Pelosi Galore
A new ad released by the Republican National Committee has reignited charges the party is acting in a sexist manner to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Prompting the latest round of criticism is a new RNC Web video that compares the speaker to “Bond girl” Pussy Galore, portraying Mrs. Pelosi as a crafty villainess and pitting her against the CIA by using clips from a news conference that accuses the CIA of misleading Congress over its interrogation policies.
Mrs. Pelosi is shown on a split screen with the “Goldfinger” villainess, while the tagline says “Starring Nancy Pelosi, the speaker.” The ad closes with an image of a woman’s barely clothed back and the tagline “Democrats Galore.”
This ad was created in the midst of a barrage of criticism from the left that conservative pundits and talk-radio hosts were unfairly making fun of Mrs. Pelosi’s purported Botox use and describing her as a “hag.”
The RNC’s comparison provided yet more grounds for liberals to chastise the Republicans, flying around the liberal blogosphere and prompting a great deal of both eye-rolling and delight as the Republicans have appeared to step into trouble again with women.
Liberal blogger Taylor Marsh wrote, “if the RNC doesn’t have women in their leadership ranks or men who get this stuff and know bad taste when they see it, the Rush, Newt and Cheney Party (as they were aptly called on ‘Hardball’ yesterday) is truly nothing more than a frat boy institution. No offense to fraternities meant.”
Prop 8 ‘Idol’?
Some “American Idol” viewers saw a cultural split in the battle between crooner Kris Allen and openly-gay rocker Adam Lambert in the eighth season of the highly rated show.
Viewers have speculated that winner Mr. Allen, a former church worship leader, was boosted by “anti-Adam” votes from Christians uncomfortable with the photos that surfaced on the Internet of Mr. Lambert dressed in drag, kissing other men.
“Idol” host Ryan Seacrest asked Mr. Allen on CNN’s “Larry King Live” whether he thought the Christian vote helped him win the contest.
“I hope it didn’t,” Mr. Allen said. “The show’s not about religion. We’re not running for president. We are there to do music and there to sing, and hopefully people vote on that.”
Mr. Seacrest then asked Mr. Lambert whether he thought “the speculation about your sexuality, do you think that had anything to do with coming in second place?”
Mr. Lambert replied, “No, I think if anything, I think it - I think my lifestyle is just I’m different. I’m a little bit - I’m not your typical guy next door. The guy next door versus the guyliner [male eyeliner]. Sexuality aside, I think it more had to do with maybe my appearance and what songs I gravitated toward and my performance style. I think that had more to do with it.”
Regardless of what these two men are saying about the contest, others aren’t buying it.
“Allen was Christian and Southern and more conservative; Lambert was Jewish and liberal and made for Hollywood,” wrote Brad A. Greenberg of the JewishJournal.com. “And at some point, it appears that Allen became the straight ‘Idol’ and Lambert the gay ‘Idol.’ ‘American Idol’ was like watching Prop. 8 win all over again.”
Atheist campaign
Indiana atheists are plastering buses with provocative ads that play on a well-known line from the Bible.
The Indiana Bus Campaign has purchased space on buses in South Bend and Chicago to post advertisements that read, “In the beginning man created God” and directs people to its Web site.
The group says the slogan was chosen because “freedom of religion does not mean granting religion immunity from critical scrutiny. No one in the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign is denying people their right to believe what they want, but we have (or should have) the right to challenge those beliefs directly and without fear or shame.”
This is the second bus slogan the campaign has used. The first was: “You can be good without God.”
Amanda Carpenter can be reached at acarpenter@washington times.com.
