Fun With Maureen Dowd


Some people think Maureen Dowd needs to be muzzled, a la Hannibal Lecter (see Left). I mirror Lecter’s words when he once said: “I myself do not.” She manages to step on her throat, seemingly unprodded, with sufficient pressure — and no additional assistance necessary — just like the Dems and the DEM themselves.

From the current March 17th issue of The Week:

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd asked an Australian newspaper last week to help her find romance. Dowd was in Australia to promote her feminist manifesto, Are Men Necessary?, when she confessed that she always had a thing for Australian guys. “If they can take a strong, sassy woman, Australian men should please apply,” she told the Sydney Australian. The paper got dozens of replies.

“If she can answer this question, I’ll let her have me,” wrote one man. “How many blokes does it take to open a beer can? None. Maureen should have had it opened when she brought it to me.”

‘Nuff said, mate.

IN THAT SAME ISSUE, AND IN A SIMILAR VEIN:

Charlotte Allen wrote recently in the Los Angeles Times: “Betty Friedan, it seems, died just in time to roll over in her grave.” Why is that, you might wonder? It would seem that a new University of Virginia study has disproved feminism’s principal tenet — that traditional marriage leaves women unfulfilled and miserable.

In a survey of more than 5,000 couples, sociologists found that 52% of “stay-at-home” wives rates themselves as “very happy.” That was contrasted with 41% of working wives who likewise described themselves as “very happy.”

The survey also managed to challenge the so-called “utopian” notion that housework and child care should be split evenly. The survey, in a clear non-PC fashion, revealed that women are happiest when their husbands are committed to the marriage, appreciative of their wives’ contributions, and emotionally open. “It doesn’t much matter whether they dust and do the dishes,” The Week noted.

John Tierney of The New York Times responded by writing that “the happiest wives, regardless of the family’s overall income, were the ones whose husbands brought in at least 2/3rds of the money.” Even feminists who said they believed in “a partnership of equals” were far happier with men who provided most of the family’s income.

Further, Jenice Armstrong of the Philadelphia Daily News observed: Women may be hard-wired to prefer men who are good providers, but the findings clearly indicate women are happiest with “a loving partner” who is “romantic, affectionate, and understanding.”

“In the end,” she says, “the answer to the age-old question of what women want is no surprise. It’s simply love.”

BUT WAIT: THE FEMINISTS WEIGH IN

Meghan O’Rourke from Slate.com said that women still aren’t sure what they want. She writes that “the more you scrutinize a relationship, the more likely you are to find fault with it. That’s why,” she continues, “feminists are less likely to be happy than traditional, religious women. The latter, on the other hand, are free to think (italics are from the article itself — BZ) of themselves as traditionalists, even though many of them work outside the home (strictly for finanacial reasons, of course), and expect their husbands to share in the housework and the child-rearing.”

Traditional women, in other words, are generally happier because “they’re free riders on the women’s movement (though they’d deny it), whereas feminists have descended into a tangle of second guesses.”

Or, I might add, if you’re a so-called “traditionalist” (read: a woman possessing any hint of a religious embrace): you’re simply too stupid to know what you are missing.

Dems & DEM: What Sticks, Parts I and II


Senator Russell Feingold (left, of course) introduced a resolution on Monday this week to censure President Bush for the NSA wiretapping issue. From Feingold’s speech on his website:

The President authorized an illegal program to spy on American citizens on American soil, and then misled Congress and the public about the existence and legality of that program. It is up to this body to reaffirm the rule of law by condemning the President’s actions.

Never mind that Clinton tapped the crap when it served his purposes — and Carter as well. This has been documented.

Never mind that the horrendous tapping involved terrorist activity with the goal being to protect this sovereign nation.

The bottom line from all this? The Democrats voted with their feet and stayed away from Feingold in droves — instead of lining up in lockstep. Imagine that.

Unhappy with their proverbial feetsie-vote, Feingold took the Dems to task yesterday by saying: “Democrats run and hide” when the administration invokes the war on terrorism. Feingold also said: “I’m amazed at Democrats . . . cowering with this president’s numbers so low.”

In addition (now that it’s apprent this strike isn’t sticking as hoped) another Dem, Senator Debbie Stabenow (Michigan), hit the senate floor yesterday with a huge red sign that read “dangerously incompetent” while giving a speech attacking the Bush administration over first responder and Homeland Security funding.

Apparently unsatisfied by simply submitting a $5 billion federal funding increase, she felt compelled to grandstand with the sign and her statement: “God forbid that there is another terrorist attack or a natural disaster.”

Keep it up Boys and Girls; keep it up. Whereas in truth it would have been simple work (at least in theory) to chew up the GOP and completely retake the House and Senate this year — well, Dems, you’re doing your damnedest to ensure no guarantee of that outcome.

I repeat: keep it up.

Shock & Awe: McCain Faces Reality As It Is


As per the Drudge Report:

MCCAIN IN REPUBLICAN STRAW POLL EMBARRASSMENT

Sat Mar 11 2006 12:50:33 ET

Facing a loss at a 2008 straw poll event this weekend, Senator John McCain of Arizona told his supporters to write in President Bush as a sign of support, leaving many sputtering.

“For the next three years, with our country at war, he’s our president and the only one who needs our support,” McCain told nearly 2,000 party activists from 26 states gathered in Memphis. McCain, realizing the national political media had descended on the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, moved to discredit the straw poll by asking delegates to vote for Bush, insiders claim.

Instead of stopping the momentum of Majority Leader Bill Frist – widely anticipated to win the straw poll – the move seemed to expose the McCain camp’s insincerity about its position with the base.

One activist said, “McCain voted against all the Bush tax cuts… maybe he should have voted for the president then, instead of waiting for a political stunt to try and distract.”

UPDATE: Frist finished first with 36.9% in the straw poll.

Romney finished second with 14.4%, just under half as many votes as Frist.

Activists rejected the McCain campaign shenanigans with Allen tying Bush at 3rd.

The president received numerous standing ovations – he is still very popular among activists despite bad poll numbers.

Mccain finished 5th.

DOING THE HATED “LOGICAL EXTENSION (So sayeth the BZ):”

I am wondering: perhaps the Gang of 14 has caught up with our Arizona senator?

This is crushing to McCain and his supporters. He will likely minimize as much as possible — as he clearly is doing now.

On the other hand, this bespeaks volumes about our national political agendas insofar as we are nationally holding straw polls a full two + years prior to the actual election.

The Testing of the Waters has officially begun — and this is radically important contrasted to, say, two elections ago — because lines are being drawn and political strengths and barriers are being analyzed.

We think we know where this is going; I submit: we haven’t a clue — as it is yet way too early to make any kind of cogent predictions.