No Permanent Majorities In America
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Being President 101
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Hope Is On The Way
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Illinois Outdoes Itself
Environmentalists Disregard Public Safety
There's Something About Harry
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What Good Can Come Of This?
Dummies
If The Shoe Fits Hurl It
Obama The Magic Negro-Gate
How Can Obama Fix So Much That Went Wrong?
Happy New Year ...
Out With The Old
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Bye-Bye 2008: Things I Want To Forget
The Fierce Urgency Of Now
How Many Government Workers Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb?
The Perils And Joys Of Self-Esteem
The Future Of Civilization
'Hunk' Obama Can Help Nation Fight Obesity Epidemic
Moral Clarity In Gaza
Obama's Tax Cuts Leave Logic Behind
Talking About Sex-Ed That Works
The Time Is Now
Et Al Ad Nauseam: 2008 And All That
The Generational Theft Act Of 2009
Pay Rod Gives Democrats Fits With Senate Choice
'Tis The Season To Be Jolly. Or At least Try
Hey, Caroline -- You'Re Not Entitled
Hamas Rockets Blew Away Gaza Opportunity
Season's Readings
Old Acquaintances
A Social Trauma For Obama: Youth Crime
Sensitivity And 'Gran Torino'
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The Unsung Hero Of Obama'S Victory
Red Ink Did Me Good
Barack in Limbo
A Hard Year Ahead
Ask Not For Plum Political Appointments
Eric Holder And All Political Prisoners
Mideast Overshadows Obama's Prospects
Enough About My Hair Already
Year-End Odds And Ends
Curing The New Year's Eve Hangover
The Gamble in Gaza -- Interview With Aaron David Miller
Cal Thomas-Bonus
A Respite From Reality
One Nation, One People-God Bless Us Everyone
Dr. Leavitt's Scary Diagnosis
Teaching Economics
Richardson's Exit And The Vetting Process



Lessons From The Vampire
Suzanne Fields 11/21/2008
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He's handsome and dresses with care, and he's what Joe Biden might call "clean and articulate." Women love him. He's the new beau ideal of the popular culture. But we're not talking about Barack Obama.

Men hardly look to politics to find a heroic model to aspire to, nor do women go there seeking a man of elegance and eloquence to sweep them off their feet, having given up on the knight in shining armor with whom to gallop into the sunset. The horse finished out of the money. We no longer care whether Rhett Butler gives a damn about tomorrow, and Prince Charming, looking for a foot to fit a glass slipper, might settle for a stinky running shoe abandoned in a marathon somewhere along the way.

But a woman won't be deprived or discouraged in seeking the man of her dreams, and in the transition to post-election paradise there's suddenly a hot new hero who isn't even a real man. He's a vampire. At a theater near you, virginal young girls, anxious young women and lots of mothers are lining up for the opening of "Twilight," a movie based on the first volume of the best-selling four-book vampire series by Stephanie Meyer, all of which sold in the millions. The books, aimed at the young adult market, are advertised as "wholesome fare."

But a vampire is still a vampire who wants to make dinner of a bucket of
blood, so what's the attraction? Vampires have their roots in stories about the bad boys of literature — think Heathcliff in "Wuthering Heights" or bad Byron, a lord but a romantic poet for all that, who mocked and defied prim and proper 19th century social conventions. But something else is going on here. Those bad boys weren't out for blood.

The modern vampire comes to us with an ironic twist. He's Mr. Nice Guy, the kind you might take home to meet Mom. He's more into the teasing passion of '50s foreplay than the explicit down 'n' dirty of music videos and rap lyrics. That makes him too good to be true, a young man even Dad might approve of. He has a conscience that accompanies courtship, but he dominates like an alpha male. Eschewing equal opportunity sexuality, he wants his girlfriend to indulge femininity rather than asserting feminism.

He woos with manners.

Is this wish fulfillment or what? In an essay titled "Love in the Time of Darwinism" in City magazine, Kay Hymowitz observes that "the dating and mating scene is in chaos." Men are angry that women demand both equality and deference, giving off mixed signals, damning men if they do and damning them if they don't. If men open a car door (or any door) they show chauvinist boorishness, and if they don't they show a lackof breeding.

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Twilight - Color
By Bob Englehart - The Hartford Courant * Posted 11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM
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Twilight - Color
© Copyright 2008  Bob Englehart - All Rights Reserved.

Posted By: Joseph  on Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I've read this three times now and I'm still not sure what point she's trying to make other than she really likes the movie Twilight.  Is it saying that today's "man on the prowl" should be more vampiric in his relationships?  Or that single men looking to date should be more classy?

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