Macho Liberals?
Al Franken body-slammed a protester at a Dean rally to the ground according to the
NY Post. I'll confess to being a little conflicted over this one; on the one hand, the protester was a LaRouchie and I think those folks could benefit from a few more body slams (especially if they land on their head).
On the other hand, Franken's stated purpose for the slam was "I'm for freedom of speech, which means people should be able to assemble and speak without being shouted down." Hmmm, or being slammed to the ground? Plus, Franken says "I would have done it if he was a Dean supporter at a Kerry rally," which I don't doubt. The question is whether he would have done it to a Dean supporter at a
Bush rally.
But the incident does highlight something that I've noticed lately: Macho Liberals. A few days ago I was talking to a liberal friend and I made a comment about Dick Cheney. The guy's response was "He's such a pussy!" This was a little bit surprising to me as a) I had not heard that comment previously about Cheney and b) I had not heard anybody over the age of about 25 (my friend is pushing 40) refer to another man as a pussy before.
When I thought about it, Macho Liberals are everywhere. Franken has been challenging conservatives to fistfights for awhile now, including Rich Lowry of the National Review. Joe Biden memorably told Bush not to bomb the Taliban from the sky, but to go "mano-a-mano". Wes Clark talks about President Bush "prancing around on the deck of an aircraft carrier", a dig that appears to be just a tad homophobic.
Is it possible that it's caused by white men feeling like they are an endangered species among Democrats?
