The blogger Digby, about whom I’ve written before (I think the proper English is "who I’ve written about before"), has a nice post up about the increasingly naked, and undeniably bizarre, Republican-ish fixation with various cartoon-y conceptions of masculinity. She writes:
I have been reading a fascinating book called "The Wimp Factor
" by Stephen J Doucat that thoroughly examines the strange phenomenon of anxious Republican masculinity and the way it’s informing our politics. …I will be writing more about it over time, but I just wanted to make note of one little thing that I didn’t know and I doubt that you all knew either:
By far the most compelling confirmation of the phallic meaning of the president’s aircraft-carrier cakewalk was found on the hot-selling "George W. Bush Top Gun action figure" manufactured by Talking Presidents. I originally ordered one to use as part of the cover design for this book. The studly twelve-inch flyboy not only comes with a helmet and visor, goggles and oxygen mask, but underneath his flight suit is a full "basket" — a genuine fake penis, apparently constructed with lifelike silicone.
