Most every guy under the age of 40 must be familiar with the wingman and most of us have played wingman at some time or another. The lying about accomplishments of friend part is new to me, though. Running interference with other guys, going out with a girl you're not very interested in so your friend can have a chance with her pal, making sure your friend has time alone with the girl -- that's all pretty standard stuff. I don't recall ever telling any girls that my pals were astronauts or hedge fund managers, though.

But what's the big deal? Girls do this stuff all the time. Heck, they even travel to the bathroom together so they can re-strategize in mid-stream. I read the Wash Post every day and articles about women doing this sort of thing have appeared in the Style section on more than one occasion. I don't recall any feminist outrage that such filth belongs in Cosmo, not in the [increasingly less] august Washington Post.

This better not be Broadsheet's top contender for Gender Outrage of the Day. If it is, people are going to start thinking there's no news left in the world.

Is it awful that brides are doing this sort of thing [mine did not] or is it awful that the Journal covers it? I have a sneaking suspicion that the objection is to brides "objectifying" themselves in this manner, but since criticizing the sisterhood is too painful to contemplate, the criticism is aimed at the Journal and its decision to run a story on the subject -- a decision that just had to be made by men, don't you know

Jeebus, don't touch the blue pill!

to give a crap about something like this. The way Broadsheet keeps writing about it you'd think that magazine article was a bigger outrage than the Iraq War.

"Sure, lots of people have died in Iraq, but that article made my girlfriends and I feel awful! Isn't that the greater tragedy?!"

This "trend" began in the 1970s? When did we first start to see big increases in women smoking?

Bringing three baby womyn into this evil and oppressive planet, where they will be molested by their evil and oppressive father, raped by their evil and oppressive boyfriends and sexually-harrassed by their evil and oppressive co-workers.

What's the matter with that Harrelson pothead? Has he no sense of decency?

whatever their gender. That's equality, baby. Usually it is great. Sometimes it sucks.

On what planet does it make any kind of sense to criminalize everyone involved in an abortion except the one person who actually makes it happen: the woman carrying the fetus?

Not that I oppose the bill in question. I don't. That bill has no chance of becoming law in Ohio and, as currently written, could actually help Democrats in Ohio. No objections here.

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Absolutely.

I'm tempted to suggest this is the silliest blog post ever in a blog that tries harder than anyone to be important and earnest. As I'm in a generous temper, however, I observe the following:

Pedophiles are naturally going to look for opportunities to molest children. That means they're going to explore places and employment that will afford them greater opportunities in that area. Since the parent[s] of a child sitting on "Santa's" lap are normally only a few feet away, I'm not sure what these alleged pervs hope to accomplish.

What we really need is Bill O'Reilly's advice on how this whole thing fits into the War on Christmas.

What a tiresome regurgitation of the far left's obsession with identity politics. It's a doll. Buy it or don't, but if you honestly think it is going to make a difference in whether or not your children grow up to be racists, you're off your rocker. That's up to you. Stop blaming companies for selling you crap with no soul. That's their job. Your job is to help your children develop their soul themselves.

One day, 10 years ago when I was in law school, some creepy woman cupped my backside for about four subway stops before I realized what she was doing and called her out on it. The subway car was full of people and at first I thought her hand was just pressed up against me because of the crush of people. Then I realized that no matter how I adjusted my body to avoid her hand, her hand somehow found its way right back to where it was before. I finally announced, in a loud voice, "Lady, are you going to be grabbing my ass all the way to Farragut North?" [Farragut North was my subway stop destination.] Her hand immediately withdrew. When I got out I just said: "I hope the next guy you do that to knocks your lights out." And I left.

So, by all means, any woman harassed by these perverts on the subway should announce it as loudly as possible. I don't care how humiliated they are, their molester will be even more humiliated to be revealed for what they are. That's not quite the exposure they had in mind. And if someone flashes you, say something like: "There ought to be a law that flashers can't be hung like *$%#ing Hobbits."

Scorn is what these creeps deserve. Humiliation is all they understand.