Coulter, Maher Duke It Out

Ann Coulter and Bill Maher generated much buzz for their conservative vs. liberal road show last night, and the sparring continues tonight as part of the 2009 Speakers Series. Still, while the two will stake out enemy positions, they confess to being friends, writes Dave Itzkoff in the New York Times. “Unlike so many people in America, she was not afraid to get booed,” said Maher. Coulter, meanwhile, praised Maher's bipartisan spirit, which kept his old Politically Correct from being a "snoozefest."

Some highlights from last night's debate, the first of three:

• Coulter: "They like carpenters,” referring to media comparisons of Obama to Jesus. “It’s plumbers they hate.”
• Maher: “They’ve gone from the party of Lincoln to the party of winkin'," referring to Sarah Palin.
• Coulter blamed "yuppy scum house-flippers" for the housing crisis.
• Maher: “You’re just being a dunk-tank clown, looking to sell more baseballs," after Coulter's claim that many scientists don't believe in evolution.

(More Bill Maher stories.)