Maureen Dowd: The Drapes of Wrath

Novemmber 11, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Drapes of Wrath
By MAUREEN DOWD
Washington

The new Democratic sweep conjures up an ancient image: Furies swooping down to punish bullies. Angry winged goddesses with dog heads, serpent hair and blood eyes, unmoved by tears, prayer, sacrifice or nasty campaign ads, avenging offenses by insolent transgressors. This will be known as the year macho politics failed — mainly because it was macho politics by marshmallow men. Voters were sick of phony swaggering, blustering and bellicosity, absent competency and accountability. They were ready to trade in the deadbeat Daddy party for the sheltering Mommy party.

All the conservative sneering about a fem-lib from San Francisco who was measuring the drapes for the speaker’s office didn’t work. Americans wanted new drapes, and an Armani granny with a whip in charge.

A recent study found that the testosterone of American men has been dropping for 20 years, but in Republican Washington, it was running amok, and not in a good way. Men who had refused to go to an untenable war themselves were now refusing to find an end to another untenable war that they had recklessly started.

Republicans were oddly oblivious to the fact that they had turned into a Thomas Nast cartoon: an unappetizing tableau of bloated, corrupt, dissembling, feckless white hacks who were leaving kids unprotected. Tom DeLay and Bob Ney sneaking out of Congress with dollar bills flying out of their pockets. Denny Hastert playing Cardinal Bernard Law, shielding Mark Foley. Rummy, cocky and obtuse as he presided over an imploding Iraq, while failing to give young men and women in the military the armor, support and strategy they needed to come home safely. Dick Cheney, vowing bullheadedly to move “full speed ahead” on Iraq no matter what the voters decided. W. frantically yelling about how Democrats would let the terrorists win, when his lame-brained policies had spawned more terrorists.

Link to the entire piece: http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/11/opinion/11dowd.html?pagewanted=print

:kick:

Thanks!

:rofl:

Thanks for the link. I always try to keep up with her columns.

She can kick ass.

Welcome to DU!

I hope you have fun in our crazy, addictive little village!

:hi:

Can't tell you how happy I am to have found you all!

Welcome, BTW. Hope you stay a spell! :hi:

That's how I felt too. I plan to stay a good long while. Thanks for the welcome. It's one of the things I love about this place, how warm and welcoming the people are.

Welcome to DU!!

much like our Dem party, this place is like an open box of kittens sometime... but it's fun!!!
Right now, things are very mellow around here... only a few knock down drag outs.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Isn't it nice to feel mellow and on top of things for once? Viva la revolutione!

She'll pass on any RNC-generated lie about Democratic candidates which help her write a snarky column. She never bothers to find out if the things she is snarking about are true. You'd think such a person would be encouraged by the NYT to do a little fact checking.

so * what size are the drapes.

:rofl:

And when she combines her "drapes" with her mother-of-five voice, watch out!

so I totally know what that sounds like.

My three boys know that voice like they know their own.

with the dog too! :rofl:

My two oldest have flown the coop, but I can still get them and my twelve year old to pay attention when I need to!

:rofl:

Seriously though, I can't wait until all the nicey-nice is over and Madame Speaker Pelosi (really love saying that!) and the rest can get down to work. It's going to be a much better two years than I thought it was.

Grandma's here, boys, so you'd better clean up your act!

We are masters at cleaning up messes. If they would get out of the way and let us run things in the first place, there might not be as many messes to clean up.

Nice to see you, cassie!

Hi SG, good to see too!

My idea for world change is to have all men take a nice vacation
for a year, they can go anywhere, maybe Mars :).

Without their men folk we can handle the Condi and Lynn Chenney types.

But let women only run the planet for the year. Things might be done differently. Not too many women willing to kill and rape children
for oil.

the war pigs are like they are for
lack of it, not from too much.

We all know why bullies are bullies.

It's where the "swagger" they have comes from.

Just say'n ...


Never, Ever Forget: George W. Bush willfully violated National Security to cover-up his willful launch of a war of aggression and illegal occupation of Iraq .... and, now he willfully provided nuke-making instructions to terrorists -- if you doubt it, just check 'the google' ....

My sister in law has a term for these guys that I just love: "Limp dicks."

"Limp dicks" works just as well. :hi:

Maureen, remember that thing in the past regarding Gore? All is forgiven.

. .. the second she hears an RNC started "rumor" about our candidate in 2008, she'll type it right up, with snark. Without finding out if it is true. She did this to Gore (fancy hotel upbringing, farm chores, love canal, love story, internet, etc. etc.), Kerry (phoney NASCAR quote), Hillary (gift registry bullshit).

The LEAST she could do is find out if something is really true. If it's not, she should write columns about why the RNC is spreading false rumors, not about whatever lie she is being fed.

She's either a dim intellectual light or beyond corrupt. Don't trust her. She's only good for a laugh when she is skewering someone you don't like, but she'll never really "get it".

Us. The "internets" will keep her honest. If she comes out sounding like a cheap gossip columnist, we'll nail her.

that's a good idea. She's the goddess of conventional, if frequently incorrect, wisdom.

actually use:

http://eduardo1dacosta.multiply.com/journal/item/2506

Read all the Krugman, Rich, Herbert, and MoDo while you can!