Papa Paul

Just got this. Be interested in seeing what the (needed) edited version looks like. It's a reply as delegate Ron Paul male to Katha Politt's snippy putdown of "mancrush" liberals. Surprised, but tickled pink, of course.

Judith Long jlong@thenation.com
Feb 7 (2 days ago)

to me


An edited version of this letter just went to press in the issue dated February 27. Thanks for sending it in.

Judith Long
Letters page editor
The Nation

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It's a male thing ... women don't get it (cautionary note here: literary street talk, religion, metaphysics mixed)
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> When an attempt at sarcasm falls flat, due to factual error, attention is called to the particular point, the detail, which the mistake covered up. At that point, the Freudian Zing will shine through :-))
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> In the instant case, Katha Pollitt's smart alecky quip "if there are leftish white women and people of color who admire Paul, they're keeping pretty quiet" is flatly refuted by Rachel Maddow herself! who demonstrated respect if not admiration, by recognizing him as the only Republican candidate to refuse carte blanche dictation of U.S. foreign policy in the Mid East by Israel.
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> If we look at the point where Pollitt goes out of her way to curiously degrade Ron Paul ("leftist mancrush" indeed), the answer to Why? can be discerned by adding one further, seemingly insignificant vignette (real): Sasha Barob Cohen, aka Borat/Bruno, drops trow in Paul's dressing room in '08, having accidentally-on-purpose wandered in there. The answer lies in the symbolic association.
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> She knows, but cannot look directly at the thing (it's an "unknown known", in the phrase of a NYTimes author). And that would be what the young 20+ males, progressives and others alike, see in the man. He's the only one who doesn't act like he was recently shafted.
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> Getting it now? I call it the Gay Jew syndrome, or, even, conspiracy. It shouldn't take many to pullit off, if they are well placed, networked, following the same program at all interface chokepoints.

> It's a male thing. It's in the respect shown by Rachel Maddow's demeanor and body language. And by tributes from Cockburn, et al. One Big Southern musical venue is Lynyrd Sknyrd: God and Guns...keep us strong...that's what this country was founded on..." And "That ain't my America...". This is beyond progressive-conservative politics. It is about testosterone. There is something clean about the way Ron Paul leaves one feeling about themselves. Personally, a companion on the way for a while. I call it Christic, following his New Testament namesake, in Letter To The Galatians, 2.4, 5.19, 5.12, rebuking Peter and the (False Brethren from Jesus' brother James, teaching justification for the flesh by the law. (*..and this occurred because of false brethren secretely brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus." It's a quality of expectation that whatever he said would be right, or correctable without animosity if not.
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> -Sid Thomas, Ph.D.
> Assoc. Professor emetitus, SUNY Binghamton.
>