Inherit the Wind: Ann Coulter, Flatulent Raccoons, and Evolution

As you know, I'm not much of a fan of the left end of the political spectrum. Even liberals (i.e. center-left types)--the political group of whom I'm currently most fond--tend to bug me a fair amount of the time.

Anyway, as a more-or-less liberal, I'm prone to try to find fault with my own position and identify the virtues of those with whom I disagree.

But there's just not any real doubt about it: American liberals are, as a kind of collective whole, way, way less crazy than American conservatives.

Is this because American liberals are particularly sane? Maybe in part. But it's mostly because American conservativism is home to so many total whack jobs. And I'm not picking out obscure nuts here, as both sides have more than their share of those.

I'm talking about the folks who count as political superstars.

I'm talking about, for example, Ann Coulter.

Now, you probably thought that she just couldn't get any dumber. I know that's what I thought. But we were wrong, as this post at Media Matters demonstrates.

You see, in her wild-eyed, spittle-flecked crusade to discredit everything liberal, Ms. Coulter has decided to take on the theory of evolution--something about which, as it turns out, she understands nothing.

It's a truly embarrassing performance by Coulter. It's not even clear that she knows as much about evolution as the average undergraduate. She's obviously not qualified to even, say, give an introductory lecture on the subject, much less refute its central theory. Of course her fans will eat it up, as they don't know--and don't want to know--any better.

There's no liberal equivalent of Ann Coulter. That's faint praise for American liberals, of course...but it's more than can currently be said in favor of American conservatives.