Manly Characteristics

by digby

Commenting on the rather breathless description of Rahm in TNR’s obligatory fluff piece (“At 50, Emanuel has the lean, taut look of a lifelong swimmer, with broad shoulders and distractingly prominent quadriceps.”) Aravosis quips:

The new art form of pro-Rahm suck up pieces enters its homoerotic phase. I’m disgusted yet titillated at the same time. This must be how Sarah Palin supporters feel.

Haha. We’ve all been there. I just have to run this more more time:

LIDDY: Well, I—in the first place, I think it’s envy. I mean, after all, Al Gore had to go get some woman to tell him how to be a man. And here comes George Bush. You know, he’s in his flight suit, he’s striding across the deck, and he’s wearing his parachute harness, you know—and I’ve worn those because I parachute—and it makes the best of his manly characteristic. You go run those, run that stuff again of him walking across there with the parachute. He has just won every woman’s vote in the United States of America. You know, all those women who say size doesn’t count—they’re all liars. Check that out. I hope the Democrats keep ratting on him and all of this stuff so that they keep showing that tape.

Bush wasn’t actually all that impressive, but Liddy’s hot and bothered reaction was more than a little disturbing. The strong element of loathing in the political establishment’s idea of the sexy is very weird.