OK, but you're missing the point. Lots of conservatives condemned her comments almost immediately -- independent of any demands by the left -- because they genuinely considered her words to be inappropriate. I agree that conservatives shouldn't react simply to placate to the left. What stuns me is how many people assume that a conservative can't possibly consider personal attacks to be inappropriate. I don't need to be told by the left that what she said was inappropriate. I can see that for myself. If I expect my children to be civil, why can't I expect a woman, who is older than me and Ivy-league-educated, to behave in a civil manner? It is one thing to stand up to the demands of the left, if you don't agree with them. It is quite another thing to be obstinate and refuse to condemn something, knowing full well you would jump on it if a liberal had said it, simply because you don't want to be dictated to. If you genuinely applaud the use of personal attacks then, by all means, applaud her. I don't. So I won't. And I like to think that conservatives are nice, civil people.
Many republicans react to incidents like these just like Pavlov's dog - no one need say anything, the tone has been set and the party faithful tuck their tails at the slightest whiff of controversy.
All this complaining reeks of moral posturing anyway and its premise is an acceptance (made manifest by an ultra-sensitivity) of the characterizations of the right the left has made for years.
If you do not know the context in which Ann Coulter writes than I can understand why you think her statement is uncivil. However, I have read all her books and I read her weekly column and I understand her writings and because of that I do not and will not take offense from it. Anyone who does, is acting "holier than thou" or appeasing to the dems. That's my story.
Many conservative commentators were shocked when conservatives readers roared back on the conservative's forums and blogs in support of Ann.
It is a Pavlovian response. The MSM raises their newspapers to swat the offensive conservative and there is a collective cringe by the politicians. After many beatings, the trainer sometimes regrets overstepping the boundery too often.