Dowd Down on Romney
Liz | 01/18 at 09:59 AM
Maureen Dowd is like the chocolate sauce on a sundae– tasty, sometimes piquant, but at the end not very filling and certainly not necessary. While most columnists talk policy, Dowd talks style. In recent columns, she has blasted Mitt Romney for all sorts of offenses, returning often to the former governor’s use of polite language. Apparently, it just drives Ms. Dowd nuts that Mr. Romney says “Gosh” and refuses to drop f-bombs into nationally broadcast debates. She is probably one of the millions of Ricky Gervais fans who mistake uttering the word “penis” on TV for real wit. For the record, she’s also extremely annoyed that Mr. Romeny doesn’t drink alcohol.
In today’s New York Times Dowd compares Romney to George H.W. Bush She sees them as joined at the hip since both come from impressive families and share “the gee-whiz language, hokey humor, awkward stage presence, sense of entitlement and noblesse oblige…” It is this latter charge that is mystifying. President Bush - 41, as she calls him—served his country with great honor and has manifest great dignity and diplomacy even as the Dowds of the world savaged his son. That cannot have been easy. Other than insisting on jumping out of airplanes at an advanced age, I cannot think of a single embarrassing moment the former president has rained on the country. (Compared to Jimmy Carter’s mortifying sallies into international diplomacy, for instance.) When called upon, Mr. Bush has stepped up to rally the nation for various charitable needs – such as working with former President Clinton to raise money for the victims of the South Asian tsunami. Otherwise, he has kept a low profile.
Ms. Dowd snipes “It’s easy to picture Poppy and Mitt sitting in a wood-paneled room in a country-club, chatting about tennis….” Maybe it’s not so easy for Dowd, who grew up in D.C., youngest of five and daughter of a cop. There were probably no country clubs in her childhood. Is this the all-too-obvious issue with Dowd? She resents the silver spoon she never had?
It was a very good post indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it in my lunch time. Will surely come and… Consumers Slow Down (No Kidding) and Newt is a Brat
By Locksmith Buffalo on 2/13/12