David Brooks clearly felt a need to respond to the strong, cogent case Linda Hirshman made in her American Prospect essay, but he was only able to come up with two weak arguments:

1. "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world," a cliché used to deny women rights from time immemorial ("You have the power to raise the next generation; why do you need to vote?").

2. The theory of innate, stereotypical differences propounded by Charles Murray, who apparently has decided that it's safer these days to be a sexist than a racist.

My immediate reaction to Cox's review in the New York Times was that she probably hadn't read much of Pollitt's book. "Virginity or Death" isn't strident at all -- the essays in it are incisive, persuasive and often witty. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and I highly recommend it. Cox has done a disservice not only to Pollitt and to feminism, but to all the readers she has discouraged from experiencing this terrific book for themselves.

I think he is accusing her on the basis of nothing but his own paranoia. If she'd had an abortion and lied to put an end to his insistence that she continue the pregnancy, she would not be discussing her miscarriage with friends. They are giving her the kind of support that her self-centered husband never will. I hope she divorces him before he coerces her into bringing a child into this awful marriage.

http://abc.go.com/theview/hosts/walters.html

The motto of Feminists For Life is "Refuse to Choose." It is clear from the legislation they aggressively support that their mission goes beyond refusing to choose abortion and emergency contraception for themselves. They want to deny these options to all women.

Helping women find alternatives to abortion is fine. But people who want to force all pregnant women to give birth are not feminists.

I don't have cable, and I will not sign up for it as long as Fox News is part of the standard package. (Why should I pay for access to a blatant propaganda channel for the Republican Party?)

As a result, I have discovered a whole new way of encountering visual art -- watching on DVD, within a very short time, entire seasons of shows like "The Sopranos," "Six Feet Under," "Deadwood" and "The Shield." Lately I've been doing the same thing with network shows I missed when they were first broadcast -- the first season of "Desperate Housewives," the first four seasons of "24."

It's an intense and unique experience, qualitatively different from watching a film or a TV series episode-by-episode.

Yesterday a Rocky Mountain News column by Penny Parker started with this sentence: "Fifty-three-year-old Kathie Lee Gifford knows when you're a woman of a 'certain age' you are required not to take yourself seriously." The column then goes on to announce the Denver premiere of the musical "Hats," inspired by the "over-50-and-female Red Hats Society."

According to Parker, the play "examines the dread of a woman facing her 50th birthday until she meets several 'Red Hatters' who teach her to relax and have fun."

What a load of crap. At 50, many men are reaching the summit of their careers and the busiest, most productive period of their lives. Women, too.

Implying that women at 50 are over the hill and need to find activities to busy themselves with and make their lives seem worthwhile is an archaic, sexist insult.

We don't want Hillary to be who we are. We want her to be who we want to be. It's an impossible standard. I hope she wins.

The holiday began in truly ancient times as a way for people to raise their spirits before the long, cold, dark winter ahead. It was one of those remnants of the pagan past that Christians knew would never be given up, so they incorporated it into their calendar. It doesn't belong to any one religious group--we are all free to make of it what we will.

. . . for your post "Donald Trump is a waste of sprem." I haven't laughed so hard in weeks. Also, I agree.

It arrived from Amazon.com yesterday and I haven't been able to put it down. The factual portrait of the Bush Administration is stunning, the analysis well-reasoned and convincing. An excerpt in Salon can't do justice to this complex subject matter or this masterful book.

Republicans claimed that perjury fit under the category of "high crimes and misdemeanors." Now it's no big deal.

I saw the "Chris Matthews Show" yesterday and was just as disgusted as Glenn. The disgraceful performance of these "journalists" was offset considerably, however, by interviews on "Meet the Press" and "Face the Nation" with three of the fired US attorneys, who concisely and forcefully stated the case against the Bush administration and its apologists. Bob Schieffer also showed excerpts of an interview with Sharon Eubanks, the lead federal prosecutor forced by higher-ups in the Justice Department to tank the case against the tobacco companies. Schieffer made it clear from his questions that he was outraged. He also gave a blistering final commentary contrasting Bob Gates, the new Secretary of Defense, with incompetents and liars throughout the administration. On balance, it was a good morning to watch the folks that Calvin Trillin refers to as the "Sabbath gassbags."