Did you learn nothing about extrapolating stereotypes from the story about Barack Obama's grandmother?

Plenty.

I'm also keenly aware that those who fall into 'stereotypes' do exist in both our country and our world. Acknowledging them makes me no more racist than yourself, merely more honest.

I think the "thinking" goes partly like this:

We know what women are going to think and say. They are either for equality or for a better environment for their babies, or both. OK, we're done, let's move on.

The average male voter, as described, on the other hand, is free to think, want, say anything. Including, just maybe, what "we" tell him to say, especially if it involves aggression against the enemy of the day. Because when he's down at the diner, he's apparently not thinking much at all. An empty vessel, so to speak. Much more useful and interesting than those women.

I think you were a little hard on Noonan -- she did after all, give it to Bush pretty well at the end. Not that I'm a big fan of hers. But I thought the most revealing thing about her column was the mythical Gate 14.

I travel a fair amount for work and have spent a lot of time at Gate 14, some of it watching Wolf Blitzer's inanity. I would never describe the crowd at airport gates as small town America. If I had to generalize, I would say a lot of the people at airport gates day in and day out are sales people, men and women who traverse the country visiting their clients. They may be selling nuts and bolts, advertising or consulting services, but they are selling something.

In other words, they represent much more the Goldwateresque frustrated middle class business person than the average small town farmer, worker, teacher or other non-corporate person. People like Noonan have been presenting business people as somehow representative of of America for so long they don't even think twice about it.

Not to mention that statistically, it's more likely that people in airports come from cities.

Anyway, this fuzzy notion of an America that agrees on anything is really classically what the big media has always portrayed. After news is when some group breaks from that picture.

Why are *they* unhappy? What do *they* want? Isn't that often the TV news take on dissent? Isn't Obama one of *them*? Oh yeah, aren't *they* all really elitists and out of touch, too? Easy to see why Noonan makes the Reagan reference -- he was the master at that gloss.

he is more evil media trash.

How about developing some journalistic integrity?

You're going to be up against people who have an opinion, a modem, and a bathrobe. All of my life, developing credentials to cover my field of work, and now I'm up against a guy named Vinny in an efficiency apartment in the Bronx who hasn't left the efficiency apartment in two years.

All those years of "developing credentials" and it appears he never developed an understanding of what his role is supposed to be. Williams has just become Vinny. I guess he can add that to his list of credentials now.

I've always found it interesting how all 3 network news show will cover the exact same stories, in the exact same order. If you ever try to watch them all, you'll see what I mean. It's not just the "important" news stories, but even the so-called "human" interest stories. They almost always go to commercial at the exact same time too. Where I live, they are all on at the same time.

All 3 anchors are just laughable. Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, and Brian Williams. They are nothing but ants compared to the giants that used to be in their places. I'm sure Peter Jennings is weeping in heaven, when he sees what that asshat Gibson has done to his news program. CBS needs to bring back Dan Rather. He was a real anchor. Williams is just a pretty boy news model. Keith Olbermann should be the anchor of the NBC nightly news.

"I'm also keenly aware that those who fall into 'stereotypes' do exist in both our country and our world. Acknowledging them makes me no more racist than yourself, merely more honest."

I'm not accusing you of being racist - which would be stupid since apparently you are white as are millions of the people you just dumped on. I'd say a more accurate characterization would be an elist snob who thinks the good half (relatively speaking, since it's all kinda bad) of America ends at the Mason Dixon line, which would certainly account for your support of Obama.

Sure, the sources of offensive/derogatory stereotypes exist. But as Obama learned after 'bittergate', trotting them out as ammunition in a political campaign or an argument does nobody any favors.

See, that's exactly what I was thinking. I spent several years living on the road; I used to see the same faces in airports all the time, except when they were faces who only looked like the same ones. On a particularly fevered evening, I imagined that all the normal people had been transplanted, and the world was occupied only by management consultants and salesmen kept in transit, so that we would never know about the holocaust that had occured 'outside'.

I can't stand either of these two, but the interesting thing to me is not their stupidity but just how fluid and fungible ... and how far off ... is our notion of what 'average Americans' look like. And how useful that fungibility turns out to be.

Claim it. Then no one can accuse you. It's good luck to sneeze on test-papers in high school.

Poke in the ribs the public sneezers, geezers, strip teasers, and people who refuse to wear underwear and fez hats.

Wear jeans with big holes.

Win a bad dressed award.

Someday we will be under.

We'll rest under green sod.

We all will be dead as a nail.

Folk need to pull-up a zipper.

Especially if ya's no wear panties.

Yell at all snorers. Twist and Shout.

We need to dance the hoopla hoot?

Scream. Tourette's is a good excuse.