Cokie Roberts for this:
By an overwhelming margin, criticism by Cokie Roberts, NPR contributing senior news analyst and ABC political commentator, of then-Sen. Barack Obama for choosing Hawaii, the state of his birth, to take his August family vacation was the most popular entry in Media Matters for America's poll for Most Inane Punditry of the 2008 presidential campaign. Readers chose Roberts' comments -- which included her characterizing Hawaii, where Obama vacations regularly, as "foreign, exotic" -- in greater numbers than her two closest competitors combined. Roberts stated: "I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state, but it has the look of him going off to some sort of foreign, exotic place," adding, "He should be in Myrtle Beach, and, you know, if he's going to take a vacation at this time."
If we wish to limit the competition to comments about Barak Obama the terrorist fist bump and the exotic nature of drinking orange juice are pretty good, too. It must be hard to be a pundit who has to keep on talking about the election for years, though.
Now that I've been nice, let me propose a few Lifetime Inanity Awards, one for television and one for press. The former goes to Chris Matthews, the man whose mouth appears to be hardwired on a different channel than the rest of him.
The latter goes to Maureen Dowd, for reasons which are self-explanatory to anyone who has read her columns. Note that I have nothing against Matthews or Dowd, rather the opposite. They keep my juices flowing nicely when all I can see outdoors is cold snow.
Note also that these awards are lovingly given. I have the cootie awards for real nasties.
And that in mind I wish to ask you, my sweet and erudite readers, which comment about women (either as a group or as individual women) should win this year's pundit Louse Award?