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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (7287)	3/24/1999 7:43:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Dole's ads exhibit unflagging courage BY DONNA BRITT Published Wednesday, March 24, 1999, in the San Jose Mercury News SO IT'S THE end of a long day, and you've kicked back on the sofa, half-watching whatever's on TV. During a commercial break, you see a vaguely familiar face, which smiles reassuringly and speaks. Suddenly, you are zapped into the Twilight Zone. The voice says it belongs to Bob Dole. It wants to discuss erectile dysfunction with you -- impotence, or ''E.D.,'' as the malady is called by the pitchman with the Midwestern monotone who does indeed look remarkably like Dole. You figure you must be having an LSD flashback until you realize that your husband -- who's sitting next to you, mouth gaping -- seems to be sharing your hallucination. This is real. You are indeed watching the former Senate majority leader, a venerable war hero and politician who could have become president, calmly discussing sagging morale. And he isn't talking about the Republican Party. Part of me has to admire Dole's courage because men almost never talk publicly about their . . . stuff. Oh, very young men and even some pitiable older ones brag about their varied adventures with their thingamabobs (thingamabobDoles?). But once most guys pass 25, they tend to keep such things under wraps, verbally speaking. But throughout my life, the ''mysterious'' female form and its problems have been publicly and routinely discussed. Ads chat about cramps, menstruation, itching, odor and dryness to peddle ''feminine hygiene'' products. Perhaps that's why women take intimate discussions in stride. But what do you hear of men and their stuff? Hardly a peep. Years ago, a female editor noted that even at the Washington Post, a phallic moniker if ever there was one, male editors who have no problems printing terms for women's body parts ''can't handle any mention of penises.'' Such squeamishness makes Dole, 75, a pioneer, admitting what no man has publicly admitted -- certainly no man whose name appeared on a presidential ballot. Now we know more than we ever wanted to about this political powerhouse's intimate life. Why shouldn't a man of Dole's stature go public about E.D. at a time when the president's sex habits are familiar to the most isolated tropical rain-forest dweller? Also to blame is the product Dole is pushing. It's Viagra, the ''wonder drug'' that got numerous stalled male engines up and running, and more than a few women wishing that science had left well enough alone. Recently, researchers thrilled by the drug's effect on men were baffled by its failure to similarly jump-start women. Duh. Most women simply reach a point where sex isn't all-consuming. Between cooking, cleaning, child-raising, errand-running and boss-coddling, even the most sex-crazed 30-year-old woman requires breaks from lovemaking. Now, thanks to modern science, older women -- worn out from such duties -- must contend with rejuvenated Viagra-popping husbands. The result: Hordes of exhausted 70-plus females, whose mates finally had discovered cuddling, are feigning headaches. In the ads, Dole explains how after prostate surgery drugs helped him get back in the saddle. Goody for him. But could he be giving E.D. a worse rap than it deserves? Had Clinton suffered from E.D., the nation would have been spared a wrenching crisis, America's children would still think steamy sex info should come from ''Dawson's Creek,'' rather than the nightly news, and Monica Lewinsky would still be a plump nobody scheming to meet George Stephanopoulos. So why couldn't Dole live quietly with E.D.? Because millions of men and their mates privately grapple with this problem. Maybe Dole's paid confessions will help everyone to view E.D. as an often curable condition rather than a shameful handicap that exacts a deep emotional toll. If the ads have that effect, I'll gladly squirm through them. If they don't, they at least explain why Elizabeth Dole is running. And I don't mean for president. Donna Britt is a columnist for the Washington Post. www7.mercurycenter.com