Letters to the Editor
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My Good Sweet Lord....
.... the first of the cloned John Podhoretz embryos has finally reached adulthood.
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The Weakly Reader
How's that for a title?
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What -- fat, bald, and dweebish looking isn't
masculine? There are some who might say this is the epitome of masculine. The gay guys are the ones who are tall, handsome, and buff. I mean come on. And if those stylish ones aren't gay, their all "metrosexual" which sounds close enough to homosexual thank you very much.
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How about...
Oh yeah, you and what Army?
or
The world stage meets the schoolyard.
or
When Boys with Toys ruled the world.
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Book Title
Surely you have already considered something obvious like
Super-Ego: The right wing's obsession with faux maxculinity.
Or puns thereof like
Super-Eggheads of the Right.
Or just the plain silly
Vote Right because my Super-Ego is bigger than yours...
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Hitting below the belt
Posting a photo of the guy and telling us "just look at him" is not a style of argument I like to see. Please explain exactly what we should notice about the photograph. Maybe you should also post a photo of what you consider a real he-man, so we can assess your thinking process. Normally you spend several paragraphs establishing and repeating one of your points. What's your point with the photo? You don't say.
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a copy editor delurks, then speaks
Suggestion: hyphenate "tough-guy" when using it as an adjective, as in "tough-guy commentators," etc.
(No book-title contest ideas just yet.)
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Maybe Souter just has scruples
I guess only sissy marys care about things like justice, or fairness, or legal consistency. Heaven knows the majority in Bush v Gore had no use for them.
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Samson 41
What -- fat, bald, and dweebish looking isn't
masculine? There are some who might say this is the epitome of masculine.
It isn't exactly the iconic Courageous Warrior, waiting outside the to take the "sissy mary's" lunch money.
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Sad but true
Image versus reality....image wins every time. First impressions are lasting. Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.
Very few of these people have ever worn a military uniform or put themselves in any danger of any kind. But you're right, they sure talk tough and tear down and belittle the opposition in order to build themselves up and score political points. They would be better served if they would stick to honestly debating the issues, but that won't happen. That would require the courage of their convictions and they have no courage and few convictions (except criminal). They just want to win and maintain power by any means necessary, and smear is the easiest way they know.
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Reminds me of Richard Nixon's head in Futurama:
"I remember my body... flabby, pasty skin, rrriddled with flubitis. A good republican body. God, I loved it".
For a title, how about something like "Manly Men and the Republicans that Love Them", with a subtitle that is, well, a little bit more accurate re the book's theme . . .
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@ Mr. Greenwald
"It isn't exactly the iconic Courageous Warrior, waiting outside the to take the "sissy mary's" lunch money."
Not to quibble, but I don't think "courageous warriors" take weakling's lunch money. That's more the job of the beach bully in those Charles Atlas ads from way back.
As for a title:
"Oh So Faux Macho"
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Hmmm..
Mirror, mirror on the wall, am I not the hunkiest of all?
Rich, Pudgy, Unfaithful Cowards: The 101st Beltway Brigade
Other Priorities
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Book Title
How about "Myth Macho," with a subtitle to be determined later? "Myth" plays nicely off the tongue, and evokes a lisp.
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Book Title (no subtitle yet)
How about "The Bully's Pulpit" for the title. Most bullies have thinly veiled insecurities for doing what they do, revel in mob courage (rather than individual courage), and we all dislike bullies, right? Oh well, this is my first try.
Looking forward to your next book, Glenn.
Cheers, Steve
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My $0.02
"The Flex and Grunt Crowd: How exaggerated masculine stereotypes drive the Republican Party"
"My Inflatable Flight Suit: When the neocon movement puffs up their politics by puffing up their manhood"
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Unserious
Although it's mostly used by the media rather than Republicans, you often bring up the concept of "serious" journalism and how the word is used to stigmatize progressive blogs, experts, and news outlets.
Because of this, I think a good title for your book is "Unserious."
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Book Title Suggestion
How about "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!"
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How about
Machoflage?
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Too bad Larry Kramer already used it...
... but the perfect title would be "FAGGOTS".
As in, "Glenn Greenwald is a gay man. Mark Hemingway is a faggot."
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Hitting Below the Belt -- II
I agree with Alden. And writing the guy to ask "Do you think that your physical appearance has anything to do with your need to mock publicly the masculinity of others?" shows that Glenn is engaging in the same "I'm tougher than you" game that he accuses Hemingway of perpetrating.
I do agree with the general thesis that neocons seem to have a long and wide macho streak. For one thing, I always see their foreign policy approach referred to as "muscular." And the willingness to go for use of the military first and diplomacy later, if at all, is in the same vein.
But, the ad hominum aspect is unfortunate.
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Mainstream journalists' role.....
.....in spreading these girly-man smears is well documented in Evgenia Peretz's "Going After Gore" in the current Vanity Fair:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/10/gore200710
Interestingly, it was female reporters who really went after Gore on this.
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The cheerleader wore beer stains
Warrior effetes
Coots on the ground
Side-saddle sergeants
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Can't come up with...
...a legit working title without perusing the manuscript, but I would try to work the word "milksop" in the title somewhere.
e.g., "Milksop Men of the Right: How Republicans Use Fake Masculinity to Win Elections and Start Wars"
or
e.g., "America's Milksop Men: Exposing the Right's Exclusive Claim to Masculinity"
"Milksop" accurately describes these cowardly bullies on so many levels.
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Subtitle suggestion
Although I don't have a catchy title, a subtitle that might be useful or adapted is:
The Right-Wing's Manipulation of Gender Stereotypes in American Politics.
On a less serious note, you could always make the main title:
The He-man Woman Haters' Club.
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Cross 1242:
I agree with Alden. And writing the guy to ask "Do you think that your physical appearance has anything to do with your need to mock publicly the masculinity of others?" shows that Glenn is engaging in the same "I'm tougher than you" game that he accuses Hemingway of perpetrating.
Do those who inject claims about Family Values into the public discourse open up their own private lives to scrutiny?
Do those who inject accusations of cowardice and weakness open up their own acts of bravery to scrutiny?
Do those who smear others as effeminate and something other than real men -- "sissy marys" -- subject their own masculinity to scrunity?
And what is there IS a relationship between someone's own perceived lack of masculine virtues and their need to demean others as effeminate. Is that topic supposed to be off-limits?
I do agree with the general thesis that neocons seem to have a long and wide macho streak. For one thing, I always see their foreign policy approach referred to as "muscular." And the willingness to go for use of the military first and diplomacy later, if at all, is in the same vein.
But, the ad hominum aspect is unfortunate.
An "ad hominem" argument would be: "This is what this guy looks like. Don't listen to him."
That isn't my argument. My argment is: "This guy runs around demeaning others as sissies and lacking traditional masculinity, yet this is what he looks like. Is there a relationship?"
-- cross1242