Matthews to Coulter: 'Do You Have a Soul?'

Those poor MSMers. They can't stand Ann Coulter. And they know that every time they vilify Ann, it only serves to drive her fame and sales of her latest book, Godless. But they just can't 'hep' themselves. They can't resist precisely the kind of mean-spirited barbs that make Ann's case and boost her bottom line.

Chris Matthews was a splendid case in point on last evening's Hardball. Consider the very first words out of Matthews mouth to Ann: "The question I have is do you have a soul? Really." See what I mean?

Seems that Chris was very distressed that Coulter had referred to Mike Dukakis as a 'Greek midget.' Hey, it wasn't Ann who popped that helmet on Mike and stuck him in that tank.

And later: "Here we are. We have Ann Coulter. Look at her. The picture of heaven. All brain, no heart. Just kidding. Let's go now to the first question."

Chris was on his annual university tour, and liberal students in the audience, perhaps taking their cue from Chris, did their bit to heighten Ann's profile. Take this exchange:

Student: "Hi, Ann. I'm just wondering how you can call yourself a Christian or even look at yourself in the mirror in the morning and use words like the one you just used to describe Gore. Just curious.".

Coulter: "Which biblical command does joking violate? And you're a big Christian, I'm guessing."

Student: "I think pure hatred, hateful rhetoric violates a lot of biblical commands."

Coulter: "I will try to adopt your charm."

Even in closing, Matthews couldn't stop himself from insulting Ann: "A smart lady. Her book is called 'Godless.' Sometimes being smart isn't enough for a civil discourse."

Thanks, Chris. Ann will cry all the way to the top of the best-seller list.