynically using a hate-monger for ratings and/or buzz. You have made that choice, and you need to recognize that you are forfeiting your credibility with that choice.