Phyllis passes. Todd Akin and the ‘Immaculate Misconception.’ And the ‘P-words’ in media use.

A few odds and ends to think about today.

Phyllis Diller died last night in her sleep at the age of 95. Diller used to make all of us, my parents and me, laugh. It wasn’t just that this queen of comedy looked funny with her wild hair and sometimes witch-like appearance. She knew she possessed just the right mix of funny and bizarre.

Diller seemed to grow funnier as she aged. Rest in peace, funny lady.

Perhaps today’s Tea Party politician feels as if they can totally ignore history. For instance, Congressman Todd Akin who is running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate seat in Missouri must not have ever heard of failed Texas GOP gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams.

Williams wasn’t doing so badly against Ann Richards in the Texas race for governor until he told a joke in public that likened weather to rape. “If it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it,” Williams said.

Now Akins is in a national s**tstorm after he made remarks about what has to be labeled “the immaculate misconception.” Akins seemed to pooh-pooh the subject of rape and pregnancy resulting from it.

Hotter than a cat on a hot tin roof. That is how one might react to the saga of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Three members of the feminist punk band were sentenced to prison after performing a song protesting Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main Russian Orthodox Church cathedral.

As Huffington Post correctly points out the American media, mostly TV, have been somewhat short of the proverbial “one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store.” Speaking frankly, some get a little timid when it comes to “pussy.” At least to certain uses of the word do some news folks find themselves in a fit of timidness. I heard CNN’s Erin Burnett use the name, Pussy Riot, tonight. Good for her. Err, I think I’ll stop there. I remember writing a story for a newspaper once where I probably held a personal best for using the word “penis” multiple times. But for some reason, it is more acceptable to use “penis” than “pussy” in some some media venue. Wonder why that is? Meow and good night.