At Least Five Papers Have Dropped Ann Coulter

Media Matters has a growing list of newspapers that have dropped Ann Coulter's column as a result of protest following her CPAC "joke" referring to Senator John Edwards as a "faggot".

The Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania), The Oakland Press (Michigan), and The Mountain Press (Sevierville, Tennessee), The Times of Shreveport (Louisiana), and the American Press (Louisiana) have all dropped the columnist from their editorial pages.

MM also has a list of all the papers which carry Coulter's column as well as email addresses for their editors.

In related news, Think Progress reports that right-wing columnist Michelle Malkin is trying to downplay Coulter's remarks by claiming that the so-called hate mail she has received from liberals following the Matt Sanchez story basically excuses Coulter:

Malkin: "I said the other day I thought CPAC organizers would be justified in being embarrassed if the rumors about Sanchez’s porn star past 15 years ago turned out to be true. Well, the rumors are true. But it is neither CPAC nor Cpl. Sanchez who should feel embarrassed. It’s the nasty, gloating liberals who claim to stand for tolerance, privacy, human rights, and compassion. I predicted the other day that left-wing bigotry would rear its ugly head. I was right. The e-mail I’ve received is more disgusting than anything Ann Coulter stupidly said at CPAC."

But as Think Progress correctly notes: "It’s unclear why liberals should be embarrassed because they believe in privacy (Sanchez’ history was completely public) or tolerance and human rights (liberals don’t care if he was gay). What’s notable is that Malkin compares Coulter to these alleged 'liberal' emailers. Malkin doesn’t get it: the random people allegedly writing her don’t have regular appearances on NBC News or receive warm praise from leading presidential candidates."

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Right-wing Porn Marine Matt Sanchez "Bad at Being Gay"

USMC reservist porn star Matt Sanchez, now the right wing's darling, was a topic of conversation last night on MSBNC's Countdown. Max Blumenthal of The Nation spoke about the recent revelations:

Blumenthal: "I fully expect the people who supported him on the right to throw him under the bus now, because these authoritarian conservatives treat each other as compassionately as disabled veterans...

...you know, several gay bloggers, like for instance T Rex and Firedoglake have talked for years about the existence of sort of a gay Republican underground railroad that's funneled people like Jeff Gannon and Corporal Matt Sanchez from the fringes of the adult industry into the core of the conservative movement and they've played an influential role in the backlash politics of the conservative movement and the Republican party. That's really what's relevant here. It doesn't matter, inherently, that he was a gay porn star. What matters is that he's a hypocrite who's advancing the ideological homophobia of the right and helping them exploit this homophobia for political gain."

And Sanchez vaguely and defensively addressed a few interview questions for blogger Joe.My.God yesterday. Said Sanchez: "There's something about the beleaguered gay psyche that wants to prove to the world that everyone is just as messed up as they are. So, they start off with the term hypocrite and work their way backwards looking for signs of deviant behavior in hopes of discovering some type of bastard kinship." Read the interview. It's rich.

Sanchez is the last person to be accusing anyone of having a "beleaguered gay psyche".

When JMG asks Sanchez directly if he is gay, he dodges the question: "Boyfriends: 0 Fiance: 2 Wife: 1. I'd say I'm pretty bad at being gay." Based on my acquaintance with Sanchez a good 18 years ago, he was pretty good at being gay. Apparently what he's very bad at is accepting it.

ADDENDUM: Salon today published a two-page op-ed piece by Sanchez:

"By the way, as a political minority on the Columbia campus, people are always asking me, 'How can you be a conservative? They're so hateful.' That wasn't the feeling I got when I accepted my award. And it's not what I've been hearing from the conservative community since my 'outing.'"

Ya think? That's the same conservative community that cheered when Ann Coulter called John Edwards a "faggot". Now that his past has been displayed, does Sanchez really think those wingnuts will be welcoming him with open arms?

Matt Sanchez responds, sort of... [joe.my.god]
Porn Free [salon]

Thanks to Jordy at virtual matter for the video clip.

Conservatives Laud Gay Porn Star Marine

Cpl. Matt Sanchez, a USMC reservist, was recently feted at the CPAC conference where Ann Coulter made her "faggot" joke. Sanchez has been on all the conservative chat shows talking about the poor reception he has received from "radical anti-military students" while recruiting for the Marines at Columbia University, which he attends, and the right-wingers have quickly come to his defense.

What the conservatives apparently don't know is that Sanchez has acted in many gay adult films, and Joe.My.God, who tipped me off to the story, notes the irony: 'Now, porn stars are entitled to enter the military, although Sanchez obviously had to do it on the downlow. Porn stars are entitled to have a right-wing ideology, even though the very people he supports would love to see gay porn stars strung up by the nuts. (Wait, have I seen that movie?) But, Oh.The.Irony. of Sanchez appearing with Bill O'Reilly who only a couple of days went apoplectic over San Francisco's 'Colt Studio Day.' And OH, the irony of Ann 'Faggot' Coulter happily posing with Sanchez for a photo-op."

I was shocked to see this story this morning, for the main reason that Matthew Sanchez and I met at a gay bar in San Jose, California and went on a few dates in 1989 when I was a graduate student at Stanford. I haven't seen him since. It was brought to my attention after we had finished dating that he had gone on to do gay adult films but I had no idea he had joined the military and was also holding hands with folks who would be so loath to accept him into their ranks had they any clue to his background.

I had not been following Sanchez on the right-wing talkies, and had I caught those segments you would have heard about this story much sooner. Though perhaps that was for the best, because should the story behind Sanchez have been brought to light any earlier, O'Reilly, Coulter, and others may not have been caught with their pants down on this one.

Jeff Gannon Redux [joe.my.god]
Dirty Sanchez [tom bacchus] (CAUTION: NSFW)