I will leave most of the sage words and research to Joe Conason at Salon, but this meme that Bill Clinton is really to blame for 9/11 just won’t seem to go away:

The list of Clinton’s actions against terrorism and specifically against al-Qaida is long; the list of his efforts to prepare domestically against a terrorist attack is even longer. He and his aides tried to warn the incoming Bush administration about al-Qaida’s plans to attack the United States, but they were brushed aside, as were the study group led by former Sens. Gary Hart and Warren Rudman; Bush’s own counterterrorism director, Richard Clarke; and CIA chief George Tenet.

As for Giuliani, what did he do after the ’93 bombing? In their reporting for “Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11,” journalists Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins went to great lengths to find out. The answer, they discovered, was that he did nothing. And he said nothing. After he was elected mayor later that year, he still did and said nothing about terrorism, a pattern of inaction and inattention that continued for years, even as the trials of the bombing perpetrators went on in his city — and even as federal investigators uncovered terrorist plots to blow up the Hudson River tunnels and other major New York City targets.

See, according to Giuliani (sorry, but the diminutive “Rudy” is saved for those who deserve it), Bill Clinton failed to do anything after the 1993 WTC bombings, and that apparently led to the 9/11 attacks (I’m paraphrasing his argument, of course).

All this does is draw attention to what Republicans were doing about terrorism in the 1990’s. From encouraging withdrawal from Somalia to mocking retaliation for the 1998 African embassy bombings (would Repubs have supported sending in troops then?), the short answer to that question is this: nothing. They were mostly concerned with blowjobs.

A quick note about Ann Coulter’s total meltdown on Joe Scarborough’s show–it must really suck to have to constantly explain yourself to the very people you insult and mock on paper. Not that I expected anything better from her, but she has raised cowardice to a new height. To mock a bereaved mother and then act aggrieved when that mother has the gall to politely ask her to stop. I feel so sorry for Ann, because one day she will realize what a truly horrible waste of a human being she is, and there will be no one left who cares by then.

I have many more thoughts that I will share later today, but to quickly summarize, on the miniscule chance Ann reads this: you are a coward and a pitiful excuse for a human being, and in your heart you know that.

Okay, there is a certain irony to my title for this post, but I couldn’t resist. I have long refrained from using Ann Coulter’s name, just so that I can rest easy knowing I haven’t helped contribute to her Google hits, but at this moment I am happy to draw attention to the smackdown she received from Elizabeth Edwards on Chris Matthews’ show:

[Edwards]: I’m making the call as a mother. I’m the mother of that boy who died. My children participate — these young people behind you are the age of my children. You’re asking them to participate in a dialogue that is based on hatefulness and ugliness instead of on the issues, and I don’t think that’s serving them or this country very well.

[Applause]

Coulter’s response? Read on:

C[oulter]: I think we heard all we need to hear. The wife of a presidential candidate is asking me to stop speaking. No.

M[atthews]: No, she asked you to stop being so negative to people individually.

C: Right, as opposed to bankrupting doctors by giving a schyster Las Vegas routine in front of juries based on science — wait, you said I’d have as long as I would have, then you instantly interrupt me.

M: Go ahead, go ahead.

C: As I was saying, doing these psychic routines in front of illiterate juries to bankrupt doctors who now can’t deliver babies, and to charge a poverty group $50,000 for a speech. Don’t talk to me about how to use language.

M: Elizabeth?

E[dwards]: …the language of hate, and I’m going to ask you again to politely stop using personal attacks as part of your dialogue.

C: Okay, I’ll stop writing books.

E: If you can’t write them without them, that is fine.

Say what you will about Elizabeth Edwards, she has class, which is something Ann Coulter knows nothing about.

Plus, people like Ann never know when a “schyster” might come in handy.

This time the loofah-loving loudmouth (I love alliteration!) gets schooled by a 16-year old. Does Bill still have actual fans, or does he exist solely to make an ass of himself?