Ann Coulter: she loves a good row.
Photograph: Jim Cooper/APIt takes something to unite all three Republican presidential candidates in defence of one of their prospective Democrat opponents.
That something, it seems, is ultra-conservative pundit and all round controversy junkie Ann Coulter.
The columnist, who has previously delighted in referring to Muslims as "ragheads" and expressing regret Timothy McVeigh did not target the New York Times building instead, has ignited her latest media firestorm with what many have condemned as a cheap playground jibe.
As this clip shows, Ms Coulter ended a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference with the quip:
"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I - so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards."
The somewhat curious phrasing is an oblique reference to Isaiah Washington, one of the stars of TV medical drama Grey's Anatomy, who responded to controversy over claims he had used a similar epithet against a co-star by checking into a clinic of "psychological evaluation".
Anyhow, the three declared Republican candidates, John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney, all denounced Ms Coulter.
Mr Edwards - who is married - now has a page on his campaign website letting viewers see a clip of the insult, asking them to contribute to a special "Coulter cash" fund with a target of $100,000.
Overall, what the fuss seems to illustrate most of all is Ms Coulter's love of - and talent for - a good row, preferably driven by insult, the more gratuitous and sweeping the better.
As some pundits have pointed out, liberal comedian and pundit Bill Maher said seemingly even more controversial on his HBO talkshow - to the effect that a bomb that narrowly missed Dick Cheney in Afghanistan last week would have ended up saving lives had it killed the vice-president - to much less reaction.
Perhaps that is it: to Ms Coulter, the controversy and outraged headlines are an end unto themselves.
As one weary US blogger, Stillettos and Sneakers, headlined her entry about the fuss, "Breaking news: Ann Coulter insults people, people bewildered."
She adds:
"Coulter is an attention seeking halfwit with a dangerous brain. That's who she is. Period. Why expect her to be someone she isn't?"
