The Gist

Obama is first Dem pres contender to criticize Holsinger

Barack Obama spoke out on the anus-obsessed Dr. James Holsinger, George W. Bush's loony nominee for Surgeon General, first among Dems running for president to speak up. Many thanks to listeners of my show who called his office yesterday, and the offices of other Dems on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (including Dem contenders Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd; Ted Kennedy chairs the committee), which will hold hearings on the nomination but has not yet set a date.

Holsinger's 1991 paper --which he prepared for the United Methodist Church, where he is an official -- surfaced earlier this week. (It's called Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality, and you can read it here, with its many references to anal sex and proper lubrication.) Holsinger's claims that sex solely between men and women is so "natural" that even modern plumbing uses "female" and "male" to delineate pipe fittings prompted Joe.My.God to offer up a bunch of other plumbing terms for Holsinger.