The wax has been scraped off the menorah. The ornaments have been carefully taken off the tree and put where the dog can’t eat them. The brownies from Grandma Dee have been reduced to crumbs. The holidays are over and we can hardly remember what all the stress was about.
Well, maybe we remember a little since the thinking women have been thinking guiltily about their absence from leading their sistren through the often arcane and labyrinthine world of the media, politics and current events. But dammit, we’ve got laundry to catch up on, don’t you?
To smooth over our negligence, we offer this, our distaff version of the old Esquire Magazine “Women We Love” annual. For your reading pleasure – and ours until we can get back in the saddle – here are:
Top Ten Men We Loved in 2005 and Why.
1. Jon Stewart. He can make you laugh while eviscerating a politician with such intelligence and skill that you never see it coming. His “fake” news program proves that the smartest guy in the kingdom is still the jester. And now he’s hosting the Oscars. Hooray!2. Steve Martin. He was finally honored with the Mark Twain Prize for Comedy by the
Kennedy Center. What took them so long? He has been making us laugh with his gentle, silly and sarcastic form of comedy since before even his hair was gray. He’s fast becoming a favorite novelist as well, shedding a gentle, humorous light on difficult lives. Besides, he gives us happy feet. 
3. Ted Koppel. A consummate man of class, Koppel left Nightline with the same dignity and unflinching candor as when he began. We’re just glad he was there to see us through the hard times.
4. Stephe
n Colbert. Can those eyebrows go any higher? He may have started out slowly, but the Colbert Report has been gaining steam as Colbert becomes the flip side of Jon Stewart’s befuddled everyman. Besides, he coined the 2005 Word of The Year, "truthiness."5. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, (D-NY). Call him arrogant, call him self-serving, call him
liberal – Chuck doesn’t care. He’s still there on the front lines making sure that the best interests of the people are served. Let other politicians compromise their progressive values, we know that Schumer will stand firm.6. Mark Harmon. He's Mark Harmon, isn't that enough? But in case it's not...In a time when youth rules on television, he is the center of one of the coolest shows on television, "NCIS." He has the looks of a leading man combined with the versatility, dependability and generosity found in the great character actors. And he doesn't appear to know it. Who can resist that?
7. Al Franken. The Left was fair game for the Right’s media darlings until Big Al stepped i
nto the fray. His hilarious, scathing and well researched books gave opposing pundits such as Bill O’Reilly fits. Then he gave birth to an always entertaining and informative radio show, as well as an entire radio station devoted to progressive viewpoints. And he’s no paper tiger. He supports the troops not only in words, but by taking regular USO trips to entertain them.
8. Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. Broadway’s cutest couple. By themselves they are accomplished and acclaimed performers. But, together, their chemistry is so potent that they are the new acting dynasty. (Thank you, Mel Brooks!) In 2005, with a sold-out run of "The Odd Couple" on Broadway and the release of the film version of their smash stage musical, "The Producers," it is hard to remember a time when they acted alone. (Sorry, Sarah Jessica!)
9. Jimmy Carter. Whatever you may have thought of him as president, 
there’s no doubt in our minds that he is the greatest former president of this, or any, century. Well into his 80s, he continues to make a significant difference in the world while writing books and building homes in his spare time. He is often the voice of sanity in a world gone mad, reminding us that a good Christian loves all his fellow man and works to ease the burden of the oppressed. All this, and he truly loves his wife, an increasingly rare phenomenon in public life.
10. Herb and Glenn. One is a father and another a husband, but the men in our lives who are
there for us certainly qualify. These are the kind of men who would drive through a blizzard to pick you up from an airport, think of you whenever something you both love comes on the television and lose their right hand before they would let you down in the ways that truly matter. (And this doesn't even touch on their personal accomplishments.) They are the men behind the thinking women and it’s time they got a moment in the spotlight. Our only hope, here at The Thinking Woman, is that you have men like these in your life, too.
