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This isn't about "free speech". No one is denying Coulter and Maher and whomever else have the right to say what they do without retribution from the government (unless their words are literally treasonous.) This is about decorum and civility. I think people should be civil. If you don't, that is fine. That is your right to defend or even applaud Coulter's uncivil tongue. But the fact that I condemn incivility does not make me any less conservative.

Amen. To the best of my knowledge, no one is calling for Coulter or Maher to be imprisoned for their dumb-assed comments. But is at least prudent, and at most an obligation, for folks who find those comments offensive to say "S/he does not speak for me," as we expect Muslims to repudiate "their own" radicals (even when their radicalism is only rhetorical and not violent), or any other group to repudiate the extremists in their midst.

Of course, no politician ever has political calculations far from his mind. The phrase "Sistah Souljah moment" has become shorthand for repudiating one's "own" radicals to cement one's mainstream credentials.

In 1992, when Sistah Souljah -- an aspiring rapper and Public Enemy hanger-on -- suggested that young black men should start shooting white folks instead of each other, that maybe the media would pay more attention that way, Bill Clinton raced to the front to condemn her comments. In so doing, he staked out a position opposing the most radical elements of the left.

Coulter has provided conservatives with a similar opportunity to stake out a moderate position by repudiating a dumb and hateful comment. As a political matter, they just about have to do so, especially in a close primary race.