Steel Magnolia

This is not from the Times, but it's so egregious I had to post something. Up late coding, I'm listening to the news about Bush's latest Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers. Martin Frost (who was apparently "served in Congress from 1979 to 2005, representing a diverse district in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area") says:

There are other interesting aspects to her nomination. There currently are no Southerners on the court (individuals who spent their adult life in the South) and Miers is a somewhat soft-spoken Southern woman. However, no one should mistake her quiet nature for a lack of toughness or resolve. She is a steel magnolia — something hostile senators from both the left and right will find out when they try to embarrass her during the confirmation process.

(Sorry for the Fox News link, but it was the only hit at 2:19 PDT for "steel magnolia miers").

To hear him say it (as he just did on NPR) is disgusting. "She's a real southern lady ... she'll be a real interesting presence on the court ..." So we're looking for steel magnolias now? This is just so ... disgustingly fetishist, somehow.