>Some people seem to have the attitude that it's good that Michell Obama airs her marriage's dirty laundry on the pages of Vanity Fair because "at least she's honest" -- but I don't think those kinds of things should be discussed publically by anyone, much less in the newspapers.<

Yeah, much better to have an ever-smiling wifey-drone like Laura Bush who has no opinions or feelings than are allowed her by the GOP. :P Jeez, since when is saying your husband can have bad breath or whatever an affront to American dignity? 'Fess up--what you don't like about Michelle Obama is that she's not going to maintain that perfectly-glossed inhuman image that is your idea of representing this country. Haven't we all had enough of that crap after eight years of Laura?

Sheesh, listening to some of these posters is like listening to my mom. :) "She's angry" always translates into "she's not meek and quiet" in bougie-speak. "She doesn't have dignity" means "she's trashy and near-ghetto." And they all add up to the most damming thing one can say about a bougie woman, "She's not (gasp!)_ladylike_." Why should black women aspire to the kind of image white women are long past sick of? For cryin' out loud...:P

...that Maureen Dowd was trying out her new Michelle-rap on here, since 1) she loathes independent women with a passion; 2) it was only a matter of time before she found something to nail MO on.

Anonymous, you sound as if Michelle Obama impunged her husband's masculinity in public or dissed how he handles money or something. The stuff she mentioned was 1) trivial; 2) showed that they are a real, imperfect people just like everyone else. (But, silly me, I forgot the prime rule of bougie-dom--never, ever be a real human being or do anything that might make white folks think you are like the rest of those horrible common "undignified" black people. It's always ABF--Always Be Frontin'.) The worst thing MO could do is to tamp herself down and try to be Jackie Kennedy-redux or some fake plastic saint. And as far as how the rest of the world sees us, do you really think they won't see the Obamas as an improvement over the Bushes? Honestly, you really need to drop the racial self-hate, babe--that stuff can mess up your head beyond repair. :)

>Right-wing movie critic Michael Medved is the acknowledged kung-fu master of this complaint, but he's stayed quiet this year,<

...thank _Jesus_. :) Most likely he's been busy writing screeds about how a Dem. president will continue to destroy this country's moral fabric.

...idea of a "real life" is trundling his/her equally-ignorant brats around 'burb-land or gentrified city-space while training them to look down on anyone who is about more than empty grades and vacuous careers. Your friend is lucky you "left" him "behind"...

Lessee, we've done the third-rate Bond thing, the Lovecraft deal, the noir "Streets with no name" deal...so I guess we're heading for CAGED/WOMEN IN PRISON territory now... :P I guess TS has given up on writing a coherent spy story and has just opted to cycle us all through every possible thriller canard. Given that she's not one to develop any single line of plot for long, she might as well have Kansas turn up in some Douglas Sirkian-scenario posing as a picture-perfect housewife whose life is shattered by secrets while she's at it.

>It just shows up, unbidden, each and every week, like a Fingerhut catalogue. And even though you will never buy a toaster cover that looks like a basset hound, you must read it anyway.<

Come to think of it, I haven't been getting one of those catalogues for quite a while. Hmm...:)

>Is it just me?

Or was that one almost, but not quite, tolerable?<

Aaaghgh!! Close your eyes and plug your ears, folks. That-Dern-Elder-God is just trying to lure you down into the depths again. Don't worry--the USS LEGAL SEAFOOD is heading out in his general direction with enough depth charges to turn him into a century's worth of calamari...:)

...should crash this piece of crap. Or do a competing show--HOW TO LOOK GOOD NAKED ON YOUR WEDDING DAY.

...24/7 romantic, maturing, altruistic-making and something that changes selfish singles into real grownups, why does the media and the church have to push it so damm hard? Who are they trying to convince--or fool?

>Women do not like men who are like puppy dogs wagging their tails trying to please. They like men who are always running off after rabbits and have to be called back to heel.<

Men don't much like needy, resourceless women, neither--contrary to what the more misogynistic posters on here would like everyone to believe.

>Many Oscar traditions -- the obligatory necrology montage comes to mind -- passed their freshness date long ago, but continue on in the name of ... well, inertia, we suppose.<

Oh, come on. It's done as a last tribute to those who have contributed to the industry--and as such is often very moving. As well, it spotlights folks-behind-the-scenes--and it also is kinda a news bulletin. There have been any number of times I've seen actors on there that I had no idea were dead.

...against female writers, it wouldn't be neccessary for Cody or any other woman to address the issue in the first place. But that's typical of the misogynist jerks around here--they always want to forget who started this crap in the first place.