The author's references to Miss Coulter's physique (he calls her "skinny" in many ways) are out of line. Likewise the mention of the length of her skirt. The way she chooses to present herself in public is up to her. People will draw their own conclusions without any help from Mr. Alterman.

He does better when he criticizes her use of terms like "birdbrain" and "half-wit" as synonyms for prominant people who do not share her views. The way a grown-up criticizes a person is to criticize the person's ideas, not to call them names. When Mr. Alterman calls Miss Coulter a "malevolent Twiggy with Tourette's", he becomes like her in his choice of terms of debate.

He should be ashamed. He's better than that.

Regards--
Mary Anne

PS-- This, of course, means that any future discussions of Miss Coulter here shall either strictly have to do with debates of her intellectual qualities, or will be seen to be right-wing slobbering over "women who are not fat who agree with us". That's another whole discussion.