Can anyone explain to me what gives Andrew Sullivan the to right use the word "faggot" with impunity?

I have to say that I find it very annoying that he is using the word to describe Mickey Kaus, and I think it tends to undermine what I thought was his position that the word should not be used.

Actually, while I do not defend either (and I wrote several posts criticizing Ann Coulter for her use of the word), a good argument can be made that Sullivan's use of the word is at least as odious as Ann Coulter's. Here's what he said (in a post titled "The Faggot-Guy"):

....from now on, inspired by South Park, on those few occasions when his name comes up, [Mickey Kaus] will have a new appellation on this blog. He's the Faggot-Guy now. How does it feel, Faggot-Guy?

For the record: 1) I don't defend and haven't defended use of the ugly and offensive word "faggot." On Ann Coulter's remarks, I wrote that it's a "a toxic word that shouldn't have been used even in a joke--or anyway in that joke." It's not a word I use or accept others using.

Here's why I think Sullivan's word use is at least as egregious as Coulter's:

While making it clear that she intended it as a putdown of John Edwards, Ann Coulter did not directly call Edwards a "faggot." She used praeteritio -- a rhetorical trick which involves saying something by saying you won't say it.

Ann Coulter later explained that she believed the term was acceptable only when used to describe heterosexuals as long as it was not implied they were gay. By using the term to put down a heterosexual man without any implication that he is gay, Sullivan has implicitly endorsed Ann Coulter's tactical use of the insult, except he criticized her for doing what he now does. By his own standards, this makes Sullivan a hypocrite.

Sullivan is gay, and Coulter is not. By taking special advantage of his gay status, Sullivan uses the word and uses identity politics as a protective shield. This tends to encourage bigots to use the word by almost daring them, and I think it's irresponsible, and certainly should not be coming from a man who many consider to be a de facto gay leader.

While I would never call for censorship of any kind, I have many times called for civility, and I think the use of derogatory pejoratives to insult people is beyond the pale -- whether by an leading author at CPAC or by a leading blogger attacking another blogger. I think it is especially abhorrent for Sullivan to be doing this, because he knows damned well that anyone who retaliates in kind will automatically look like a bigot. The thing is, by calling Kaus a faggot, he's inviting the use of this word in his own slimy way, just as Ann Coulter invited it in her own slimy way.

I think it's reprehensible, and I think Sullivan should apologize.

Of course, Ann Coulter hasn't apologized, and since Sullivan appears to be following her lead, I don't expect he will either.

The only thing I can say in Sullivan's defense is that I think he's being a copycat; Ann Coulter started this latest outburst of calling people faggots, and now Sullivan has shown himself unable to resist tagging along. I think the left has benefited enormously from Ann Coulter's remarks (as Rand Simberg said, she fragged her own troops). So far, people not on the left are fighting, while people on the left are gloating.

In a comment to my earlier post about the Ann Coulter episode, I asked, "Will any good come of this?"

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not seeing any good yet.

(Sorry, but this post was no fun. Neither is this topic.)