The October 2003 issue of Vanity Fair (which has returned to earth since featuring the Bush administration as stalwart mannequins) includes James Wolcott’s hilarious commentary on the hubbub over Bush’s basket. Saying that MSNBC’s Chris Matthews "gets as gaga as Andrew Sullivan and frequent guest Peggy Noonan over that hickory-smoked hunk of masculinity, George W. Bush," Wolcott wrote:
"One of the more cringe-inducing TV moments in recent memory was Matthews and G. Gordon Liddy sprouting rhetorical woodies over the spectacle of Bush on the carrier deck in his flight suit, his parachute harness showcasing the presidential bulge -- or, to use Liddy’s inimitable phrase, "his manly characteristic." One guy to another, Liddy put Matthews wise. "You know, all those women who say size doesn’t count, they’re all liars. Check that out."
Matthews: "And I’ve got to say why do the Democrats, as you say, want to keep advertising this guy’s greatest moment?"
Liddy: "Look, he’s coming across as a, well, as women would call in my show saying, what a stud. . ." "
To borrow a line from the late critic Marvin Mudrick, the two of them should take a cold shower, preferably not together."