Remember this? National Review, in unabashed and full-fledged flagrante delicto, printing “The Stud: Donald Rumsfeld, America’s New Pinup.”
Not to be left behind in the rush to trendyism, Tim Russert then chimed in with: “Sixty-nine years old, and you’re America’s stud.” Larry King, of course, had to raise the issue to Rumsfeld: “You now have this new image called sex symbol.”
It went from the female geriatric crowd turning red over thoughts of an unclothed Rumsfeld to any female demographic getting moist.
Not that any polls were even conducted, let alone anything indicating even an iota of a scent of Rummy passion sweeping the country.
All it took was one far right magazine headline indicating the Secretary of Defense was causing the Buckley-ettes to garner some homo-erotic wood and People Magazine’s selection as the Sexiest Man Alive became an also-ran.
Well, how far the mighty have fallen–now Dandy Don probably couldn’t get humped in a women’s prison. Or a men’s prison.
Just look at Tim Rutten’s opening in his December 3, 2005 column in the Los Angeles Times:
“If another 10 Marines had not been killed Thursday outside Fallujah, this would have been the week to note that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s preening gamecock persona finally has realized its comedic potential…”
Wow. it’s now Detumescence Don, having deflated to the point of imitating Seinfeld’s George Costanza in pouting about his significant shrinkage.