93Bipartisanship is another name for date rape[...]94

Okay, even by the standards of the source, that dog won't hunt. Date rape is a situation in which two people agree to a certain association, and one of them, either violently or through the use of drugs, violates the contract. Bipartisanship is really, actually, agreeing to do something together.

Or is it now a conservative principle that you -are- going to abuse and violate your partner, as soon as the opportunity arises? And then claim it was consensual, and any suggestion to the contrary comes from an "unstable" person? Is this a trick question?

And with no disrespect to Kathryn, the average comic-book villain has a certain sense of style, an internal ethic (however a-slant), and even a kind of nobility. Half the male bad guys in the Marvel Universe had a serious crush on Sue Storm, but none ever . . . you get the idea.

Maybe the the Democrats should create their own ruthless, shameless supervillains to counter pricks like DeLay and Norquist.

Al Gore might be game, if they gave him a chance to wear a mask, stomp around in an exoskeleton with chain-saws for hands, and work through those supressed resentment issues in a politically useful way.

Or they could build a golem, perhaps. It would be worth the risks of committing monstrous blasphemy if it meant seeing a golem hurl Newt Gingrich down the length of a buffet table, or slam him through a sheet of dry wall.

93Why do Republican strategists talk like comic-book villains?94

I dunno. Maybe it's those mind-control rays.

OK Mike, maybe comicbook villains have more class than republican stratagists. What's most bizaare is that these guys know that they're talking to reporters. This isn't the first time I've seen published remarks like these. Consider their announced plans to exploit 9/11 for the Bush campaign. When they talk like this, they are expecting someone's approval.

"When they talk like this, they are expecting someone's approval."

Yes, they're doing it to rally their base -- show the voters (and financiers) who agree with them that they're all on the same side.
And they're counting on a passive, cowed press force not to give the story sufficient coverage enough to upset the centrists. I mean, I've seen these quotes on a number of liberal blogs (mine included) but how's the message getting to those who don't read the blogosphere?

Or, they're testing to see if they get significant resistance. If they do, they back down on it for a while. If they don't, they push forward until they do.

For instance, I notice that Syria isn't nearly as much of a menace as it supposedly was some weeks ago, but they're now testing the water in re a war with Iran.

Always remember: these guys only talk to us when they want us to do something, and what they say has no meaning beyond the effect they intend to get out of us.

Thanks-----a long-time Marvel Comics fan, I didn't realize that Doctor Doom was really GWB in disguise.....

They ought to re-name him Dubya Doom.....

I think it's the other way around. I think Republicans talk like comic-book supervillains because comic-book writers based them on Republicans. They made them more literate and dramatically more honorable, of course.

An interesting observation, I think, albeit verifiably untrue. (Wow, deliberate blatant lying on checkable facts...have I been infected with the current (un)American spirit or what?)

Because republican strategists ARE comic book villains. Rove? Seriously.

TNH: Some months ago, I defined Ann Coulter as "the stalking horse for the lunatic right". She gets a very public forum to spew absolute, raving batshit far-right sentiments. If the pseudo-ideas get adopted, she's pushed the discourse to the right; if they get rejected, she's provided cover to slightly less absurd statements because, after all, they're not the most extreme ideas anymore.

"Conquer Iraq and convert it to democracy" is less extremist than "conquer the entire Middle East and convert it to Christianity", so by contrast it sounds like it might be reasonable.

How to bayonet someone:

"If you hit something hard, pull it out and try again. If you hit something soft, keep pushing till you hit something hard."

Pardon my ignorance in such matters--but is there a comic-book supervillainess who sounds or acts anything like La Coulter? (If there isn't, there should be!)

There is a new super heroine coming out who is supposed to be a comparison to Ann Coulter.

It's called the Incredible Shrinking Brain. No dialogue, just footnotes and the brain totally disapears at the end of the story.