actually its just 1 single guy who has both the buzz cut and missing fingers - freshman Senator Jon Tester of Montana. And before being elected he was, and still is, (how can I say this in a way that so as not to upset the NYT's new macho zeitgeist?) - an organic farmer!

Thanks for catching that! The language has been tweaked.

They're so desperate to avoid covering things that matter - like legislation and policy - that they'll bite any trend, real or imaginary, which will supposedly enlighten people indirectly without paying any attention to what's ACTUALLY going on. We wouldn't anybody voting on reality, after all.

anti-intellectualism is not an exclusively male attribute. Feminists have been doing it for decades now. Too bad Hofstadter published his book in 1962. He misssed out on some real red meat.

I'm not being flippant; feminism, in addition to its good qualities, has been characterized by a Bush-like willingness to ignore inconvenient facts from the get-go. Also like Bush, feminists often repeat falsehoods until many take them to be true. You know, only 2% of rape claims are false, the wage gap is caused by sex discrimination, things like that.

So the fact that the Dems are machoing up is entirely consistent with their feminization. This isn't new, of course. Madeline Allbright went to war in the Balkans in part to demonstrate her cajones.

It's not all bad, though. Any trend that shows female politicians to be every bit as stupid and corrupt as male ones has something to be said for it.

...18% in 2006, according to Columbia University's National Center for Children in Poverty. When Pelosi reminds us that "it is about the children," we need to pay attention.

Perhaps the historic advent of a female House Speaker is stirring up some insecurities ~ change always has the potential to disturb ~ or perhaps this is some backlash.

Feminism in challenging stereotypes is good for men and women, girls and boys, all genders. Why should Speaker Pelosi's pearls be any more remarkable than nice cufflinks ~ or a lapel flag any more remarkable than a Congressguy with an earring?