It's fun to knock the Simpsons, and this article calls Homer yet another example of the incompetent husband. But if you're interested in cognitive marital therapy, and have read books by John Gottman, you'll quickly see that Homer is not incompetent when it comes to marriage-- in fact, he's a master.

He always turns to Marge to discuss the real issues in their marriage. He sides with his children against the community, especially his daughter Lisa. He can be self-centered (can't we all?), but he always finds a way to make up with his wife Marge, and when the kids are out of the way, he always turns his focus towards his wife. It's amazing how, the minute that the kids are involved with something else, Homer is romancing Marge, taking her to a spa, or even at the minimum, attending to her kindly in the bedroom.

It's funny to read articles about books that stereotype men with regards to men not being communicative with emotions. From what I've seen, some men are, and some men aren't-- like lots of women. Maybe what we really need is not another book that reinforces a gender stereotype, that while somewhat true, is blurred by the large variety of characteristics exhibited by both men and women.

Maybe what we really need is a book that helps us understand why Marge and Homer have made it for 14+ seasons. How many marriages make it that long?

Too bad Traister just doesn't get it. Her last line, regarding wishing that things were different (people didn't gravitate to beautiful women in their birthday suits) is what has been screwing liberals out of elections for the last eight years. And busting on Joy Bryant for not being a "model for her race" is more BS. Maybe Joy's having fun-- and maybe, just maybe, brainy African-American folks are strong enough to have fun and lampoon themselves in the light of popular culture.

If naked people are what it takes to sell liberal ideas and criticism of GW Bush, then bring it on. Traister ought to know-- one of the top search terms on Google is "Pamela Anderson". If that's what it takes to bring the message, then deal. But make it quick-- because there are fish to fry that won't be fried by anyone dressed in sackcloth and ashes.

Rock on, Lynn-- this is the typical conservative bullshit that happens with any progressive group that is trying to make a difference. It's the old "say it enough times, and maybe your opponent will just vanish."

Thanks for daylighting-- it is important to hold them to account. Always.

I, for one, am utterly exhausted with the arguments from the Right about the inevitability of the Right-- that we're all destined to be patriarchal assholes, with submissive wives and walnut pews.

It would bear to notice that a real liberal education teaches a pragmatic, problem-solving approach to societal problems, based on the fundamental principles of the Enlightenment. No matter how hard the Man tries to breed, he runs up against, in his own offspring, the power of the ideas of freedom, equality, and fairness.

For those on the Left that want to believe this fatalistic nonsense, I pity you. There are enough real problems to both worry and do something about than waste time listening to the mawkish comments of those believing that they are the Chosen People. To my fellow liberals, I'd like to remind them that the current class of Chosen People will be only the latest to end up in the dustbin of history.

Sheesh-- arguing FOR porn, even if it isn't your cup of tea, is a no-winner with anyone over 35. If you're under 35, it's a no-brainer. It's part of contemporary scenery, spurred on by the acquisition of home video cameras that look better than state-of-the-art equipment from 10 years ago.

And it's ubiquitous. MTV is virtually soft-core porn, and it's on the TV every day. About the only thing real porn has on anything that's R-rated is gynecological accuracy. Strip clubs, lap dances, and stripper poles are part of the culture now-- whether the Last of the True Ostensibly-Feminist Believers want to accept it or not.

And the fact that the Left can't come to terms with it's fundamentally Puritanical perspective on something as widespread as porn is just another symptom of our ineffectiveness. As long as someone else getting off has no deleterious relationship or societal consequences, who cares? And why should you care? Or do Lefties only believe in privacy if it involves the inside of a woman's uterus?

FWIW, the puritan nature that runs through the Left is killing the Left. It wrecks the #1 tool that we have on the Right-- the belief that what individuals do in private, especially for fun, is their own business. And lest one forgets, Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll moved us quite a ways on opposing a nasty war that happened a generation ago-- besides giving the participants a hell of a memory set, and some great music to get old by.

Time to get over it, Rebecca. Porn is here to stay. And maybe-- just maybe-- if we canned the puritanical rap, we might find some more recruits in the younger ranks. Because our puritanism has already turned them off-- and to too many, instead of being the societal role models for change that we need to be, we're already in the dustbin of irrelevance.