Ann Coulter takes pride in being, as she calls it,  "the right-wing Judy Garland." Less comfortable with this distinction is conservative media company World Net Daily, which is dropping Coulter from its upcoming "Taking America Back National Conference" after the commentator accepted a speaking engagement at GOProud's Homocon 2010, an annual gathering for gay conservatives. WND editor Joseph Farah broke the news on the company's website:

Ultimately, as a matter of principle, it would not make sense for us to have Ann speak to a conference about taking America back when she clearly does not recognize that the ideals to be espoused there simply do not include the radical and very 'unconservative' agenda represented by GOProud," said Farah. "The drift of the conservative movement to a brand of materialistic libertarianism is one of the main reasons we planned this conference from the beginning.

Coulter, who will keep her position as a WND columnist, was less-than-fazed. From the same press release:

Asked by Farah why she was speaking to GOProud, Coulter said: 'They hired me to give a speech, so I'm giving a speech. I do it all the time.'

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Ray Gustini