When I need to work up my nerve to write a tough column, I try to think of myself as Emma Peel in a black leather catsuit.

Even when conservatives have all the marbles, they still act as if they're under siege. Now that they are under siege, it is no time for them to act as if they're losing their marbles.

Women have become so obsessed with not withering, they've forgotten that there are infinite ways to be beautiful.

For two centuries, the South has feared a takeover by blacks or the feds. In Obama, they have both.

And as far as doing God's work, I think the bankers who took government money and then gave out obscene bonuses are the same self-interested sorts Jesus threw out of the temple.

Yet it's true that looks matter in politics... It is also true that perfecting the outer shell has become an obsession in this country... Mitt Romney, Barack Obama and John Edwards almost always look good, and pretty much the same, in dark suits or casual wear. Fred Thompson always looks crepuscular and droopy. Often Hillary Clinton looks great, and sometimes she looks tired, heavier or puffier.

I think the evangelicals think they're in a holy war now.