Conservative U.S.... ummm... commentator?... Ann Coulter is just hours away from taking the stage at Calgary's Red and White Club and frankly, I could care less. I don't care anymore about Coulter speaking (about anything) than I do about watching a midget wrestling pay-per-view or clipping my toenails with a rusty saw.

Why? Because I'm likely to learn as much about free speech (or whatever the hell she was paid to come here and speak about) from the latter as I am from Coulter. This is pure theatre. A publicity stunt. Nothing more. If the organizers of this travelling circus truly wanted to shed some light on free speech issues in Canada, why not have someone who can speak intelligently on the subject instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel for a divisive sideshow like Coulter.

Sure she can stand on a soapbox and spout off about anyone who dare disagree with her narrow-mined worldview, and that's OK. I worry more about the people who happily pay money to see her "performance" than what actually spews out of her maw. She's simply not worth this much hype and hoopla.

In fact, take away the stiletto shoes, the TV cameras and pull out from behind the podium and plop her onto a street corner with a dirty hat laid at her feet and suddenly she's not so scary. She's the sad, look-at-me provocateaur whose 15 minutes of fame are up and has been reduced to the B-level speaker curcuit she was always destined for.

UPDATE: For anyone who doesn't know who Ann Coulter, or what she stands for, watch this. Attacking widows of 9/11 victims? Stay classy Ann.