The good news — a group of conservative blogs has published an open letter to those who sponsored and organized this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference asking that they no longer give Ann Coulter a platform to do her shock-jock-political schtick.

Personally, I think they should continue to let her shoot her mouth off; letting her speak guarantees further exposure of the homophobia and racism that has been harbored, even cultivated, in the GOP and the conservative movement. The truth is that it’s not that easy to wash their hands of the very folks they court and idolize (after all, she’s a best-selling author – someone’s buying her books).

The bad news is after the flip…The bad news, no surprise, is the letter was a missed opportunity for the conservative bloggers to step up in support of those who are victimized by homophobia. Instead, it sounds like they are sorry that gum-flapping Ann bogged them down with the burden of having to explain why the laughing and clapping she received for bleating “faggot” at the premier gathering of conservatives wasn’t an endorsement of the gay-bashing that their movement has used to win elections every chance they get. Look at this, from the letter (my emphasis):

Coulter’s vicious word choice tells the world she care little about the feelings of a large group that often feels marginalized and despised. Her word choice forces conservatives to waste time defending themselves against charges of homophobia rather than advancing conservative ideas.

Within a day of Coulter’s remark John Edwards sent out a fundraising email that used Coulter’s words to raise money for his faltering campaign. She is helping those she claims to oppose. How does that advance any of the causes we hold dear?

That’s side splitting! Nope, it’s not about the LGBT citizens who are beaten, brutalized and killed that was at the core of Couter’s “faggot,” it was the fact that a Dem candidate might have filled his coffers because of it.

Now I was right out of the box criticizing the Edwards campaign for trying to fundraise off of the incident instead of calling out Coulter on her homophobia. The seriousness of her bigotry deserved a response separate from any appearance of capitalizing on it. It looked cheap and even worse, the response didn’t mention “gay,” “lesbian,” “faggot” or “homophobia” — intimating that there is something terrible (and unmentionable) about being gay, regardless of the language used to convey it. (To their credit, both John and Elizabeth Edwards issued follow up statements that addressed this).

Ed Morrissey at Captain’s Quarters, who was intellectually honest about what Coulter’s “faggot” lobbing really meant when it occurred, ran the letter. At the time of Coulter’s eruption, he said this:

At some point, Republicans will need to get over their issues with homosexuality. Regardless of whether one believes it to be a choice or a hardwired response, it has little impact on anyone but the gay or lesbian person. We can argue that homosexuality doesn’t require legal protection, but not when we have our front-line activists referring to them as “faggots” or worse. That indicates a disturbing level of animosity rather than a true desire to allow people the same rights and protections regardless of their lifestyles.

It’s too bad that this sort of sentiment didn’t end up in the final letter that went out. The fair conservatives have caught the homo-hating Freeper/LGF fleas and wonder why they are itching like crazy and having to scratch their bellies raw.

Shakes nails why the damage control letter ultimately fails.

And, you know, it’s kind of disingenuous to pretend that conservatives have to “waste time defending themselves against charges of homophobia” just because Ann Coulter used a homophobic epithet. There are some conservative bloggers who support same-sex marriage, and some who support civil unions, but there a lot more who argue that the LGBT community doesn’t deserve marriage equality and enthusiastically supported the Federal Marriage Amendment and/or various similar state amendments. Some argue the LGBT community doesn’t even deserve legally protected status, like inclusion in federal hate crimes legislation and employment protections. Some argue against gay fostering and adoption. Et cetera. Conservatives can argue from here to the moon and back that holding such policy positions doesn’t make them homophobic, but many of us fail to see it that way for what ought to be obvious reasons.

Related:

* See Paul the Spud’s take on Malkin’s “stern scolding” of Coulter