In this column I pose questions and raise issues. I don't always agree with the conclusion, implied or stated. The purpose is to put a slightly different spin on each item and to promote discussion.

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• Hillary Clinton's "Listening Tour" makes perfect sense - as President Clinton demonstrated, the Clintons lead by following.

• Back in the bad old competitive days, most American drivers would slow down to let another driver change lanes. Now, after decades of indoctrination in the virtues of cooperation, more American drivers than ever tail gate with knuckles clenched as they speed to assure nobody new gets in front of them.

• On page 98 the September 1999 issue features a picture of a naked woman. On the cover the headlines gush about Pamela Anderson while a sultry brunette treats us to a smoldering gaze. Inside, Christina Applegate gets naked and it's Sex, Sex, Sex on page 150. A raunchy men's magazine? No, it's JANE, available at your local neighborhood grocery store. If it's a magazine for men featuring pictures of naked women and articles about sex, feminists scream oppression. But magazines for women? Oh, that's different. Different, or a double standard?

• The fact the face of female power wears a male mask means nothing to the boys and men subject to laws and policies enacted at the behest of antimale bigots.

• It's nice to be a nice guy. It's easier to get along, you don't have to shoulder the burden of being solely responsible for the future, you can be a partner rather than the "head of household." But that ain't how the species is wired. Most women want a man, and they want him deep down in their chromosomes where no amount of social activism can reach.

• Is feminism a conservative plot to introduce right wing values into the left wing agenda?

• Any agenda served by only some of the truth will be destroyed by the rest of it.

• Vulgarity, profanity and anything else which intends to shock social sensibilities soon becomes trite if overused.

• If Anita Hill was so damaged by all the ruckus over her testimony in the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas, why did she get a professorship and lucrative lecture circuit appearances out of the deal? I know many men who would love to be "damaged" that way.

• If a lesbian is a liberated woman then a gay must be a liberated man. Question is, what are they liberated from? A lesbian separatist will say lesbians are liberated from men; okay, then what are gays liberated from?

• Don't die angry.

• In the feminist paradigm, if you care about women and men equally you are a misogynist; to them, equality means women first.

The mainstream serves men and oppresses women,
or does it?

In the mainstream,...

• ...upper middle class white women are oppressed by poor black men.

• ...women's sex magazines are sold at the grocery store.

• ...a woman can head the prosecution team of a world renown sports star, botch the job, make headlines with comments like "I'm not wearing any underwear," and still be a respected celebrity.

• ...men sing "she's out of my reach" while women sing "you're so vain."

• ...men pay, women dine.

• ...a guy gets shouted down for wanting to have sex with one woman while a woman is hailed as liberated for wanting have sex with many men and/or women.

• ...an angry driver is presumed to be a man even though surveys find as many women as men drive angry.

• ...male anger is bad but female rage is good.

• ...only women can be raped.

• ...a poor man is an oppressor but a rich woman is oppressed.

• ...patriarchy is bad but single mother households are good.

• ...being a turd is better than being a nerd.

• ...the woman is always right.

• ...male standards are inferior to female standards.

• ...any man who disagrees with a woman is sexist.

• ...male sexism is bad while female sexism is largely ignored.

• ...male sensuality is icky but female sensuality is sublime.

• ...men have the privilege of being conscripted in times of war and are required to submit to front line duty while women are oppressed because they aren't allowed to choose front line duty.

• ...blacks can be sexual and loud, Asians can be evasive and crowd, whites can be quiet and ambitious, and American Indians don't exist in real life.

• ...a woman having sex on her own terms is an expression of liberation while a man having sex on his own terms is an expression of oppression.

Conservatives and Liberals versus Reality

Conservative: If you're poor it's probably your fault.
Liberal: If you're poor it's probably not your fault.
Reality: It depends on individual circumstances.

Conservative: If you're not a success it's your fault.
Liberal: If you're not a success it's not your fault.
Reality: At least you tried.

Conservative: Homosexuality is a (wrong) choice.
Liberal: Homosexuality is biological.
Reality: Some choose and some are chosen.

Conservative: Corporations have rights.
Liberal: Corporations have no rights.
Reality: Corporations are a legal fiction.

Conservative: Clinton is a lying philanderer.
Liberal: Gingritch is a lying philanderer.
Reality: And they wonder why we think all politicians are dirty?

Conservative: The government should not provide health care.
Liberal: The government should provide health care.
Reality: The insurance companies control health care.