Playground Trash Talk

That just goes to show you an old rule, behind every swaggering, macho, fake cowboy bully, there's a timid little prep school cheerleader..... Every gay man I know is tougher than George W. Bush.

-Paul Begala on Crossfire

Hmmm. That sounds awfully harsh. No, not just harsh – it sounds like undisciplined anger. “Swaggering, macho, fake cowboy bully”? “Timid little prep school cheerleader?” This doesn’t sound like serious political criticism; it doesn’t even sound like slick character assassination. It sounds like playground trash talk. It sounds like “Oh YEAH? You and what army?!?!?”

It sounds like fear that John Kerry is going to lose this election.

Incidentally, just how many gay men does Paul Begala know? And just how, um, firsthand is his knowledge of their “toughness”? Enquiring minds want to know….