Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/26/wingnuts.schultz.coulter.cnn.getty.art.jpg caption="Ed Schultz (L) and Ann Coulter (R). CNN and Getty Images"]

I call it the ‘split-scream’ – partisans screaming talking points at each other on your television screen. Usually it’s so predictable that you can figure out what they’re saying with the sound off.

But sometimes the epidemic of political infotainment gets so extreme that it veers into cruelty, callousness and the near-justification of violence. That’s what we see in this week’s "Wingnuts" – Anne Coulter on the right and Ed Schultz on the left.

On Monday night, author and conservative commentator Anne Coulter went on Fox News’ "The O’Reilly Factor" to talk more about the killing of abortion doctor George Tiller. A trip to Crazy Town ensued.

When O’Reilly asked why conservative male commentators had been silent about Dr. George Tiller’s murder, as opposed to Coulter and some of her female conservative colleagues, Coulter replied: “I’ve noticed there haven’t been a lot of people talking about it. I’d like to think it’s because they’re hungover from the ‘Hooray George Tiller is dead’ party, but I think that’s not it.”

But Coulter was just getting warmed up. “I don’t really like to think of it as murder,” she said. “It was terminating Tiller in the 203rd trimester.”

After that line, O’Reilly tried to bring Coulter down to earth with a reality check, saying “But you can’t diminish what that killer did or you have anarchy.” Coulter did not take the bait, offering this clarification: “I am personally opposed to shooting abortionists, but I don’t want to impose my moral values on others.”

This, of course, a dry parody of the position that most Americans have on abortion – they are personally opposed to it, but believe that individuals should make up their own mind on this most difficult personal decision. Her final shot of self-justification? “There have been only five abortion doctors killed in 35 years.” Only.

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/19/wingnuts.racist.playboy.art.jpg caption="Email sent by TN state legislative aide (L) and Playboy.com article (R)."]

If you debase or dehumanize people who disagree with you politically, you’re deep into wingnut territory. That’s what we see in this installment of "Winguts of the Week," which looks at racist emails sent by southern Republican politicos and an ugly Playboy web-feature on “Conservative women we hate to love.” Get ready for a generous helping of racism and sexism from the right and the left.

I love the South, but southern conservatives have a notoriously complicated history where race and politics intersect. Little learning curve was shown in South Carolina this week when longtime local GOP activist Rusty DePass "joked" that First Lady Michelle Obama was descended from a gorilla, which had gone missing from a local zoo: "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors – probably harmless." Watch

The comment, posted on the former state election director and Richmond County GOP chair’s Facebook page, drew widespread outrage. (Note to the over-60 crowd: the world of social networking isn’t conducive to racist asides that might have gone unchallenged in a country club or pool hall.)

DePass’s initial public defense was to claim that Michelle herself had said she was descended from apes. This apparent Scopes-Monkey Trial-era reference to evolution was not consistent with anything found in the first lady’s remarks. Silence about the scandal from the South Carolina Republican leadership was deafening but Mr. DePass eventually wrote a letter of apology to the first lady, presented in front of the local NAACP. Seems like evolution of attitudes might be a good thing all around.

But Rusty DePass wasn’t the only southern Republican politico to wade into the murky waters of racist emails masquerading as humor. This week, Tennessee state legislative aide Sherri Goforth found herself in the national news when she emailed an image labeled “Historical Keepsake” – showing the august portraits of presidents of the United States from George Washington on, ending with a pair of googly-eyes peering out from a black background to symbolize President Obama.

When confronted, the aide to State Senator Diane Black said only that she regretted sending the image to the wrong email list and from her government address. She stated that she had been "reprimanded" by her supervisors but not otherwise punished, let alone sacked, for sending out the email on the taxpayer’s dime. Here’s an idea – send her to work at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis for a few months on furlough.

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/11/wright.drake.gi.art.jpg caption="Reverend Jeremiah Wright (L) and Pastor Wiley S. Drake (R). Getty Images."]

A new survey by the Pew Research Center reaffirms that America is a religious nation, but it also shows that young voters across the political spectrum are turning away from the inter-mixed influence of religion on politics.

This week’s wingnuts on the left and right offer examples of why the separation of church and state is making a common sense comeback for this new generation – the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Pastor Wiley Drake.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright became a staple of campaign ’08 with comments that elevated him to all-time Wingnut Hall of Fame. But after he almost sank former parishioner Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency, Rev. Wright mercifully faded into the background.

That was until this week when he reinserted himself into the political debate with an interview to Virginia’s Daily Press, in which he said: “Them Jews aren't going to let him [President Obama] talk to me." Read more

This off-hand anti-Semitism brings to mind the reverend’s previously infamous sermons. There were his post-9/11 comments that “We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

There was the accusation that the U.S. government was behind the AIDS virus and the infamous riff that “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”

In this week’s comments, Rev. Wright reaffirmed that he has no regrets for these and other flashes of extremism from his 20 years on the pulpit in Chicago, which were characterized by content as well as controversy. At a time when President Obama is trying to build new bridges to moderates throughout the Middle East, Rev. Wright’s comments remain unhelpful in the extreme.

On the right is a less widely-known name. Pastor Wiley Drake served as a second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he ran to be vice president of the United States alongside former ambassador and Obama adversary Alan Keyes on a fringe third party ticket. Now he says that he is praying for President Obama’s death after his prayers for the death of Kansas abortionist George Tiller were "answered."

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/05/rall.tancredo.art.jpg caption="Ted Rall (L) and Tom Tancredo (R)."]

In the wingnut view of the world, there is no accusation too extreme and no problem that can’t be solved with a demand for the president’s resignation. Need new proof? Take a look at this week’s wingnuts – Tom Tancredo and Ted Rall.

The debate over the Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination took an unexpected turn this week, with Republicans on defense after accusations of racism started sounding wingnutty even to some supporters.

Tom Tancredo’s comments were case in point. The creationist former Colorado congressman and self-styled anti-illegal immigrant crusader took to the airwaves and managed to conjure up not one but two howlers in the space of days.

Judge Sotomayor is a member of the National Council of La Raza, the country’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization, which counts among its 300 major sponsors companies like Wal-Mart. Even if you disagree with their prescription for immigration reform, it sounds pretty legit, right? Not in the world according to Tom Tancredo, who took an opportunity on CNN to describe the organization as “nothing more than a ... Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses.”

KKK comparisons are just short of Nazi comparisons in the hierarchy of out-of-bounds political metaphors. The KKK is the KKK – full stop. Unless there are actual lynchings involved, it’s best to back off.

But maybe Tancredo was just having an off moment, spurred by emotional scars from the immigration debate. He quickly surrendered any benefit of the doubt when he was asked by David Shuster on MSNBC whether he thought “the Obama administration hates white people.” Tancredo couldn’t quite bring himself to sound reasonable even in the face of that logical softball, pausing for thought and then saying “I don’t know.” When incredulously pushed again, Tancredo laid his cards on the table: “I have no idea whether they hate white people or not!”

Really? This would be news to the millions of white people who voted for Obama, let alone the white members of his cabinet and staff – to say nothing of the members of his mother’s family. For all the wingnut hocus pocus during the campaign, (remember the “Obama is the anti-Christ” emails?) the closest to this conspiracy theory was the Pennsylvania McCain volunteer who carved a “B” on her face, claiming she was assaulted by a black Obama supporter. Note to Republicans: Give the obsession with race a rest.

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/29/yoest.maloney.2.cnn.art.jpg caption="Rep. Carolyn Maloney (L) and Charmaine Yoest (R)."]

This week, Supreme Court battles and new spending promises are pre-occupying Washington, and giving us the Wingnuts of the Week.

Supreme Court nominations have become the Wingnut Olympics. Right-wing attacks were readied weeks ago against whomever President Obama named to the court. Left-wing hyper-partisans have done the same thing to Republican appointees in the past.

They try to demonize a nominee before they have their day in court – or in front of Congress, as the case may be. The idea of actually judging a judge fairly or suspending judgment until all the facts are in seems to be unheard of in DC these days. It’s a reflexive ideological attack, regardless of facts.

But of all the prefabricated attack-dog talking points circulated, one set rose to Wingnut of the Week status. Charmaine Yoest, President of Americans United For Life, released a statement saying that Judge Sonia Sotomayor "Will perpetuate the role of the Supreme Court as 'National Abortion Control Board'... [her] judicial philosophy undermines common ground. She is a radical pick that divides America."

There are legitimate ways to question and criticize a Supreme Court nominee – by quoting past statements and studying past opinions. But Yoest’s comments were ugly on a whole different level, treating Judge Sotomayor as a threat to the republic. That’s an absurd demonization and dehumanization.

Yoest is claiming that Judge Sotomayor divides Americans, but Yoest is the one trying to divide us. The fact is we don’t even know Judge Sotomayor’s position on abortion – she backed up the Bush administration’s right to deny federal funds to abortion rights organizations in one decision. Some liberal groups are expressing concern that she might not be liberal enough for their liking on this issue – but all that seems to be an inconvenient truth. And calling the Supreme Court the “National Abortion Control Board” – well that’s about as single-issue wingnut as you get. I’m pretty sure that’s not how Chief Justice John Roberts views his day job. Wingnuts use fear as a recruiting tool. For them, all’s fair in love, war and Supreme Court nomination battles.

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