I Don't Like You Either.

And Maureen Dowd Knows Narcissism

By Blue Stockings |   We already know there isn't enough shut up in all the world for Maureen Dowd.  But John Edwards should probably be grateful to her.  If there's one writer who can probably bring everyone together on his side, it's her.  Certainly Dowd is one person everyone writing at this blog agrees on, even if we can't agree on anything else.

Every time I swear I'll never read her self-referential musings again, I find myself pulled in by curiosity to see whether she can outrage me further.  So far, the answer always turns out to be "yes."

You know, I'm annoyed with John Edwards.  I said so.  He stands accused of hypocrisy at the very least.  I draw the line at presuming to read his mind or to judge him based on this one act.  Maybe he was carried away with himself.  I easily believe that.  But is there really no understanding anywhere for the pathos of the situation and its aftermath?

But it has occurred to me since then that men whose wives are seriously ill sometimes do very shocking and unbecoming things....out of fear.  Men who fear losing their wives often seem to try to put some distance between themselves and the beloved.  Who's to say that isn't what was going on with Edwards?   It might be true and he might not even be consciously aware of it.  And if he were, it's not really something he could ever say.

But yes, yes, yes:  by all means.  Let's all go ahead and sit in judgment on John Edwards.  He's been a hypocrite---we would never do that.  He's been disloyal to a spouse---we are all paragons of faithfulness and loyalty.  He's betrayed his own standards---none of us have ever done that.

The Edwards "Controversy" & The Media Double Standard

by Teh Nutroots | Okay, we've dissed Edwards.  We've said what there is to say, i.e. [accompanied by the sound of a newspaper whapping him on the nose]:

BAD BAD BAD! [::whap::] How could you do it to Elizabeth? [::whap::] How could you do it to your supporters? [::WHAP WHAP::] How could you encourage us to vote for you, thereby encouraging us to vote for a candidate who could scuttle the whole election? (here)  [::whappity whap whap::]  How could you be such a hypocrite? (here)  [whappity whappity WHAP WHAP WHAP]

Since he didn't win the nomination, he didn't inflict the harm---though it wasn't for the want of trying.  So it's an issue, though not a major issue.

The New York Times raises the question of the media's "reticence" toward the no-longer-campaigning former Senator and his incurably ill wife.  As noted below, the no-longer-campaigning Edwards isn't the only beneficiary of such reticence. 

Joe Klein---working hard to redeem himself, but as usual failing to see the trees for the forest---says:

Ride the Wayback Pony: Tweety Luuurved George Bush in His Flight Suit

by Teh Nutroots | Because I don't think we can be reminded too often (courtesy of Media Matters, 4-27-06), which named Chris Matthews its 2005 "Misinformer of the Year" and number 1 softball player.

Maureen Dowd Luuuurves Obama: The Saga Continues

  by Teh Nutroots | Did I think Damozel doesn't know about hopeless high school crushes? Or that she was wrong about MoDo's?  I admit it:  I thought she was just stropping her claws all up MoDo's back.  Dowd apparently has that effect on a lot of women. 

But I was wrong.  MoDo really IS a high school prom queen who can't get the quarterback to get her a second look and who is now sitting on a stool at the malt shop with the other cheerleaders and flag girls in peeking at him over her shoulder while she slags him off to her posse to see "how he takes it."  Now she's jumped on Amy Chozick's proof that Barry O. is "too skinny."  Right, Mo:  we all saw you looking.  And he's still ignoring you.   . 

Memeorandum has the bloggety goodness.  And on this hot Sunday pm, I'm too lazy to do a round-up, so here are my picks: Whiskey Fire,  Taylor Marsh, Sadly, No!, Liberal Values, pandagon.net, Talk Left, and Skippy

A Right Wing Lady's Plea to the Media: Please, No More Dog "Whistles"

Mrs. Anna Hosanna [A True Born-Again Believer] | As a true Believer, I am not Afraid to "step up" and say "the Truth." I know what The Wall Street Journal and others who are dwelling on Barack Obama's Arrogance and  Athletic Build are secretly trying to tell Us:  Barack Obama is not an "Ordinary," or "typical," American like You and Me.  This is what I understand is called a Dog Whistle, based on this Article [though "Beware" because the Writer Melissa McEwen seems to be Some kind of a Liberal Feminist and might even be a "British Person" to Boot]:

Wall Street Journal: Will Real Americans Find Obama Offensively Physically Fit?

by Teh Nutroots | Aw, hell.  I can't let this one go.  Amy Chozick---as Damozel comments, it's kind of hard to believe it is with a straight face---asks, at The Wall Street Journal, is Barack Obama offensively physically fit to the fat American electorate?  Will middle-aged fat gits like Mister Teh Nutroots refuse to vote for someone so distastefully thin from eating elitist [healthy] food like arugula lettuce [which unlike all-American iceberg lettuce supposedly contains some food value] and working out on a regular basis?

Cockney Robin is Afraid of Bill Kristol

by Cockney Robin | Somebody hold me.

Mr. William Kristol is at it again (in an op-ed disturbingly entitled 'Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid'). He is striking fear into my guileless British heart by his claim to have been frightened into an attack of moroseness.  As the world now knows, nothing is more dangerous then a frightened, morose neocon.  Think of Dick Cheney and you'll see what I mean.  They're even scarier than the cheery, clueless types (George Bush) who spout neocon policy---getting every other word wrong---as if  it's been drilled into them, or the jeering, strutting types like Karl Rove.

Has Maureen Dowd Got a Big Swoony Crush on Obama?

by Damozel | I think she has.  Yes, I think she has.

Look at this:  MoDo's account of Obama's meeting with Sarkozy, entitled Stalking, Sniffing, Swooning.  Read all the way through it if you can.   You may first wish to take an anti-emetic.  It's more than a moderate dose of Dowd.

Sarkozy---excuse me, 'Sarko'---has a crush on Obama? 

'Fox Television Is a Tool'

Teh Nutroots|  Well, this is no surprise.  Here's Think Progress:

'On MSNBC’s Hardball last night, host Chris Matthews asked former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan if he saw “FOX television as a tool” to get the White House’s “message out” while he was in the Bush administration. “Certainly there were commentators and other, pundits at FOX News, that were useful to the White House,” replied McClellan, adding that they were given “talking points.”'

So...Fox = sock puppet for the Administration?