The fallout from George Will's silly, under-researched column on sexual assault on university campuses can at least be credited with inspiring some entertainingly clueless commentary. Exhibit A: the thoughts of a George Mason law professor named David Bernstein, published by no less than the Washington Post.
George Will, national treasure, has spent a life championing America's diamond pastime. He wants to make sure that you appreciate our other cherished pastime: "the ambiguities of the hookup culture, this cocktail of hormones." Hang on to your Cracker Jack, gents.
For Stephen Colbert, the best part about Rick Santorum's near victory in Iowa this week was that it lead to Santorum picking up the endorsement of George Will. Will likes Santorum because he finds him fun and believes that "supporting Santorum feels like a lark." You know what, Will might have a point but I think most of us knew that Santorum was a joke a long time ago.
Here's a brief history of Sarah Palin's relationship with the establishment Republican party and its supporters in the press: They sat on their hands after John McCain picked her as vice president because she was able to fire up a despondent base; they continued to sit on their hands in the two years leading up to the 2010 elections because Palin raised tons of money while mobilizing the Tea Party; and now that that's over, they don't want her to run for president because she's an embarrassment to the nation and clearly incapable of doing the job even if she were to somehow win, which she won't.
Olivia Palermo walking in the West Village ... Anna Wintour leaving Monkey Bar ... Hayden Panettiere leaving her hotel ... Chris Meloni eating at Pastis ... Pierce Brosnan carrying coffee on the set of Remember Me in Queens ... Kristin Cavallari arriving at MTV's studios ... Michelle Trachtenberg talking on her cell phone in the meatpacking district ... Wentworth Miller and Mariska Hargitay shooting scenes for Law and Order: SVU ... Columnist George F. Will having lunch with a young blonde woman at Extra Virgin in the West Village ... and Taylor Momsen sipping Diet Coke on the set of Gossip Girl.
Kimora Lee Simmons has good reason to munch on some cupcakes today. It's her 34th birthday. Given the events of the past year, former AIG chief Hank Greenberg probably isn't in the mood to celebrate, but it's his 84th birthday all the same. Others turning a year older today: Comedian Will Arnett is 39. Lance Bass is turning 30. Columnist George Will is turning 68. Actor Richard Jenkins is 62. Former SNL castmember Ana Gasteyer is turning 42. ESPN reporter Erin Andrews turns 31. Pia Zadora is 55. Gallerist Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn is 42. And two of the city's top lawyers, Ed Herlihy and Paul Roth are turning 62 and 70, respectively.
Barack Obama is wooing the milquetoast-conservative punditocracy tonight, at George Will's house (obvs). And the Times better have the killer inside scoop, because its columnists are all up in that dinner party.
Still hunting in vain for a single positive reaction to Time magazine naming "You" as their 2006 "Person of the Year"? You won't find that positivism in the corpus of ubersnob George Will, who sneers, "So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone's inner turmoils." Hear hear! But even more disappointing is that the whole "You" thing (and even the whole mirror-cover thing) may have first issued forth from the hallowed pages of McCalls. Gray eminence Robert Stein writes:
