Blonde on Blonde: State of the Union; Loyal Spouses; and Tiger Moms

After reaching a consensus that having a round face, as both Neil Cavuto and Lis Wiehl do, is actually a good thing, Wiehl and her Blonde on Blonde sparring partner Deirdre Imus cooed over “all those brains” in Cavuto’s rather large head.
 
It was the first instance today when the two women got heated over nerdy political commentators, but it wouldn’t be the last. Before that, the two found common ground on last night’s State of the Union address, which Lis described as “fine.” More to the point, Deirdre said, “It was boring.” 
 
Much of the flatness, as Bernard aptly described it, can be attributed to Democrats and Republicans sitting alongside one another, instead of bitterly divided on opposite sides of the aisle. Or as Imus described the attempt at feigned bipartisanship, “We had date night with all these morons.”
 
President Obama’s performance, however, was still a marked improvement over his predecessor, who “couldn’t even read the speech,” in Imus view. But Deirdre had been most riveted by her boyfriend Frank Luntz’s performance after the speech, when he conducted a televised focus group live on Fox News.
 
“That’s more compelling,” she noted, after her husband hosed her off.
 
On the subject of spouses, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s husband Mark Kelly, an astronaut, is scheduled to begin training in early February for his final space mission in April, and he has yet to decide whether he’ll still make the trip given his wife’s still delicate condition more than two weeks after she was shot in the head in Tucson, Arizona.
 
“No, absolutely not,” Lis said, responding Imus’s question, “Should he go?” Deirdre agreed, and pointed out that when her husband was in the hospital for ten days and almost died, she did not leave his side the entire time, even though they had kids at the Imus Ranch and their son Wyatt was just one year old.
 
Deirdre’s fierce loyalty was, perhaps, emblematic of her inner “Tiger Mom,” a term brought to life in the book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, where author Amy Chua divulges the particular intensity with which Chinese parents raise their children.
 
“It’s almost actionable,” Charles said of the method, which has been described as “draconian” in its harshness. Tiger Moms demand perfection from children academically and scold them cruelly, often to the point of insult, when excellence is not achieved.
 
“Good!” Deirdre said. “Because what’s missing with a lot of parents right now is discipline, and structure, and strong work ethic, and a strong sense of responsibility.”
 
More realistically, Lis observed that failure is a part of life, and something children should learn to cope with. In Chua’s case, her husband, who is not Chinese, was often more lenient with their two daughters; or, as Imus put it, “Tiger Mom and the Wimpy Dad.”
 
One thing moms everywhere can probably agree on, regardless of their resemblance to felines, is that MTV’s new show “Skins,” which features underage drinking, sex, and other lurid details, is beyond inappropriate.
 
“You want to talk about the flip side of Tiger Moms?” Deirdre said. “Moms who are allowing their children to watch this.”
 
Meow.
 
-Julie Kanfer