Just reprinting a, um, fascinating post from Juan Cole. He's rightfully bitching about the Bushies plan to use the CIA to funnel money into specific candidates in the Iraqi elections. Time magazine broke the story.

Juan's thoughts:

I found the Time magazine diction about [House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi sexist. The article described her as having "come unglued" on hearing of the plan. "Coming unglued" is the wrong image here. She didn't go hysterical and fall apart. If you were going to be glib, you could have described her as "livid" or "going ballistic." But such journalistic buzzwords for alarm and anger are reserved for men (no doubt the phallic connotations of intercontinental ballistic missiles help gender the image). Pelosi did not become "unglued." Rather, she intervened forcefully and effectively. She appears to have mobilized a bipartisan "powerful women" network with Rice, whom she strong-armed (another simile not usually used of women). Of course, she also was in a position to mobilize the Democrats in Congress across gender boundaries.

I wonder if Quilly would call that a "academic fever swamp rant" or something similar? I wouldn't.

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