Interesting segment, not because Coulter’s advancing any new criticisms of Palin but because she’s willing to acknowledge openly the political risk on the right in criticizing her in the first place. According to Coulter, conservatives refuse to challenge Palin publicly because they don’t want to deal with the hate mail from her supporters. That’s part of it, I’m sure — by now, all columnists and bloggers know what awaits after criticizing Palin or, say, Ron Paul — but I suspect the better part is that there’s simply no faster ticket to RINOville among some grassroots conservatives than uttering a discouraging word about Sarah. It’s the ultimate “one of us” litmus test; not even a right-winger as stalwart and confrontational as Coulter is immune, apparently, from the inevitable establishment/RINO/sellout/”Beltway cocktail party” nonsense afterward. That said, I’m curious why she’s speaking up now. Has she reached the point where she just doesn’t care anymore? Or is she so worried about the election that she’s willing to lose some fans in the interest of maximizing the GOP’s advantage?

Exit quotation: “She’s become sort of the Obama of the tea party, she’s just ‘The One’ to a certain segment of right-wingers.” Click the image to watch.