The Daily Howler on Maureen Dowd's claim that Dems are "girlie men."

[Karmadillo]

http://www.dailyhowler.com/index.shtml

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DOWD (1/18/06): The Democrats were throwing haymakers at the White House this week, but they will never succeed as long as they're perceived as the party in skirts.

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Yes, when it came to painting Gore as girlie, few were more deeply involved than Mo Dowd. Along with Frank Rich, she invented the ludicrous Love Story nonsense back in the fall of 1997. And two autumns later, she stood in the forefront as her class charged Gore with “girlie-man” crimes for dealing with vile Naomi Wolf. Dowd had long had a problem with Wolf, who is smarter, more sincere, and better-looking than she. Result? When it turned out that Wolf was advising Gore (she had also advised the ’96 Clinton campaign), Dowd invented fake facts and phony quotes, putting the skirts on poor Al. “hen a man has to pony up a fortune to a woman to teach him how to be a man, that definitely takes the edge off his top-dogginess,” Dowd deliciously wrote—reciting the utterly fatuous line the RNC was enthusiastically pimping. Al Gore paid a woman to teach him to be a man! All the flunkies and hacks were reciting—but none with more feeling than Dowd.

For ourselves, we marveled this week as the liberal web thrilled to Monday’s speech by Gore. For ourselves, we were somewhat less impressed; we think Dems must do a better job of explaining what’s wrong with the eavesdropping matter. (Explaining to voters, not to themselves. Today’s fiery liberals are extremely good at knowing how to convince each other.) But how they all love Gore today! And how they all shut up when it mattered, when Dowd and her crew were waging the war which put George Bush in the White House!

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So go ahead, Atrios—rise in high dudgeon! Link to this post, then tell your readers about what Maureen Dowd did back then. We won’t even waste our time asking Josh or Kevin to do so. Today’s career liberals refuse to discuss this remarkable, history-changing matter. Result? This morning, a scribe absent-mindedly failed to say just who put those skirts on Al Gore.

more...

[blm]

1. I'm with Howler - alot of leftleaning journalists are PART OF THE PROBLEM.

When they don't BOTHER to be accurate in their own efforts to sound ubercoolerthanthou, they lose any effectiveness they MIGHT HAVE HAD if they had played it STRAIGHT WITH THE FACTS.

Atrios is one of the few who gives honest voice.

RECOMMEND.

[MADem]

3. I have to agree with you

Too much snark, and not enough down to earth, fact-based reporting. These "too cool for school" types need to get their asses back into an ethics and journalism class.

[glitch]

8. Second that about atrios. He's been on target since he used to post on

mediawhoresonline.com.

[ProfessorPlum]

33. More info, please

Did Atrios used to be one of the people behind MWO? God, we have to get those people back online. We need them today more than ever.

[glitch]

35. No, he just posted on their forum. nt

[KittyWampus]

27. Dowd also invented that "Hillary Clinton Bridal Registry Crap"

the only reason writing for the Times is important to Dowd is it gets her invited to all the right parties.

[ProfessorPlum]

34. Well, to be slightly fair to Dowd (though she doesn't deserve it)

I think she was just dutifully passing along the GOP smear - with her own imaginative flights of fancy, like the "conversations" she imagined Hillary having. Yuck, yuck.

But to say she invented the smear is not quite true.

[Joe Chi Minh]

36. I'm glad you qualified your comment with that concession in

parenthesiss.

I was only thinking the other evening, when somebody said "To be fair (to the neocons)....", I should have posted to the effect that, before any talk of fairness, let's have Bush resign and take his people with him out of the White House, and Kerry sworn in as President for the next 4 years or whatever - as from that same day; then the conclusion of the purging of all the corrupt neocons from public life in perpetuity. Then perhaps turning your minds to consider fairness might have some relevance.

[melody]

2. Schwarzengroper's eating an awful lotta crow over his girlie man crap

I wouldn't throw that term around too loosely, if I were them. The "girlie men" just kicked Arnold's spreading backside into another state (preferably Utah ... just joking Utah, folk) at our last election.

[ewagner]

4. Too bad

Dowd has been absolutely brutal to Bush* in the last few months...I guess that doesn't necessarily mean she's on "our" side though.

[TomInTib]

13. MoDo hates everyone. I till read every column, tho.

[blm]

19. She's on HER OWN SIDE - first, last and foremost. It's sad because she

should be on the side of the American people and the facts they need since she gets space in NEWSPAPERS.

[Marr]

Because it's "cool" now. She's almost a gossip columnist.

I don't know why so many people on DU like Dowd. I guess it's just because she writes snarky columns about Bush now and then. She's about 70% fluff and 25% "look at me".

[bobbieinok]

22. she was a MAJOR anti-Gore columnist in 2000--helped put W in office

[glitch]

5. Frank Rich? I didn't remember it was Frank Rich who spewed that crap too.

My poor brain. DailyHowler is priceless. The whole column is worth the read. Thanks for posting.

[whometense]

12. If you ever saw Rich

on Imus's show - same old same old "I'm so cool" crap.

I never read his (or Dowd's) columns with the same respect since the election as I once did. They could have spoken up when it counted, and neither one chose to make their voice count.

[blm]

18. In 2000 and 2004 - the NYT has managed since Whitewater days to let down

the American people in favor of RW spin.

[fujiyama]

26. The NYT has the same affliction

as the rest of the corporate media. Over the years, the RW convincede everyone the press was liberal, the media bended over backwards to become "balanced".

That's how people end up believing this Abramoff thing is "bipartisan", while in reality it's a purely republican scandal.

As for Dowd, once in a while she can be amusing, but overall she's shallow and superficial.

[kenny blankenship]

6. Dowd takes second place to no one in cynicism sweepstakes

all attitude, no positions to defend, no convictions=no real reason to be writing "opinions" for a living.
(besides the usual one of sucking down the corporate bucks)

bottomline:
Empty Media Hairdo.

[Hamlette]

9. the other shoe finallly dropped today, I feel abused

She's the high school gossip you thought was funny when you first met her but who you soon learned was just mean.

Empty Media Hairdo indeed.

[blm]

11. solid observation

And none of her stuff sticks to GOPs, while the rest of media makes DAMN SURE that her antiDem columns stick.

[Hamlette]

17. the GOP does that first strike thing so well. . .

when we first started criticizing Bush they were all over it saying we were just Bush haters. I have to admit that it even gave me pause (5 seconds pause). It prevents us from being vocal about stuff.

And Dowd's last book? Talk about empty. (NO, I didn't read it, but I read what it was about, and I heard her on all the talk shows stumping for it and decided she is a shallow society girl. She belongs in a gossip rag.)

The other reason it doesn't stick to the GOP is it really is tripe. She never gets to the substance. She just calls Cheney names and calls it a column. Now, if she would do some research and talk about something of substance we wouldn't be in this damn mess.

Thanks Maurine.

[bpilgrim]

7. he nails the M$MWs again

and they deserve it even more than the crooked politicos their charged with keeping an eye on!

Thank GORE, he 'invented' the INTERNETs :bounce:

thanks for sharing :toast:

peace

[CatWoman]

10. Karmadillo

great minds think alike

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x173708

[Karmadillo]

23. You beat Somerby to the punch. Excellent job.

Even when someone like Dowd appears to be our ally, she's not our ally.

[blm]

14. K&R

.

[displacedtexan]

15. Everyone wants to be a blogger these days.

Bloggers have a divine right to the snark moniker. Paid journalists
are supposed to report... even the columnists. And they're supposed
to speak truth to power, not fight the opposition.

Just my observation.

[AlGore-08.com]

21. I agree with the general observation but Dowd's snarkiness predates blogs

She was flinging truthiness and snarkitude long before blogs ruled the world.

[LiviaOlivia]

24. She should write about sports

I believe someone already said that. Dowd is a dud. Her "snarkiness" as you put it is a giant bore. I understand she went after Gore again. I've never understood the Dowd fanboys.

I'm rather puzzled about the silence in Leftblogsylvania regarding today's idiotic entry by Maureen, Queen of Fops; a.k.a Maureen "Al Gore needs a woman to teach him how to dress like a man" Dowd; a.k.a Maureen "Al Gore is so insane he thinks Love Story was about him' fucking Dowd.

I realize Dowd has a lot of fun trash talking Bush, but does not mean she's entitle to a free pass. In her own way, she's as bad as O'Bierne.

[LiviaOlivia]

25. How does snark equal truth?

Just wondering? What is your definition of snark?

[tblue37]

30. "Truthiness" is not "truth."

It is the new "word of the year," and it refers to fake "truth"--stuff that people buy as truth for no good reason, or because of a foolish propensity to respond to style over substance.

[glitch]

31. and "substitude" is not "substance"

a. "substitude" is pretending, or "aping", substance, or depth of character.
When substance is required by people who only have "style" or "attitude" in their character, substitude is their substitute response.
b. "fake folksy depth" This is done by everyone in the chimp administration, but bush does it with a special condescension, as if educating slow and difficult children, when explaining "complex" issues to the american people.
You can expect substitude when he slouches over the podium.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

16. Dowd is a fucking imbecile

nt

[The Whiskey Priest]

20. GD. She is saying what I have thought over the last five years...

Okay, uniform of the day will be John Deere baseball hat and a long-neck Budweiser.

Pardon me while I spit.

On top of that any future conversations will be sprinkled LIBERALLY with the phrases, "whupp ass and a man's gotta do what man's gotta do."

[UTUSN]

28. Did MoDo call M.Douglas "girly" while she was doing him? n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. Good job. I wish this would get wider attention.

Mo needs to get a taste of her own medicine.

[ProfessorPlum]

32. Bob Somerby was one of Gore's roommates at Yale

I love his writing, and his meticulous documentation of what went on in the 2000 race.

But sometimes he can stick up for Gore just a little too much.

Dowd really is a clown, though, and deserves all the calumny she gets for helping W into the white house.

Not sure why the poke at Atrios and Josh Marshall. Atrios has certainly had lots to say about the failures of the press, and was not kicking Gore based on RNC talking points.