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A fine example of Democratic groupthink, they just don’t get it. They can't accept that their way of looking at things is so completely wrong; they must use convoluted thinking to blame the evil "white male." In fact it sounds like a rehash of opinions on why JFK was elected by the women voters.

Hog's post here on how “How to be a good Liberal,” isn’t just humorous.

I wouldn't laugh. At the moment he's the DNC frontrunner, and after how he did his own fellow VN vets, I don't want to work for him!

sorry Cavallo, I just see it as a no brainer. I've always thought that the President of the United States should act like he was at the top of the food chain. While the polls they had back around the last elections showed the favorite Presidents to be JFK, FDR, Lincoln, and Washington; my favorites have always been Truman, Jackson, Reagan, and Roosevelt (Theodore). I wonder what Truman would have done had Kruschev slapped him? Probably a right cross! A frenchman tried to assasinate Jackson, and he darted past his bodyguards and knocked his would-be assasin on his kiester! Reagan, shut down the Soviet Union, and TR didn't balk at using the Great White Fleet to intimidate whoever needed intimidating! It's just a shame that there are so many who have to try to cultivate this image, instead of just being that to start with!

CWF wrote: "It's just a shame that there are so many who have to try to cultivate this image, instead of just being that to start with!"

i agree wholeheartedly.

robby: i didn't get any suggestion that the POTUS "shouldn't be masculine" out of that. i didn't get ANY of the things you mention out of that article.

the way i read it, the message i get is simply, "America wants a manly man as its president."

i read it as an acknowledgement that, regardless of feminism, SNAG worship or whatever else, americans still look up to and admire masculinity. what is sad, though, as CWF pointed out, is that some people try to fake it -- and while some can try and succeed, other people just look idiotic when they try to "play macho" to get that positive regard (like dukakis looked like an idiot -- he looked like a gopher popping his head up out of that tank, not a hero).

i also don't think it's about JUST straight white men admiring masculinity. by and large, it's a from-the-gut quality that we look for and admire -- even when we're in the middle of a culture that thinks it's okay to bash what we admire.

Sorry Cavallo, I may have mistaken your meaning. I read Gene's post, "they must use convoluted thinking to blame the evil "white male." and went on a rant. But I do know, when I look at Howard Dean, or John Kerry, I don't see a president...

it's all good, gents.

i didn't do a good job of translating my thoughts, and no one here has the handle of MissCleo, so i oughtn't expect you to read my mind. :)

the way i read it, frankly, was to just ignore the "politicality," in a manner of speaking, in the article. i concentrated only on what i saw as the FACT that was being communicated: american voters tend to want their presidents to appear very, very masculine.

this may be, in part, why i doubt a woman will be elected to that office in my lifetime, but that's a different point for a different thread.

they don't necessarily have to BE uber-masculine, though; they just need to APPEAR to be so. and that's not a bashing of the republicans or conservatives at all. that IS a fact: appearances count for a lot in politics.

now, we can debate whether this is a positive or negative thing about our country's tendencies, but i will say that i believe that this assertation IS true and valid: we want a manly president. we do not want a president who appears to be "wimpy" in any way.

the thing is, a balance must be struck in order for this to work. we wouldn't like a president who came off as OVERLY macho. dean's already being criticized for his primal scream in his forceful "i have a scream" speech from iowa. bush has been plenty criticised for his "bring it on" comment.

it's one thing to appear as though you "have a pair" so to speak; that's okay. we like that. what's NOT okay is to go waving them around. even us ordinary non-prez types will roll our eyes at another guy who appears to be "****** waving." :)

and you also have to be careful about HOW you go about looking like a manly man. dukakis was absolutely ridiculed when he popped his head out of that tank. why? the man has nothing macho about him whatsoever. he's a thinker. he's a sweater-wearer. he's not a rancher (masculine) who rides horses (masculine) from texas (by the very reputation of the state, anyone from texas automatically gets 10 manly man points!). :)

thing is, republicans at least seem like they know this. they can tap into it and use it to their advantage with their candidates. frankly, that's neither "good" nor "bad" in my book -- it just is what it is. it's a reality, no matter what one thinks of it.

and repubs are not at all the only politicians who concern themselves with "image." if you're in politics, you have an image to create, project and preserve.

the dems' problem in this area is that they've not been very in touch with this notion that we americans want a manly president. and this is very much going to hurt them in finding a candidate to go up against bush in the presidential election -- an event that's about as competitive as it gets. and let's face it, men are generally competitive, and women generally EXPECT men to be be competitive.

these are things that we don't readily admit, no. but just because we don't talk about it, that doesn't make it untrue. gender roles really take us down to some seriously subconscious places.

i mean, hey, someone has already tossed out the "ellen and rosie are butch!" guffaw-seeking comment, although in fact they really aren't butch at all. but they're women, lesbians and celebrities who don't try to fit in with what a female celeb is supposed to look like, and so, well, they're butch by default. (but no, friend, when ellen gets a crewcut and starts "packing," THEN she'll pass for butch).

but regardless of where one's moral compass points, regardless of our D or our R, regardless of how we don't talk about it, i think the main point of the story is right on: americans want a manly guy in charge of the country. R's, to their credit, know this and know how to work it. D's don't yet think it matters so much.

and THAT surprises me. who votes democrat? well, at least the guys who used to be D's, like my dad and his buddies, were tough, manly guys with tough, manly jobs -- steelworkers, cops, construction workers and other hard hat types. if i went out today and asked 10 guys like that if they wanted a democrat in the white house, i doubt a single one would say yes. why? in part, it's because the D politicians don't look like them any more.

and you know your party's in trouble when a frat boy yalie looks more like the common man than a democrat "for the working people" candidate does!

A Basic Dictionary of Islamic Words by M Zakiuddin Sharfi, Islam means, “Submission or resignation to the will of Allah, completely


Surah 9:29

Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and his apostle nor acknowledge the religion of truth of the people of the Book (the Jews and the Christians) until they pay the Jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.


Surah 9:5,

Fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem ...