In the News

Another catfight! And doesn't the media love it! Now Meghan McCain, daughter of 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain, and talk-show host Laura Ingraham are going at each other with claws bared.

It started because Meghan criticized author Ann Coulter in her online column. She called Coulter "offensive, radical, insulting and confusing." Coulter, no shrinking violet, for once did not snap back, which is a bit surprising. Maybe she is lying in wait somewhere, sharpening a stiletto.

But Coulter's pal, radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham, decided to enter the fray. She complained that nobody would even be listening to Meghan's opinions if she wasn't "kind of cute" and McCain's daughter. She also put down Meghan by joking that after the campaign she probably wanted a role on a reality show but such shows "don't like plus-sized models. They only like women who look a certain way." Definitely a major me-ow!

Meghan wasn't going to take that without a retort and a well-publicized appearance, on Monday, on The View. On that show she said she wasn't a plus-sized model. She wore a size eight but during the campaign had maybe gone up to a size ten. Ingraham, like Coulter, is extremely slender.

She also declared, "What do young women think when I speak my mind about politics and I want to have a political discussion about the ideological future of the Republican Party and the answer is she's fat and shouldn't have an opinion," she said. "What kind of message are we sending women?" A good point.

She went on to complain that too many women are focused on their weight. She included Oprah, Hillary and even her own mother in the category of the weight-obsessed. She also quoted Tyra Banks' classic rejoinder to those who said that she was putting on the pounds: "That's what I feel like right now, ‘You can kiss my fat ass!' "

Needless to say, Meghan, who is 24, is making big-time headlines with the web buzzing with pro and con comments about her and Laura Ingraham. Some of the debate is about women and weight. Some about how women too often stoop to trash each other in the snarkiest ways. There is even a political component. Some think the media is so interested in fanning the flames of this story because it is a Republican woman bashing Republican women and that if it were two Dems acting like the Mean Girls, we would hardly be hearing about it.

One thing is sure: Meghan is already learning how to play the media game. She cancelled a small-ratings CNN appearance on Sunday probably because she got a better, bigger offer to be on The View. Yes, Meghan vs. Laura has become a big story this week. And we haven't even heard from Ann Coulter yet.

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