Before the facebook and social media era, most everything on the internet was at least somewhat anonymous. You didn't use your real name in chat rooms or forums, you used a psuedo-name or nickname, which gave a person some freedom to be how they really wanted to be.
Now, in the days of social media, we are no longer using nicknames, we are using real names and this is presenting problems in some areas.
I have heard very little about this Ann Coulter person, but, I did read a bit about her comment or tweet calling President Obama a retard. I don't agree with name calling but, I have seen it all too much...
As a moderator for a website, which allows anonymous comments (like this one), I have seen this too often. People love to call others names, especially if they can remain anonymous.