March 16, 2005
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:Unhappy ex-reporter 'paid to be a baby curmudgeon'
With all the chatter about Maureen Dowd's latest, this old story about her interaction with Rich Blow Bradley is relevant:
The single most fascinating nugget in "American Son" is Mr. Blow's recollection of New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd panning the first issue of George (Blow was Senior Editor of George). Incensed, Mr. Blow wrote her a note and received the following response: "Don't be mad at me, I'm paid to be a baby curmudgeon, and it's no fun. I'd go back to reporting in a minute. I've subscribed and I promise only plugs from now on."
Penraker says about Dowd's column "A bigger poo-pile of self pity has never been written." Heh. Posted by Mindles H. Dreck at March 16, 2005 9:55 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links
Hard to take Penraker seriously when he names Michelle Malkin as one of the great female columnists around. And somehow forgot Ann Coulter.
SomeCallMeTim,
Nice to know you're an Ann Coulter fan. ^_~
But anyone who doesn't regard Michelle Malkin as one of our more talented columnists just isn't paying attention. ^_^
He thinks Malkin is a great columnist?
And he dares criticize anyone?
Yeah. This is what comment sections are for...judging* the amusing off-colour remark of some other blogger by his opinions of certan female pundits 'not to be approved of'.
'Jeebus', to coin a phrase.
*(refuting? harrumphing? denying them the right to criticize?)
Dowd's "baby curmudgeon" self-assessment is hardly fair. Harpy or harridan would be more accurate, though perhaps less flattering. The temptation to "dowdify" this piece is almost too much for mere mortals.
Maureen has been celebrity-starved in Washington for the past five years, since Bush is at odds with most of the Hollywood establishment, while Clinton had fabulous people like Ms. Dowd's one-time smooch Michael Dogulas over to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. all the time. For a columnist who lives for pop culture connections, that's like cutting the oxygen off to the system, and the post 9/11 world just doesn't led itself to pop culture-political culture connections, the way much of the Clinton era did. That goes a long way towards explaining her across-the-board petulence in recent years.
"As a woman, I told Howell, I wanted to be liked - not attacked."
What a piece of tripe. Penraker's take on Dowd strikes me as right on: "[W]hat seems most objectionable about her column is that she claims that no one should be picking on her, because she is just a girl. She wants to be liked. She wants the full spectrum of equality with men while running for the cover of women's skirts the moment she comes under fire." Pah! If I'm going to write or speak harshly of someone, I expect to be attacked for it, regardless of my gender or this baby clinging to my leg or my glasses or my sensitive disposition. No sympathy from me, at *all*.
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