I think that the obsession with Britney, Paris, et al. comes from our desire to see the rich and famous destroyed. It is my understanding that a Detroit radio station put on a contest that awarded a prize on when Britney will commit suicide. It is almost a game to see people fall and we get excited.

What does this have to do with Ann Coulter? In a world of Sound bites, it is the objective not only of the left, but some on the right as well to shock the audience out of their stupor with outrageous sayings just as the celebrties tittilate with their debauched lifestyles. With the attention span of only a few minutes, most of us actually get excited over this stuff to give meaning to our lives. Our powers of critical thinking have been dulled over the past few decades with a subpar education system that teaches feel-good socialization and useless programs instead of the three Rs and classical learning. Civility has been reduced to a myriad of ad hominem attacks and little discussion on the issues at hand.

BTW, my favorite commentators are Michael Barone and Charles Krauthammer. They discuss the issues without shocking.