I hope that someone is enjoying Teresa Heinz Kerry's pumpkin spice cookies. They are making me sick. That Family Circle would continue, in the 21st Century, to have this offensive candidates' wives' cookie bake-off is outrageous. That their readers respond positively is just one more sign that American feminism is near death.

The candidates' wives should be ashamed of themselves for being part of this degrading nonsense. Why isn't Family Circle asking for cookie recipes from George W. Bush and John Kerry?

It is particularly demeaning for Heinz Kerry to be part of the bake-off, since she has established herself as a spokeswoman for feminism. Some spokeswoman. Oh, I can hear them now: "Teresa has to do this: She's an opinionated, foreign-speaking, loose cannon feminist liability. She has to bake cookies or they'll destroy her the way they did Hillary over the cookie issue."

If a woman is ever nominated for president, we all need to make sure that Family Circle continues its spouse cookie bake-off. But at the rate things are going, I don't think that's going to be an issue.