Borat the home-wrecker

Sacha Baron Cohen must be sick of himself by now.

His publicity campaign for “Borat: Etc. Etc. Etc.� was unrelenting, but the film stood up to that. Then came the avalanche of lawsuits by unsuspecting dupes looking anything from vaguely fatuous to full-bore stupid – regrettable, perhaps, but given a litigious society in which every imagined slight induces “pain and suffering� worthy of “damages,� not altogether unforeseen. Getting punched in the face in New York for playing Borat – even though there were no cameras nearby – that’s getting out of hand.

And now, Cohen’s coup de grace: Breaking up Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock’s nervously passionate marriage. Per the New York Post: After a private screening of “Borat� for some of Hollywood's privileged, Mr. Rock "started screaming at Pam, saying she had humiliated herself and telling her, 'You're nothing but a whore! You're a slut! How could you do that movie?' - in front of everyone. It was very embarrassing.�

This, from the guy who appeared in “Joe Dirt� and the video game “Buttman at Nudes a Poppin’ 9� and has lent his music to such esteemed projects as “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector,� “Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle,� “Coyote Ugly� and “WWF: Raw is War.� One might’ve felt a little more sympathy had that been his response to Anderson’s work in the Fox series “Stacked.�

So, let’s get this straight: Kid is just now realizing that his wife is a sex symbol and that obese men around the world might employ her image in ritualistic self-abuse if a Victoria’s Secret catalogue isn’t within reaching distance – and that’s not the reason he married her in the first place? Can this guy even tie his shoes, or does he just use Velcro straps?

Meanwhile, there is much hand-wringing over whether Cohen can manage this same prank again. The automatic assumption that Cohen – a proven master of misdirection – will make a film featuring Bruno, the gay fashionista who served as the third of “Da Ali G Show’s� holy trinity of idiots seems disingenuous at best and buffoonish at worst. The thinking seems to be, well, the guy has created three comic characters; he has to be tapped out by now. Has it occurred to no one that this master of disguise might just have a trick or two still up his sleeve?

After all, this is the guy who asked Newt Gingrich if Republicans endorsed anal sex as a means of preventing unwanted pregnancies. So, just a friendly word of caution to people everywhere: If a guy with a funny accent comes up to you and asks you to sign an impenetrable legal form, and if you’re stupid, and if said guy with a funny accent seems to start playing to your stupidity, don’t walk; run to the nearest exit.