I'm not sure why I spend hours researching and writing, fact-checking and whatnot - it's obvious Mr. Guard doesn't - but as Stephen Colbert says, "Go out 10 yards and button-hook to the left. I'm going to hit you with a perfect spiral of the truth."
I've chosen to ignore Mr. Guard's "dream sequence," thus knocking out all but 44 of the 258 words that comprise his latest attempt to coherently put words on paper. Besides, everyone knows that 2012 is Dennis Kucinich's year to shine.
I'm surprised Mr. Guard isn't familiar with the word "smarmy." Irony aside, one would assume a man who throws around the phrase "vitriolic diatribes" would have a larger vocabulary. But I'll help Mr. Guard - I'm progressive like that, you know, wanting to help those in need - and pass along the Merriam-Webster definition: "marked by a smug, ingratiating, or false earnestness; a tone of smarmy self-satisfaction."
Mr. Guard asks if "smarmy" is "a sexist term used by Liberals against women." It's not, but I suppose we could ask John McCain, who has an extensive, documented history of sexism. In the 1980s, Mr. McCain joked about an ape raping a woman (politico.com); in the 1990s, he laughed about how "ugly" Chelsea Clinton and Janet Reno were (yahoo.com); earlier this year, while discussing Hillary Clinton, he was asked, "How do we beat the bitch?" Mr. McCain replied, "Excellent question." (youtube.com)
And what about that "glass ceiling"? Mr. McCain skipped a vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, named after a woman who had equal experience but was paid far less than her male counterparts. Mr. McCain - 894th in his class of 899 at Annapolis, Keating Five member, computer-phobe, newly christened champion for women - said females don't need more protection from gender discrimination, but rather, "education and training." (Fox News)
I suppose this callous disregard for women is to be expected of Mr. McCain. After all, the "family values" candidate dated his current wife, Cindy, for nine months while still married to - and living with - his first wife; he even went so far as to obtain a marriage license while still legally married, according to court documents. (Los Angeles Times) His first wife was disabled and the mother of three; the future Cindy McCain - nearly 20 years his junior - was a multimillionaire, and we all know money trumps values if you're a Republican. But not even wife No. 2 is spared her husband's wrath, according to a Guardian account of a 1992 campaign stop: "At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, 'You're getting a little thin up there.' McCain's face reddened, and he responded, 'At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you (four-letter expletive).'"
I'll side with Newsweek's Anna Quindlen, who said, "To try to suggest Sarah Palin might garner the Hillary Clinton vote, that one woman is just the same as another, that biology trumps ideology, is the ultimate evidence of true sexism."
Back on subject: Not too long ago, a writer in this forum scolded Janet Collins, who backs up her opinions with crazy things like facts and sources, by saying, "letters full of hateful comments; i.e. 'idiot in the White House' will not accomplish what you want ... This is a Republic and you have a voice - use it - constructively."
That letter-writer was Mr. Guard, and apparently he's as hypocritical as his Republican heroes.
