There's not much difference between being a physical bully and an intellectual one. People who claim "words can never hurt you" have probably never been intellectually bitch-slapped by a master, but trust me, words can cause injuries that last long after a bruise would have healed.

At first glance, it's hard to feel much sympathy for former Miss California Carrie Prejean. For someone who claims that her comments about gay marriage cost her a career, she seems to be doing just fine. She has a new book, a burgeoning side career as a paid speaker and a spot in conservative circles as the poster child for the liberal media's abuse of power.

But she has a point when she claims that her comments about gay marriage brought a world of hurt down on her. I'm personally pro gay marriage, and Prejean was a grown woman when she made the comments. When you take any political stance, you run the risk of offending people. Sometimes people in positions of power.

I've always believed that when you're criticizing someone about their beliefs, you should do it in an intellectual honest way. You don't make fun of their appearance, or mock their upbringing or family. You make the argument about their statements and if you're right, you win the battle for the hearts and minds of the public.

And frankly, much of what has been thrown at Prejean's way in recent days has little to do with her personal beliefs or political statements. Instead, what you hear are a lot of snarky, self-serving comments about her "sex tape," her public missteps and interview gaffs. Those are easy targets and frankly, it's an approach that I would expect to hear from the worst of the rabble rousers on the right.

Which is why I found Tuesday's final segment on "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" so disappointing. I like Olbermann, enjoy his show and if I was on television, I'd like to think that my show might be half as consistently entertaining as his is every night.

His final segment of Tuesday's show was devoted to Ms. Prejean, and for the most part it was a snarkfest of cheap sex jokes and mocking comments about her recent TV interviews. It was a segment that was unworthy of Olbermann's skills. From the joke about her being a "hand model" to his joy about her being called a hypocrite, Olbermann intellectually slapped her around in the same fashion that is used by his nemesis Rush Limbaugh. He mocked her misuse of the phrase "free speech" and argued that for someone who claimed she was being prevented from talking publicly, she was making a lot of appearances on television.

But Olbermann knows all too well that was she meant. She didn't mean that she was unable to speak freely, but that there were people who were offended by her beliefs and wanted to punish her for speaking out. Yes, she might not be an artful speaker and she's an easy target for someone of Olbermann's intellectual prowess. But just because you can slap someone around verbally doesn't make it right.

Now if he had argued that what someone says in public has consequences, then I'm fine with that. But the cheap, leering jokes about how she pleasured herself for a boyfriend are just intellectually lazy. I get that it's fun, in the same way that it's fun to listen to that doofus Levi Johnston ramble on about Sarah Palin.

Honestly, I don't understand why some people are so thrilled to discover that someone who argues for conservative Christian beliefs in public might enjoy giving a boyfriend a little something to think about in private. It's not hypocrisy, it's just a 17 year-old being human and trusting. Is that really what we want to focus on? Whether or not Prejean made a sex tape or posed for semi-nude photos doesn't matter one whit when it comes to the discussion of why she lost the Miss America title. And it doesn't touch on the reasons why she's suddenly such a darling for the right.

Maybe I'm just naive, but I expect better from Olbermann and the others on the left who seem to delight in chuckling about the flaws of Prejean's personal life. That's not the discussion I want to see my side making. We're better than that.

Or, at least I thought we were.