Anne Coulter

It's fascinating reading about the shenanigans of the absurd Anne Coulter character, a feature of American politics, and it crystallises why America and Britain are so different.

True, there's been a backlash against her disgusting brand of dirty politics - referring to gays as "faggots", Barack Obama as a "Halfrican-American", and others as "rag-heads". Chuckle chuckle chuckle - not.

There has been a backlash - newspapers are dropping her column, sponsors are pulling ads et cetera - but as condemnation it doesn't amount to much really. How about a good public flogging?

The trouble is, in America, vast swathes of the population are either idiotic rednecks, or religious loonies convinced homosexuality is Satanic (and this latter statement doesn't just refer to Caucasians). So people like Coulter can comfortably get away with making un-PC statements, secure in the knowledge that there's plenty of dullards who will support her point of view.
I have a simple solution to this: anyone found guilty of racism ought to be lynched (call it irony) and those who believe homosexuality is wrong must be burnt at the stake (after being sodomised). Now, where did I put my soapbox?

In Britain, public figures simply can't get away with this. Racism is jolly bad form. Tory MP (can you guess what's coming?) Patrick Mercer has said that he met "a lot" of "idle and useless" ethnic minority soldiers who used racism as a "cover", and that being called things like a "black bastard" was part and parcel of army life. Gee, stiff upper lip then boys, best grin and bare it!

Not so, according to the leader of the Conservative party, who immediately forced Mr. Mercer to resign. Take note America!