Manhood

Michael Dukakis riding in the tank, Al Gore allegedly being encouraged by Naomi Wolf to become an "alpha male," John Kerry with the sneers about windsurfing and looking "French."

Until recently, however, we had been spared most of these inferences, not coincidentally in the age of the first black president of the U.S.A. But the tide may be turning.

Carl Paladino, the Republican nominee for Governor of New York, has sent an open letter to challenger and favorite Andrew Cuomo, goading him into a debate. He wrote

Frankly, i dont think you have the cojones to face me and the other candidates in a open debate. I dont think you have the cojones to answer direct questions regarding the mistakes you made at HUD in pushing a sub-prime mortgage scheme that cost taxpayers $2.4 trillion dollars and cost most New Yorkers the value of their 401-Ks. I dont think you have the cojones to answer questions about why you embraced ethically-challenged Charlie Rangel while pledging to clean up corruption. I don't think you haved the cojones to defend why some were prosecuted in the Hevesi Pension scandal while others - including many of your key supporters - were not.

So Andrew, for the first time in your life be a man. Don't hide behind daddy's coattails even though he pulled strings to advance your career every step of your way. Come out and debate like a man.

And in case we weren't sure that Paladino, at least, is a real man, the Republican claimed that he never has debated in his life "except maybe in a bar." Because, aside from frequent and spontaneous sex, nothing proves masculinity more than arguing over a beer or two.

And speaking of sex- as she historically has not been reluctant to do- Christine O'Donnell got into the act in her recent (succesful) Senate primary campaign against Representative Mike Castle in Delaware. On the website of a consulting that previously had represented O'Donnell, a video (below) appeared in which a man off-camera asks "Isn’t Mike Castle cheating on his wife with a man?" The female actress playing a newscaster smiles coyly and responds "That's the rumor."

Upon hearing that the GOP in Delaware, supporting Castle, had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against her

O'Donnell blasted the legal action as "cheap, underhanded," and "unmanly." She added, however, that she would expect no less from "Obama's favorite Republican -- Mike Castle."

The conservative Senate candidate concluded: "Mike this is not a bake-off. Get your man-pants on."

Then there is the former half-term governor of Alaska. On August 2, the New York Daily News reported

President Obama doesn't have the "cojones" to protect America's border with Mexico, Sarah Palin charged Sunday.

In lashing out at the President's manhood, the former Alaska governor was lamenting a federal judge's decision last week to toss key parts of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's controversial immigration law that lets cops detain people who they suspect are illegal immigrants.

"Jan Brewer has the cojones that our President does not have to look out for all Americans, not just Arizonans, but all Americans," Palin said on "Fox News Sunday."

The last thing you would want to do, we're supposed to believe, is vote for those effeminate, maybe even gay, Democrats. Stick with us tough guys. And what is it with these "cojones" references? Surely, the Republicans who use it must know that it is a profanity in Spanish. Imagine, the GOP offending minorities- I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

Probably coincidentally, the religious right appears to have returned to prominence in the Republican Party- just as their sex-crazed candidates are returning.

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