The wisdom of Ann Coulter.

• Position: Conservative commentator - Brief Article

AFTER THE SEPTEMBER II ATTACK MASTERMINDED by a terrorist hoping to spark a religious war, virtually every official and pundit knew better than to take the bait. Except for conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who wrote in a syndicated column on September 12 that in responding to terrorists "we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."

The column outraged the public, but conservatives, including National Review editor Richard Lowry, ascribed Coulter's column to grief over the loss of a friend in the attacks. But the next week, Coulter was at it again: "Congress could pass a law tomorrow requiring that all aliens from Arabic countries leave ... We should require passports to fly domestically. Passports can be forged, but they can also be checked with the home country in case of any suspicious-looking swarthy males." This time Lowry spiked her column. Coulter responded by calling Lowry and his staff censorious "girly boys." Lowry then dropped her as a contributing editor. Other conservative leaders also condemned her comments.

What's curious is that Coulter's comments aren't all that different, in tone and style, from hundreds of others she's made over the years. But in the past, her ire was directed at her domestic political enemies--for which she drew fulsome praise from conservatives. Last year, the Media Research Center presented Coulter with its "Conservative Journalist of the Year" award. The Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute bestowed upon her its annual conservative leadership award "for her unfailing dedication to truth, freedom and conservative values and for being an exemplar, in word and deed, of what a true leader is."

Coulter is spinning her downfall as a new kind of terrorist-war McCarthyism. "People are hysterical about speech right now," she told The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz. "Everyone's comments are being taken out of context and wildly misinterpreted." At the risk of further decontextualization, here are some of her past comments.

"[Clinton] masturbates in the sinks."--Rivera Live, 8/2/99

"God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, `Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'"--Hannity & Colmes, 6/20/01

The "backbone of the Democratic Party" is a "typical fat, implacable welfare recipient."--Coulter's column, 10/29/99

To a disabled Vietnam vet. "People like you caused us to lose that war."--MSNBC, 10/11/97

"Women like Pamela...