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A Not So Wonderful Life [DOWD - NY Times]
NY Times ^ | Dec 19, 2004 | Maureen Dowd

Posted on 12/18/2004 1:43:45 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection

EXTERIOR BRIDGE OVER POTOMAC RIVER - NIGHT

CLOSE SHOT - Rummy is standing by the railing, staring morosely into the water. The snow is falling hard. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he wheels around and wrestles an old man with wings into a headlock.

OLD MAN: Ouch! Tut, tut. When will you learn that force doesn't solve everything?

RUMMY: Who the dickens are you?

OLD MAN: Clarence, Angel First Class. I've been sent down to help you.

RUMMY, squinting: You're off your nut, you old fruitcake. You can't help me. I was a matinee idol in this town, a studmuffin. Now everyone's turned on me - Trent Lott, Chuck Hagel and that dadburn McCain.

CLARENCE: No more self-pity, son. I'm going to show you what the world would have been like if you'd never been born.

Clarence, who can fly now, takes Rummy's hand and they soar over the icy Potomac to the Pentagon. Beneath the glass on the desk of the defense secretary is a list of members of Congress and their phone numbers.

RUMMY: Who put that there?

CLARENCE: Sam Nunn. He's the defense secretary. Sam consults with Congress. Never acts arrogant or misleads them. He didn't banish the generals who challenged him - he promoted 'em. And, of course, he caught Osama back in '01. He threw 100,000 troops into Afghanistan on 9/11 and sealed the borders. Our Special Forces trapped the evildoer and his top lieutenants at Tora Bora. You weren't at that cabinet meeting the day after 9/11, so nobody suggested going after Saddam. No American troops died or were maimed in Iraq. No American soldiers tortured Iraqis in Abu Ghraib. No Iraqi explosives fell into the hands of terrorists. There's no office of disinformation to twist perception abroad. We're not on the cusp of an Iraq run by Muslim clerics tied to Iran. Here's Sam. He's with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

GENERAL SHINSEKI: We got some good news today on the National Guard, sir. Recruiting is up 40 percent. With the money we saved killing that useless missile defense system, we up-armored all our Humvees.

RUMMY, fists and jaw clenched: Grrrrrrr...I want to see Wolfie!

CLARENCE: Sam never hired any of those wacko neocons. Wolfowitz is a woolly headed professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a consultant to Ariel Sharon. Richard Perle was never in charge of the Defense Policy Board, so he was unable to enrich himself through government connections, or help Ahmad Chalabi con the administration. Perle stayed an honest man, running a chain of soufflé shops. His soufflés were so fluffy he became known as the Prince of Lightness. Doug Feith never worked here, either, so he never set up the Office of Special Plans to spin tall tales about W.M.D. and Qaeda ties to Saddam. And he never bungled the occupation because there was no occupation. Without you to swoon over in a book, neocon doyenne Midge Decter became a fallen woman, like Violet.

RUMMY, dyspeptic: Holy mackerel! Take me to Dick!

CLARENCE: Dick and Lynne run a bait, tackle and baton-twirling shop in Casper, Wyo. You didn't exist, so you never gave him those jobs in the Nixon and Ford administrations, and he never ran for Congress or worked for Bush 41 or anointed himself 43's vice president. W. chose Chuck Hagel as his running mate. So without you and Dick there to dominate him, he was guided by his dad and Brent Scowcroft, who kept Condi in line. Colin Powell was never cut off at the knees and the U.N. and allies were never bullied. There was never any crazy fever about Iraq or unilateralism or "Old Europe." Here's Colin now, heading for the Oval Office.

POWELL: Merry Christmas, Mr. President. With the help of our allies around the world, we have won the war on terror. And Saddam has been overthrown. Once Hans Blix exposed the fact that Saddam had no weapons, the tyrant was a goner. No Arab dictator can afford to be humilated by a Swedish disarmament lawyer.

RUMMY: Goodness gracious, I've heard enough now. I'm going home. Unless you're going to tell me my wife is an old maid, because I wasn't around to marry her.

CLARENCE: Oh, no. Joyce lives across the street from your old house on Kalorama Road. She's happily married to the French ambassador.

"Auld Lang Syne" swells as we FADE OUT.


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: dowdy; dustywomb; garbage; insanehelen; malcontent; mandatorybarfalert; mba; nyslimes; over50; purenegative; rummy8attack; spinster
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1 posted on 12/18/2004 1:43:45 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

YES!! Bring on the pics!!!!!!!


2 posted on 12/18/2004 1:44:27 PM PST by KoRn
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

This woman is seriously deranged ... not that there is any other kind. Maybe being dumped by Michael Douglas was the last push she needed into the abyss.


3 posted on 12/18/2004 1:45:43 PM PST by bushisdamanin04
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Poor Maureen. Dumped by Michael Douglas. Dumped by the crackhead producer of the West Wing. Facing a lonely 53rd birthday alone and childless. An aging harpy is not a pretty sight.


4 posted on 12/18/2004 1:49:43 PM PST by jimbo123
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Very original Dowd. Shinseki was going to resign before 9/11 even happened. Rumsfeld wasn't responsible for firing him


5 posted on 12/18/2004 1:51:27 PM PST by Democratshavenobrains
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Is this woman for real?! Does she really believe this stuff?

It must feel so awful to be her.


6 posted on 12/18/2004 1:51:30 PM PST by JudyinCanada (Five-fingered Canadian)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

7 posted on 12/18/2004 1:53:45 PM PST by MisterRepublican ("I must go. I must be elusive.")
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

What is her obsession with Rummy? She's a sad, sad woman.


8 posted on 12/18/2004 1:56:55 PM PST by Ruth A.
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

I think she's got the hots for Rummy, but he's too
much man for her.

Gee Mo, think how much better this world would have been if
Clinton had never been born, Vince and a whole slew of people would still be alive today, maybe even three thousand New Yorkers!


9 posted on 12/18/2004 1:57:01 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Dowd is mentally disturbed.


10 posted on 12/18/2004 1:57:12 PM PST by putupjob
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To: bushisdamanin04; jimbo123

I saw her a few months back on Letterman and I kept saying to myself, "There is something wrong with this woman,she is really weird"

I thought it was just me---glad to know I'm not alone.


11 posted on 12/18/2004 1:57:30 PM PST by Mears
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To: bushisdamanin04
Maureen should give up the Manhattans - the alcoholic ones and the island, move to fly-over country and jump on the wagon with W.


12 posted on 12/18/2004 2:00:13 PM PST by Sooth2222
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

I think this falls in the "too cute by 12,678-and a-half" catagory.


13 posted on 12/18/2004 2:00:44 PM PST by Crawdad (I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no class.)
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To: Mears

I saw her on a show (not Lettermen) a couple of months ago or so and she had this incredibly strange, freaky, creepy way of speaking. I wouldn’t advise anyone to actually fall asleep in the same room with her.


14 posted on 12/18/2004 2:02:26 PM PST by bushisdamanin04
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

All the Democrats who are screwed up beyond hope and repair, and who does Dowd write about? Us, of course.

I can practically hear the ice rattling in her scotch glass.


15 posted on 12/18/2004 2:03:45 PM PST by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (I actually voted for John Kerry...before I voted against him.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Sam Nunn. He's the defense secretary. ... And, of course, he caught Osama back in '01. He threw 100,000 troops into Afghanistan on 9/11 and sealed the borders.

Like most libs, Maureen lives in a fantasy world.

1) It would be impossible to mobilize 100,000 to Afghanistan in one day, let alone feed and house them. But that's a "detail".

2) It's impossible to seal the border of Afghanistan with 100,000 troops. It's probably impossible to do it with any number of troops, especially in winter.

3) Capturing bin Laden will not end the war on terror. Is she daffy? Did capturing Saddam end the fighting in Iraq?

4) If there was no war in Iraq, we would not be having it so easy in Afghanistan. All the scum now pouring into Iraq would be fighting there instead. And Saddam would be helping them.

16 posted on 12/18/2004 2:06:57 PM PST by BigBobber
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

After reading that trash, all I can think of is how much less bitterness there would be in the world had Maureen Dowd never been born. (Also, think of all of the scotch bottles that would still be full today.)

Cue the Catherine Zeta Jones pics. (Preferably the post-face lift "Oceans 12" ones.)


17 posted on 12/18/2004 2:08:53 PM PST by Deo et Patria (Deo et Patria)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

18 posted on 12/18/2004 2:09:03 PM PST by mental
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To: BigBobber

She's a stunning dunce.


19 posted on 12/18/2004 2:09:59 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
A Not So Wonderful Life

The Maureen Dowd autobiographical.

20 posted on 12/18/2004 2:10:01 PM PST by MitchellC
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To: jimbo123

I think she has a secret unrequited crush on "RUMMY"


21 posted on 12/18/2004 2:13:11 PM PST by mathprof
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Maybe this bridge scene is her thoughts of suicide, but that a demon would come along with pitchfork in hand and skewer her from the depths, reassuring that in the final Ohio count, John Kerry will be declared winner and will announced as president elect just before inauguration day, and Kerry will proudly announce during his inauguration speech that Maureen Dowd has been picked for Secretary of Defense. (BARF!!!)


22 posted on 12/18/2004 2:14:38 PM PST by Iam1ru1-2
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To: Sooth2222; putupjob; Mears
Yeah, she could have played the Glenn Close role in Fatal Attraction … but the producer/director thought she was too damn scary.
23 posted on 12/18/2004 2:18:27 PM PST by bushisdamanin04
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
You have to admit...this is very very good.

Talking style here...not content.

24 posted on 12/18/2004 2:20:40 PM PST by DCPatriot (I don't do politically correct very well either.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

CLOSE SHOT - Maureen is standing by the railing, staring morosely into the water. The snow is falling hard. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she wheels around and wrestles an old man with wings into a headlock.

OLD MAN: Ouch! Tut, tut. When will you learn that bad mouthing doesn't solve everything?

MAUREEN: Who the dickens are you?

OLD MAN: Clarence, Angel First Class. I've been sent down to help you.

MAUREEN, squinting: You're off your nut, I'm an old fruitcake. You can't help me. I always considered myself a columnist but it seems as if everyone is always sending people in white jackets over. Now everyone's turned on me - Fox News, Rupert Murdock, my dog, Rush Limbaugh and even my cat won't use the sandbox anymore. So Clarence, fly on out of here and go find a conservative who would be most interested in what you have to say. As for me, I will continue to write the "Oh no, what happened" party talking points and cry on Michael Moore's shoulder.


25 posted on 12/18/2004 2:22:05 PM PST by taxesareforever
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To: Deo et Patria
Catherine Zeta Jones pics, circa 1990 and 2000:

http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/archives/001047.html

...

26 posted on 12/18/2004 2:22:46 PM PST by bushisdamanin04
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To: Deo et Patria
Whoa!! She got the lift?

I had mentioned on another thread that I had met her quite by happenstance, some time after she had delivered, and she looked awful!

She must have ballooned up over 200lbs, and that type of massive weight gain is never kind to the type of body that she once had.

I'll bet she had a bunch of procedures done at the same time..
27 posted on 12/18/2004 2:23:30 PM PST by bill1952 ("All that we do is done with an eye towards something else.")
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

This is another clear example of what happens to a mind on drugs.


28 posted on 12/18/2004 2:23:58 PM PST by Nosterrex
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To: BigBobber
Is she daffy?

I'd say you summed it up very well, libs don't seem capable of rational thought these days.

29 posted on 12/18/2004 2:24:33 PM PST by Mister Baredog (PLEASE be sure you have a flag up on your FReeper homepage.!!!)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
She wishes the world was as she sees it.That is why libs all subtly or overtly want us to believe 9/11 did`nt happen,it does`nt fit into the world that they envision in their minds.That is one which only they are exulted for their wisdom and compassion, where the shear force of their very existence makes all things perfect.
The fact that the islamofacists want to kill us whether we believe in universal health care or not, is incomprehensible to them.
30 posted on 12/18/2004 2:26:26 PM PST by carlr (Libs are too easy,every position they take contradicts the one before it.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Will someone please give this miserable woman a good lay. No I don't mean lei. Anyone? Anyone? Please.


31 posted on 12/18/2004 2:26:31 PM PST by fish hawk
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Where are the CZJ pictures. You know the rules.

5.56mm

32 posted on 12/18/2004 2:29:13 PM PST by M Kehoe
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To: tet68

Exactly--Something pro-active might have been done after World Trade Towers 93 Bombing..if there was one with no Clinton


33 posted on 12/18/2004 2:30:42 PM PST by ariamne (reformed liberal)
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To: KoRn

34 posted on 12/18/2004 2:31:59 PM PST by NeoCaveman (There is no dufu but DUFU and PJ Comix is it's author)
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To: jimbo123
Facing a lonely 53rd birthday alone and childless.

An old diva who realized the destruction that age can bring to one who lives a shallow life who made the change from "babe" to one who was a "Babe" to a striver for continence in another field that doesn't require the "babe" attributes.

She chose wrongly in her profession of change.

35 posted on 12/18/2004 2:32:13 PM PST by EGPWS
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To: M Kehoe; All
Where are the CZJ pictures. You know the rules.

33 posts before pictures, yall are slipping.

36 posted on 12/18/2004 2:32:52 PM PST by NeoCaveman (There is no dufu but DUFU and PJ Comix is it's author)
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To: dubyaismypresident

Thanks, all is better in the world now.


37 posted on 12/18/2004 2:33:29 PM PST by flair2000
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To: DCPatriot
You have to admit...this is very very good.

Talking style here...not content.

My dog could write a parody of "It's a Wonderful Life".

38 posted on 12/18/2004 2:35:56 PM PST by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (I actually voted for John Kerry...before I voted against him.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
A Not So Wonderful Life

An autobiography by Maureen ?
39 posted on 12/18/2004 2:36:28 PM PST by John Lenin
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To: Ruth A.
What is her obsession with Rummy?

It's as distasteful as Mark Morford's "thing" for John Ashcroft.

40 posted on 12/18/2004 2:37:27 PM PST by mountaineer
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To: dubyaismypresident

Many thanks!! Now MO DO thread is worth reading without the pics. Lowers the levels of madness!


41 posted on 12/18/2004 2:38:47 PM PST by KoRn
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To: flair2000
And this one is especailly for MoDo


42 posted on 12/18/2004 2:39:21 PM PST by NeoCaveman (There is no dufu but DUFU and PJ Comix is it's author)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
"GENERAL SHINSEKI: ... With the money we saved killing that useless missile defense system..."

Poor Ms. Dowd. She's not even aware that her hero Sam Nunn INSISTS on having our national missile defense system.

The Washington Post
Our New Security Framework
By Sam Nunn

"Yesterday's military strike in Afghanistan is the most dramatic and visible decision President Bush has made so far in the campaign to protect the world from terror. But it will not be the only one.
...
We also must come to an agreement on missile defense -- a debate that has been set aside since the terrorist attacks, but not because it has been resolved. The proliferation of missile technology poses the danger that a rogue state could develop the capability to launch a missile with a weapon of mass destruction at a U.S. city. From my perspective, this threat is not an immediate danger, but it cannot be dismissed because it is more distant or because it would -- for the attacking nation -- amount to national suicide. I believe, however, that protecting our deployed military forces is a much more urgent threat, and mobile theater defense should be our priority focus."

43 posted on 12/18/2004 2:40:33 PM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
I can't believe the NY Times gives her a paycheck for this.

She has just gotten absolutley lazy.

Is there no left wing, leftist with a work ethic out there that the NY Times could employ who would actually work?

44 posted on 12/18/2004 2:42:18 PM PST by Sonny M ("oderint dum metuant")
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Rummy is standing by the railing

I don't know how many times Dowd begins a column like this. Frankly, the first time she did it she should have been warned, and the second time she should have been fired. It's not the place of a newspaper writer to talk about public figures by nicknames, especially when it is done scornfully rather than affectionately. It's just not done.

A. M. Rosenthal pointed this out and, even though he had formerly been Editor in Chief of the Times, he was fired for saying it. Probably this was because the editor at that time, Howell Raines, had had an affair with Dowd and felt sorry for her. Raines was later fired himself because he showed himself incompetent to run a newspaper.

So, the question for Pinch Sulzberger is: Why are you keeping this madwoman on? She is out of control. She demeans our country, she demeans herself, and she demeans your newspaper every time she publishes swill like this. It's long past time for her to go.

45 posted on 12/18/2004 2:45:24 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

MoDo and Molly Ivins each have a date with destiny in the twilight zone. MoDo's journey may have started (long before Michael Douglas) when Tiny Tim ignored her advances and chose Miss Vicky. The paragraph describing how Hans Blix disarmed Saddam by humiliating him, over WMD's, shows just how close she is to that destination.


46 posted on 12/18/2004 3:04:23 PM PST by RedWireNut
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To: Cicero
... the editor at that time, Howell Raines, had had an affair with Dowd and felt sorry for her. Raines was later fired himself because he showed himself incompetent to run a newspaper.

So, the question for Pinch Sulzberger is: Why are you keeping this madwoman on? ...

One might assume that your earlier statement answers that question.

47 posted on 12/18/2004 3:34:40 PM PST by SamKeck
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection; IowaHawk

Maureen, I've read David Burge. David Burge is a great satirist...and you, madam, are no David Burge.


48 posted on 12/18/2004 3:41:55 PM PST by RichInOC ("And the Oscar goes to...Catherine."--Sir Sean Connery)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

When are you going to post some pro American and pro Bush articles? All I ever see from you are negative threads from the NY Times,etc.


49 posted on 12/18/2004 3:50:22 PM PST by Lady In Blue ( President 'SEABISCUIT' AKA George W Bush)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Maureen Dowd -- LOL Sometimes she is 'cutsey-funny,' but mostly she is a sad and angry woman, now well past her prime and without a man or a family of her own. She launches her vitrol at Bush and Rummy and even conservatives she has never met. What we need to keep in mind is that she is soooo lonely and soooo lost and soooo bitter. Perhaps a prayer for Maureen Down would be in order... :)


50 posted on 12/18/2004 4:32:14 PM PST by Continental Soldier
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