No Ladies’ Man (John Kerry has a lame pick-up line)

National Review Online ^ | October 14, 2004 | Carrie Lukas

[No Surrender Monkey]

Desperate men often resort to clichéd lines when trying to snare women. Senator John Kerry must be desperate, because he dragged out the tired, misleading statistic about the so-called wage gap during last night's debate; namely, that women only earn 76 cents for each man's dollar.

This factoid comes from Department of Labor data on the average wage of a full-time working woman and the average wage of a full-time working man. And, yes, if you look at those numbers you will find that the average woman earns about three quarters of the income of the average man.

But that statistic ignores many relevant factors that affect a worker's take-home pay. For starters, it doesn't adjust for number of years worked. On average, women spend about a decade out of the workforce to care for their families. It should come as no surprise to Senator Kerry that a 35-year-old woman reentering the workforce after ten years off earns less than a man or woman who worked continuously during that time.

The wage-gap statistic also fails to consider educational attainment. Today, women earn more than half of all bachelor's and master's degrees, but it wasn't always that way. Older women in the workforce tend to have less education than their male peers, which affected their career path, their salaries, and ultimately Department of Labor data.

Women and men also often have different priorities when assessing employment opportunities. One survey of working women found that for nearly three quarters a flexible schedule was "very important" when considering a job. This means that many women are willing to trade more money for more flexibility or time off.

[LibertarianInExile]

Would that it were true we spent millions for defence.

[rimshot]

[LibertarianInExile]

BITM will do that right after she starts making sense, which she'll do right after Fiji freezes over.

[Xenalyte]

That's it, then, buddy. I am gonna RAIN on you. You'll wish you'd never left Coney Island. Come out to pla-ay!

You see what you get, doctor? You see what you get when you mess with the Orphans?

Be lookin' good, doctor. All the way back to Coney. You hear me, baby? Good.

[Polybius]

....as if men sit around in strip clubs talking about women in negative fashion or making board policy. .....LibertarianInExile

With all the crap y'all two were talking about me last week at the strip joint, I wouldn't have put up with you for a second if you hadn't stuffed that C-note into my unmentionables.......Xenalyte

Hey, leave me out of that one Xena. I don't do strip joints.

In my line of work, when I see naked women, they pay ME money. That goes for the naked men too. ;-)

[Xenalyte]

So he says to me, "You gotta do something smart, baby, something big!"

He says, "You want to be a supervillain, right?" and I go, "Yeah baby, yeah yeah! What do I gotta do?"

He says, "You got bombs, blow up the Comet Club, it's packed with superheroes . . . you'll go down in supervillain history!" and I go, "Yeah baby 'cause I'm the Evil Midnight Bomber what Bombs at Midnight!"

Ah ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

[Polybius]

"However, his wage was based on job description and seniority as was the salary of every other tech."

Yes, but he was also a man. So he had a chance to move up in the male-dominated-coot hierarchy, instead of being ground down by the sexist-patriarchal-old-geezer-strip-club-goin' boardroom boys. ............. /channelling BITM

Actually, at that time period, most of the female techs were lesbians. As the only male tech, he felt isolated in a department full of females but some new straight female techs felt even more uncomfortable in a department full of lesbians.

[LibertarianInExile]

Hey, don't think you speak for just yourself. Some of us are worth every penny as kept men. :)

[LibertarianInExile]

Sounds like a fun office. Seriously!

[Polybius]

Hey, don't think you speak for just yourself. Some of us are worth every penny as kept men. :)

I know. :-)

[LibertarianInExile]

Geez, catch one tagline and this whole thread devolves into one big quotefest.

And my middle name used to be helping people, Libertarianhelping peopleInExile. But you make a pretty good argument for a gal in a Xena suit.

[BushisTheMan]

And they could be actual facts.

[BushisTheMan]

just as many men bitch and whine on these boards as women.

I agree

[BushisTheMan]

you remind me of several women I know too.

[BushisTheMan]

Let me help you:

victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim,
victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim,
victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim,
victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim,
victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim,
victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim,
victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim, victim,

[BushisTheMan]

You do know there is something wrong with you if you have to argue every sentence, don't you.

Bears repeating.

[Xenalyte]

They might be. They could also be made up out of whole cloth, or distorted past reality, which is why we must insist on a source before we believe them.

[Xenalyte]

You do know there is something wrong with you if you have to argue every sentence, don't you.

How very judgemental of you. I thought we women were supposed to be more tolerant and understanding and sensitive than men.

[Xenalyte]

Well, well, well. Good morning, patriarchal oppressors! (Y'all are probably both white guys too.)

[Xenalyte]

Oh, wait, born in Cuba . . . maybe not. But you're still an oppressor and upholder of the patriarchy.

[BushisTheMan]

You are wrong. I believe I quoted a Newsweek article.

I see underlining and quotes are the new emphasis.

I think you've gone a little off the deep end with your argument.