Delusions of Adequacy

Laura Ingraham is subbing for Joe Scarborough tonight on MSNBC.

Laura Ingraham is tearing Sam Harris, author of a new anti-religious book, up one side and down the other. She is articulate and impassioned and devastating in her critique. And I'm sitting here watching her powerhouse rhetorical performance and I'm thinking, grrrowr.

Y'know... the liberals have Jennifer Anniston and Kate Moss and any number of other good-looking actresses and singers. But these are women who prove that whole "open your mouth and remove all doubt" thing; when they show up at your party, your party's average IQ drops to room temperature. Brainy liberal women, by contrast -- Susan Estrich, for example, or Bella Abzug -- tend to look as if they've drunk a full gallon of Ugly-Aid. No, if you want the complete package -- looks and smarts -- you pretty much have to go conservative.

Of course, neither Laura Ingraham (who may be married, for all I know) nor Ann Coulter (who may also be) nor former MTV VJ Kennedy (who it would surprise me no end to find out she's married) is ever going to know I exist, and that's fine. I'm not a teenager anymore and I don't harbor crushes on media figures. (No, really.) What I'd like to see, at some point in the not-too-distant future, is a non-famous, non-remote version of these women, a down-to-earth regular conservative girl woman who could overlook my myriad flaws of personality and physiognomy and... well, you know.

And I'm sure my mother would like to see that happen, too.