Secondhand Sun

Gene Weingarten, for the uninitiated, is a humor writer for the Washington Post. All the cool people in Washington, DC read his online chat at washingtonpost.com. One of the many things I've always liked about Gene is that he's always been respectful of women - no, respectful isn't the word, because he's not terribly respectful generally speaking. But he doesn't respect women less than men: there's equal opportunity irreverence in his work, and it's really quite delightful.

Which makes it all the more disappointing that, in yesterday's chat, he reveals a belief that abominable beer commercial about the "Man Law" of "You poke it, you own it" is funny.

The idea of men owning women, either because they stuck their penises into them or for any other reason, just isn't funny. And not even Gene Weingarten can make it funny.