Ever read Suzette Haden-Elgin's THE GENTLE ART OF VERBAL SELF-DEFENSE and its sequel(s)?

What I've been doing is switching into computer mode.

It doesn't mean I approve or disapprove. I'm just saying what I've read.

Besides, I'm phosphors on a blog, so it doesn't matter. Having said that, I'll add you're okay by me.

I just wish that whoever spoke of "retards" wouldn't use that. To people with disabled siblings, it's like the N word. Besides, the ones who are speech-disabled haven't really got a stake in this race.

Now, it seems as if I'm the one who has hit a nerve.

So, the phrases I use are too verbally aggressive to be used in anything but Internet discussion?

I am certainly verbally aggressive when pursuing an article, but I do use those phrases in real life. So far, no one's hit me over the head. My friends give as good as they get.

I must say I resent the implied comparison to Parson Jim. Pass the dramamine, please. If you meant to do that, thanks for ruining my lunch.

You don't know if I give a damn about other women or whether I hide behind it as a screen to make myself feel good and achieve my own ends. You can say what you think, but it's simply your thought -- or, likelier, your feelings. And I'd say it says more about you than about me and any feminist street cred I may still have.

As for men and women looking out for their own interests, etc., and using certain tactics, we're in agreement there, if nowhere else.

You should know that while I do prefer opera, the time I heard Springsteen I was struck by how many similarities I saw between him and Placido Domingo in terms of virtuosity, strength, giving back to his community, longevity, talent and sheer masculinity. Yes, I'm hassling you there:)

As a matter of fact, I just got back from two weeks of vacation with friends of mine -- mixed group, male and female, anything from autodidact to post-docs.

I can't say I kept track, but I'd say that, male and female, the conversation shifted from one topic to another, with most of us getting as much of a share in it as we wanted. Art, food, spirituality, wine, art, politics, internet, gossip and more gossip, shopping for STUFF (we were in Italy), cats, tortoises...

The only time I've seen the sort of dynamic in action that you're describing is when some of the women in our group had parties with lots of food, wine, and DVDs starring Sean Bean. But we knew the discussion was going to be...limited...when we accepted the invitation.

No problem. I didn't mean to snarl past bearing either.

I didn't -shop- in Italy. The exchange rate purely sucks.

I am not rich. I work my ass off for everything I get.

I grew up going round to truck stops with my father, who was a personal injury lawyer. If I'd showed attitude, I wouldn't have gotten to go anymore. That's stuck with me.

And after 9/11, security guards, firemen and police are some of my favorite people.

Don't let your rich and famous friends try to treat you like a confection. If they do, I swear, I'll bite them myself. You deserve better.

I'm not an altruist, I'm a pragmatist, and I hate waste. Seeing people's abilities being wasted annoys me, male or female. I earned a lot of privileges: that means I owe, big time.

And we are so far from the subject...

Well, maybe not. It's like prices: we are discussing how much we are allowed to have; how much those others are allowed to have; and what it consists of.

Now that we've had a bunch of guys (I hesitate to call them mature men) weigh in on how stupidly women talk, including one rather diabolical imitiation of a man's own mother, forcryingoutloud, where is Linney Uston with a sullen Pronouncement?

Hypocrisy, much?

Have you got any proof for your declarative statements, or are you just indulging in a rant?

Monologues are -boring-.

Next time, do please provide an executive summary. I wanted to read it in order to provide a substantive response, but MEGO (translation provided upon request).

Note that I draw a distinction. If you don't draw a distinction, you've either got a tin ear or a tin ideology.

People, he's GOT the nomination. He's GOT Hillary's concession speech.

But if you persist in trying to make the voters thus freed to vote for your guy drink the Kool-Aid, there's going to be trouble.

There's a difference between a well-reasoned argument and "but she...and she...and you know she REALLY isn't..."

When offered the choice between grape or lime, I tend to choose neither.

IF you're serious about your candidate, you'll stop yelping and start trying to persuade. You know which you are.

And if you don't, find out before you cost your guy the election.

That is not a threat. That is an observation. I am going to vote for him. I only hope he has the sense to discard the noisier of the ideological Yorkshire terriers who've shown up on the net.