And why, exactly, would this completely uncontroversial bill that passed both houses without much fanfare elicit such an odd response from the governor?

Because it was sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. Not too long ago, Arnold showed up uninvited at a Democratic party event, and Assemblyman Ammiano politely requested that the governor "kiss my gay ass."

California! What a wonderful place! It is like America's Italy. Except, oddly, with fewer hookers.

Pic from the knife-brandishing budget-cutting threat video he made in July.

Our old vice president, "Creepy Dick," once swore at a Senator, too. It is a time-honored Vice Presidential tradition, like taking the oath of office before the President and generally being a total PR liability.

[Photo: AP]

The Emasculating Insults

• "Pussy." According to Time analyst Mark Halperin, former presidential candidate John Edwards thinks Barack Obama is a pussy. According to Urban Dictionary, "pussy" is "the box a dick comes in." And it's odd that Halperin attributes such an emasculating sort of comment to John Edwards, as John is a frequent target of similar language. Especially from noted reasonable pundit Ann Coulter, who has repeatedly called Edwards a
• "Fag." Fag is the mean word for a "gay." In addition to John Edwards, other people recently publicly tarred with this particular term include people Heath Ledger winked at and some poor schmuck named Jesse who Jerry Lewis doesn't care for. (NB: We think he was going to say "fagalah.") Isiah Washington also referred to a Grey's Anatomy co-star as a faggot.
• "Sissy." Easily the least offensive of the listed emasculating vulgarisms, this one was recently used by a former New York Press editor trying to sell a book about how America is a nation of Sissies, and by Salon editors who wished to insult war hero and torture victim John McCain.

The Anti-Women Insults

• "Cunt." This category belongs to cunt! While most of the terms used above are also inherently anti-lady, "cunt" is the most gynophobic and also the one used most often at women. Recent offenders: Roger Stone and Jane Fonda (who wasn't really insulting anyone, just cursing on live TV because she's been basically out of it for 25 years).

All-purpose Obscenity

• "Fuck" Diane Keaton!
• "Shit" Chris Matthews!
• Nudity. Not a word, but a state of being! An offensive state of being here in America, dammit! Just ask the producers of NYPD Blue!

Who is to blame? Nasty, uncouth bloggers, obvi. Jane Fonda never even heard that word until she discovered Jezebel. Yes, nasty bloggers like Tribune Co head Sam Zell, who's been caught recently telling employees fuck you and calling executives motherfuckers.

So if not bloggers specifically, maybe just the media in general? The media that keeps getting up in arms and demanding apologies every time someone accidentally speaks as they do when they're not on camera? Or maybe American behavior is at its most divorced from its ostensibly shared moral sense than it has been since, fuck, the 1950s.

Chris has consistently gone after Hillary Clinton with vehement misogyny since the late '90s ("Hillary Clinton bugs a lot of guys, I mean, really bugs people — like maybe me on occasion. . . . She drives some of us absolutely nuts."). So it should probably surprise no one that Matthews' "strong" wife Kathleen donated the maximum allowable amount to Hillary's campaign.

Another of the "strong" women Matthews is known for surrounding himself with was Tammy Haddad, the well-liked DC producer and former managing editor of Matthews' Hardball (full disclosure: we are among those people who like her). Haddad left the show last fall, first gaining a new title at MSNBC as a whole, then leaving to network to "consult" (she's been producing video for Newsweek.com). Since Haddad left the show, Matthews, now also acting as managing editor, has become even more of a terror to his staff (and guests). Which, for a man who accuses staffers of treating him like "some rape victim" when the teleprompter screws up, is saying something.

Matthews' issues with women are no secret to anyone who watches his show, but former staffers tell us he's actually reined in his gynophobic tendencies (esp since the wild and crazy Lewinsky years). "He can't control himself when it comes to women, and it's not malicious, it's just wildly inappropriate," one told us.

And hey, here's a montage of Chris Matthews cursing on-air. Best one is the last, from Super Tuesday, where Matthews berates his staff for "putting on shit."

Hardbrawl [WP]

Previously: Zell Plasters "You Own This Place Now" Banners Over LA Times Office