New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd was on the August 10 episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She is emerging from her litter box on Times Square to flog 'Bushworld,' a compilation of old columns with a new and nicely done intro. Whatever the merits of her book, reviews of MoDo's book tour are underwhelming.
Patio Pundit says she comes across as much less flippant" than her column but "dim witted." Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine says she "drones like a lawn mower." Jarvis swings left and Patio right (though not into lunatic Freeperville) but the reaction was bipartisan. If anything, Jarvis and the comments on his thread were collectively harsher than Patio.
First, style. Dowd was awful but in the oddest way. Watch her frame by frame and she looks, well, hot. Kudos because she can still pull of the Catholic girl's well filled sweater and pleated skirt thing. But hit the play button and you are watching a Frigidaire on heels. Radiating cold should be an oxymoron but Dowd did it. And poor Jon Stewart. He kept his distance, minded his manners and didn't touch anything; just the way you approach the open casket at a funeral home viewing.
Substance. If you read the column, save yourself the purchase price and read the best part of the intro
here.
Aside from Bush she dumped on coworkers Tom Friedman and William Safire. Safire for having his own private hotline in his office that doesn't go through the NY Times switchboard and for not letting grammatical correctness cloud his partisanship. Friedman for coming over to her office whenever he gets his panties in a twist about the Middle East and needs to grab a daiquiri. Or maybe he was just looking for ice.
If you missed this episode, check out the bittorrent at ShunTV. The intro on Robert Novak ("douchebag of liberty") was all bile and brilliance.
The Night Shift