I am not aware of any internet traditions…

…Because I am doin’ the write-a-thon!*

Still, somehow, I ended up reading this post:
I don’t just hate ladies, but men who I think act like ladies. The post is pretty good, but I zeroed in on the first comment by Mnemosyne:

This is what I think is going to be absolutely fascinating about this election. For decades, the right wing has been able to smear white male politicians by associating them with femininity and The Great Dark Hordes Coming To Rape Your Women.

Now they don’t have even that thin veneer of pretense left. Obama IS part of the Great Dark Horde, not just someone you can slyly label as a n*gger-lover and pretend it’s his other policies you find troubling. Clinton is an actual woman, so smearing her for being feminine exposed that line for what it is.

It’s all going to come spilling out in public and it’s going to be very, very ugly. I’d like to think it will be ugly like having an infected wound lanced so there’s a chance of getting on the road to recovery, but I’m not optimistic.

Yes. Exactly.

In fact, I was using the wound-lancing analogy earlier this morning, when talking about the unfortunate campaign-related crypto-racism of such (??) liberal luminaries as Ralph “white guilt” Nader and Geraldine “lucky to be black” Ferraro.

It’s like deep down even the Democrats are all Bill “I couldn’t get over the fact that nobody was screaming M.F.-er” O’Reilly — not consciously and deliberately racist, but for some reason they can’t open their mouths on the subject of race without inserting a foot or two all the way up to the knee.

(It’s possible. I saw somebody do it once. In Circus Contraption.)

I just think that when you find yourself repeating Republican talking points — “white guilt” is a Rush Limbaugh favorite with regard to Barack Obama, and accusations of black privilege and “reverse racism” are a venerable old right wing chestnut — you need to step back and take a closer look at your own attitudes and prejudices.

In related news: I never saw anybody mention that the Obamas’ Terrorist Fist Jab is obviously, in fact, them activating their Wonder Twin powers. But that’s obviously what it was.

Oh, and, for some reason Chris Matthews’ pathetic attempts to get an Obama-is-super-elitist narrative going this campaign season makes me picture him on Family Feud. Let’s say.. pundits vs. various types of slime mold. This allows Matthews and Markos “DailyKos” Moulitsas to be on the same team, which amuses me for some reason.

Host: We’re looking for “blue collar leisure activity.”
Chris: Bowling!
Host: Survey says… Bowling! It’s number two! Pundits have the floor! Give me another “blue collar leisure activity.”
Chris (conferring with other pundits): Golf? Hedge fund management?
Kos Pool, say pool!
Chris: Pool? Are you crazy? Only rich people play pool!
Kos: Pool, it’s pool!
Host: Do we have pool? Ding ding ding! Pool is number one!

(A little later in the program)
Host: We’re looking for “something you would drink in a diner.”
Chris: Coffee?
Host: Coffee it is! Number one! Pundits have the floor!
Kos: Orange juice.
Chris: What? Who gets orange juice in a diner?
Kos: When was the last time you were in a diner?
Chris: 1963. But I’m pretty sure they didn’t have orange juice.
Kos: They had orange juice! Sheesh! What do you think the answer is? Milk? Tomato juice?
Chris: I don’t know, but it’s not orange juice!
Kos: Orange juice!
Host: Survey says… orange juice is number 2! Good job pundits!

*The write-a-thon is a fundraiser for the Clarion West writers’ workshop, which I attended in 2006. Funds raised through the write-a-thon and other events helps keep tuition affordable.