Several readers point out that Ms. Coulter’s words about Sen. Edwards were taken out of context. She did not say that she was actively wishing he would be killed but that, to avoid problems in the future, she should say it would be good if he had been killed in much the same way that Bill Maher said of Vice President Cheney. Here is her exact quote:

But about the same time, you know, Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack. So I’ve learned my lesson. If I’m gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future, I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.

I was actually sitting across from Bill Maher when he went off talking about the Vice President. Maher didn’t actually say what Coulter said he said. There’s no need for further tail chasing here. Both of them were wrong. Enough said.
This does not, however, change my basic point – conservative Christian activists need to publicly distance themselves from her for the sake of the Gospel. Too many people in this world look at Ann Coulter and listen to what she says and think, “Ah yes, this is what Christians do.” That is not, of course, true. What most Christians do is to love God and their family and their neighbors. But so long as the conservative Christian activists are in bed (metaphorically speaking) with Ms. Coulter it sends a very different message.
More of them need to follow the example of people like Dr. Al Mohler who has denounced her. Good for him and thanks to a reader for pointing that out to me.