For those of you who missed the pop-culture allusion from yesterday (See Here), here is the background:

The Wonder Years. Paul wasn’t so bad, really, relative to his best friend, Kevin, who despite his constant whining, managed to snag all the hot chicks. One could sense within Paul a deep-seeded rage, a level of angst unparalleled to any other sitcom brat. The rumour was almost believable, since it was entirely unexpected that the homely white-bread goodness of Paul Pfeiffer could somehow morph into the homely pseudo-glam-rock-rebel shown below:

Nobody really knows who started that rumour about five years ago, but it was catchy because it was so believable. Somehow, unconsciously, we were rooting for the Paul Pfeiffer in all of us. It was a critique on popular culture and mass media, and it was a highly successful one at that. Of course that was a ridiculous rumour, but its outlandishness spoke out against those who made fun of old Paul Pfeiffer. Somehow, everyone could rise to coolness if they so aspired, and make a living off it as well. Yet we knew ’twas never meant to be, but the readiness of those who snatched it up spoke volumes against all the pretty people.

Alright, now here’s the pitch. While I realize that many out there would consider this rumour to be sacreligious, this is along the same lines of things that Susan Estrich has proposed, as I detailed here. It would be just like her to take on The Vatican and demand a female pope be appointed, regardless of a woman’s lack of qualifications in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Tradition matters not to Ms. Estrich when women are being oppressed. This notion’s utter absurdity matches the unrealistic demands she posed on the newspaper editors who weren’t following a strict fifty-fifty gender ratio. In her words, the disparity of female op-ed columnists was a case of “[t]he old boys’ network at work.”

Oh the patriarchy! What could possibly be more patriarchal than traditional monotheistic religions like Christianity in the eyes of quota hounds like Ms. Estrich? Admit it - you want to believe that she’d propose such a thing. Such a slippery slope, isn’t it?

Once again, I propose the following rumour to be spread like wildfire:

Susan Estrich petitions the Vatican to do away with that ruffian Benedict XVI and appoint a female pope instead.

Like Ms. Estrich, I will be keeping close tabs on this little tidbit of absurdity. Now please help me in this experiment!

UPDATE: At least two four bloggers are sharing my warped sense of humour here - Dustbury.com, Mean Ol’ Meany, Kathy, and Phin. Thank you for the support in this endeavor. Bah on the rest of you!

UPDATE: Double Bah!!

UPDATE: More support coming from La Femme Wonkita and the very confused Metrosexual Glenn.