Little men

Someone please come over and kick me, I've been watching cable news again.

Lately, I'm struck by the pathetic insecurity displayed by so many of the male anchors, correspondents, and guests. The thing that really jumps out at me is how they describe the McCain campaign's strategy of attacking Obama with lies and nasty innuendo as "tough."

Spreading lies and nasty innuendo is not tough. It is sleazy. It is undignified. It is the opposite of tough. It is cowardly.

Why do they associate cowardly sleaze with toughness? My guess is that they are insecure about their manhood. They think that juvenile taunting is the essence of manliness. How could anyone come to see the world in such a way? Were they mercilessly picked on by the tough guys when they were young? Is that why they think bad behavior is a sign of toughness? That's my guess. They have no clue at all what it means to be a man*.

A second question is how so many of these insecure little men manage to get on television. It must be somehow related to Bill Gates's observation that one should be nice to nerds because you'll end up working for one.

And I'll even go all Utopian on your ass and expand on Bill Gates's idea. Everyone should be nice to all children because if we're not they'll grow up to be Republicans, Christian conservatives, or cable tv news blowhards. Gawd, I know, I sound like Sally Struthers, but it's true, it's true.


*It means one was born that way. Being mean to people is not required.