Peter Thiel -- noted gay Silicon Valley libertarian, PayPal co-founder, and the one of the first Facebook investors -- recently penned an essay in which he suggests that the last time one could be "genuinely optimistic" about U.S. politics was just before dames got the right to vote. In Cato Unbound, a site run by libertarian-ish Cato Institute, Thiel suggests the following.

The 1920s were the last decade in American history during which one could be genuinely optimistic about politics. Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women - two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians - have rendered the notion of "capitalist democracy" into an oxymoron.

That is to say, women are prone to illogically vote with their feelings, especially when catching the vapors.

Silicon Valley gossip scribe Owen Thomas suggests one reason for Thiel's anti-XX-chromosome mindset: drugs. All kids of them, it seems. Read more about it at Valleywag.