"Are you proud of your son?"

Salon.com | Why Dean and Franken are so hot right now

"Surprisingly?"

I'm consistently amazed that people forget that "rhymes with witch" comment about Geraldine Ferraro from the '84 campaign. It wasn't just trivial and catty--it was one of the lowest moments in the history of American politics, a statement by the GOP that a female opponent wasn't worth the time of their Vice President. As far as they were concerned, she was really competing with his wife. More attention was devoted during the campaign to the allegations of tax fraud against Ferraro's husband than to anything she said or did herself.

Barbara Bush proved willing in that instance to publicly demean her entire sex to keep her husband in power. Of course it wasn't her idea. Does it matter? She's a vicious, vicious woman who made a huge contribution to the male monopoly on presidential politics which will probably now last for decades more.

We're supposed to be surprised that she can be mean just because she's an old lady? Get real.