I do not believe the survivors of 9/11 victims are "public" persons for purposes of a libel/defamation action. They should sue Ann Coulter and let a jury hear Coulter's outrageous hurtful remarks, and then assess what the proper compensation for the damages are.

If I was on the jury, Coulter would wind up living in a cardboard box under some god-forsaken freeway in Houston.

Everyone knows the problem, no one knows how to deal with it.

People like you-know-who (A.C.) thrive by a simple strategy: go say something outrageous and get people talking about you. Then sell books and give speech tours to convert said celebrity into cash. Repeat. Use sales to pose as if you represent some constituency in America, when in point of fact your appeal (even among avid fans) is more that of a freak show. Get on Today. Repeat.

The problem for the rest of us, of course, is that this is essentially parasitic behavior: you-know-who thrives by defecating in the common pool of our public discourse. She feeds extremism on all sides, while offering only negative ideas about our serious problems, and hindering consensus solutions. But what do we do?:

Ignore her? Though seemingly the high-road, this strategy hasn't worked on a variety of fronts: as a response to intelligent design, oil industry quackery about how tree huggers made up global warming, etc.

Fight her politely? or with invective?: Both strategies give her the pedestal she likes, and the latter only offers her an opportunity to engage in her one talent, of sorts, which is venomous rhetoric.

Figures like her seem to percolate along until some final moment when their viciousness is definitively exposed ("have you no decency, sir?," in McCarthy's case). But anymore the latter seems to not happen--she can always slink off to her alternative reality and reemerge stronger than ever.

I'm at a loss as to how to stop this hydra and look for suggestions.

Time will deal with her. Anne Coulter has a shelf life and its not very long. Remember Dr. Laura? Someday Dr. Laura and Anne Coulter will be doing a dinner theater revival of Chicago in some god-foresaken backwater town. in the middle of nowhere.

Ten years ago Rush Limbaugh was constantly quoted and discussed in major news media. The only mainstream attention he's gotten lately was his drug problem. He still has an audience, but he's largely on the sideline.

They all come and go. You can only peddle trash for so long before people notice the stink and turn away.

Anne, Andrew Dice Clay is keeping the light on for you.

I like robert's suggestion. This has "class action" written all over it. Let's see, a couple of thousand widows against AC's hefty bank account. Lawyer types out there...you want to do it...you know you do?

I was glad to see another post already mention suing Coulter. That was my first thought after i watched the video of her and Matt Lauer yesterday. She said awful things which sound like legal slander to me.

Please, please sue her. Let a jury hear her say that she thinks the 9/11 widows enjoy their "celebrity". Take every penny she earns from her awfulness.

You think Ann Coulter isn't cackling with glee that the liberal blogosphere is in an uproar over her remarks? She is getting a huge amount of free publicity for her book. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd handed the inflammatory excerpt about 9/11 widows to Lauer before the interview and said "Be sure to hammer me on this!"

Coulter knows how to sell books. And everyone knows how to help her by magnifying her remarks. Just like there are people who go to air shows hoping to see planes crash, there are people who will buy Coulter's book for the shock value. You just gave her a boost.

So, do you think we will see the Right give Ann the same treatment they gave Ward Churchill? I think War Room should look into this. Contrast the responses from right-wing luminaries directed at professor Churchill's WTC comments with those (if any) directed at Ann Coulter's execrable comments. I'm sure it will make interesting reading.

working the theatre of the absurd.

i consider it light entertainment for the passengers on the Republican Titanic.

Stupid bitch.

Don't these widows have a case for slander here? Not only did she say they were enjoying their husbands' deaths, but that there husbands were planning to divorce them. Would be nice if the proceeds of her book all went to victims' families.

“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”

As infuriating and disgusting as Ms. Coulter is (and has been for years), we need to step back and realize one thing -- she is NOTHING if people don't react to her.

She's merely a sharp stick in nearly human form, with no purpose except poking people repeatedly to provoke a reaction. She may literally be an empath straight out of science fiction, in this case a being who feeds on the negative emotions of others. (Has anyone ever seen or photographed her EATING or DRINKING? Hmmm...)

IF ONLY we just ignored the hateful hag -- ignoring her as the bile continues flooding from her poisoned pen and lips would HAVE to be the worst punishment anyone could inflict on her.

There's no doubt at all to me that Wilde's famous quotation applies to Ms. Coulter better than almost any other public figure today.

Depends on what the laws says. Do they have to prove economic hardship and loss of status as a result of Coulter's remarks? Do they have to prove Coulter meant to cause them harm when she made the remarks? Are the widows who have spoken out considered public figures, and thus subject to different rules regarding slander?

Does anyone know the answers to these questions? I was under the impression that it is not easy to successfully sue for slander, particularly if one is a public figure. Any lawyers out there who can enlighten us?