Annie C.

I was a bit surprised by NRO's decision to pull the plug on everybody's favorite female, Ms. Ann Coulter. Sure, it is logical that a publication would be covering its eyes when they first saw what Coulter had written and published directly after 9/11, but after the initial shock dissipated, I would have figured that the magazine and its publishers would be somewhat pleased with Coulter's offensive and visceral response.

From a business standpoint, any press is good press. In fact, one must look no further than Coulter herself to prove this adage true: her career took off after her aggressive and emotional comments. One would think that once the dust had settled, NRO would be elated to have Coulter on staff as she had made a name for herself and therefore could help expand the magazine's readership. Plain and simple, love her or hate her, Coulter has become much more of a household name since these infamous comments.

With that in mind, I would have assumed that NRO would have scolded her in public but been patting her on the back behind closed doors. Issuing a public apology on her behalf would have been reasonable, but firing her seemed to be a shortsighted attempt at rising above the controversial Coulter. I would love to see how many readers the NRO has gained since dismissing Coulter (my guess is in the ballpark of, say, zero). So congratulations to the NRO people in charge of firing Coulter -- she is a crazed, hysterical loon -- but I compel the publication to consider the financial impact of a decision like that in the future. Any press is good press, right?