No matter who you support this type of column should bother you

[dsc]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/opinion/10collins.html

On the other side, there’s the new Hillary Clinton, who bears a distinct resemblance to the old Hillary Clinton. “Over the last week I listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice,” she told her victory party Tuesday night. She then went on to give an extremely boring speech that began: “This campaign is about people.”

Clinton actually seems most genuine when she’s being dull. She’s gone back to talking about policy with voters. That’s just the way she saved her first Senate campaign by disappearing into the depths of upstate New York for an endless listening tour that drove reporters mad with tedium but seemed to make the citizens very happy.

“Finding common ground and working to make change has been the cause of my life,” she told a crowd in Hampton, N.H., lifting Obama’s theme. She is a shameless borrower of other candidates’ good stuff. She’s even cribbed Barack’s signature “fired up” line on occasion, and it’s probably only a matter of time before she announces the sudden discovery of long-lost Kenyan relatives.

But when she started answering questions, she got very Hillary — talking about carbon neutrality and H.M.O. payments and procurement reform, ticking off her five-point plans and three-part explanations. The large crowd, which had been standing in a high school gym for nearly two hours before she arrived, seemed to enjoy it. Her bond with the people isn’t a passionate one, but when it works, it’s a genuine connection that starts with the belief that she will work really, really hard on their behalf.

end of quote

Just reread those paragraphs carefully. This woman's job, for which she is paid rather handsomely one must add, is to cover the issues for her readers. That is why they are called newspapers, not gossip papers. I don't think it is too much to ask this woman to actually, God forbid, listen to what the people who are asking to run our country wish to do with that power. Incidently, the speech in question wasn't boring. Columnists like this woman are why we are where we are. Today it is Clinton, tomorrow it will be your candidate, don't even doubt it for a second.

[Buzz Clik]

1. It's an opinion piece, not front page news.

The NTY opinions bother a lot of people. We could start with Maureen Dowd, who, in my view, has written only annoying columns her entire career. It happens.

[dsc]

2. Dowd is awful

but editorial or not, nothing excuses the press'lack of interest in their jobs.

[defendandprotect]

3. This isn't by Maureen Dowd; it's by Gail Collins --- and it is OP ED . . .

[defendandprotect]

6. Hillary's search for "common ground" on CHOICE really caused me concern . . .

Hillary started that a few years ago . . .
and it was worrisome just how much compromising with religious fanatics she was willing to do!!!

Hillary is NOT the way to go ---

Go elsewhere ========================>

[dsc]

8. If you honestly think Hillary will be the only target of these shills

you are very mistaken.

[defendandprotect]

11. Unfortunately, there is too much in the article with which I can agree ---

that's one of the things that made me so angry with her emotional event last week ---
she was using John Edward's words . . . almost word for word!!!

The more I watch Hillary the more dangerous I think she is ---

I think you should concentrate less on this article and more on what we are all
saying about Hillary ---

PLUS, as I mentioned, she seemed ready to betray women in large part on CHOICE ---
that was a few years back when she was talking "common ground" but it sounded more
like raising the white flag.

[dsc]

7. I didn't say it was Dowd

the other poster brought up Dowd.

[MrCoffee]

4. "drove reporters mad with tedium but seemed to make the citizens very happy"

that's a telling line, isn't it?

[Der Blaue Engel]

5. Apparently, politicians are supposed to be playing to the media, not us

That attitude is precisely why we are where we are. x(

[no name no slogan]

9. Barbara Ehrenreich said pretty much the same thing in the Progressive (12/2007)

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-172250736.html

To be fair, she went after all the candidates. And she's right, unfortunately.

[Jane Austin]

10. She could have said more on this subject.

Now, I'm not trying to pick a fight, but when Hill said "I found my voice" I turned to DH and said, "After 60 years?"

Later I thought,"You know, when Gore found the right color shirt to wear, he was crucified by the press. Now Hillary admits she hasn't really been using quite her own voice all this time and it's treated as a charming insight."

It may have been a wonderful insight, just like Gore finding his best colors might have been a good one,too, but the press has given Hillary a complete pass on the substance of what she said.

Also, am I the only one who heard Sen. Clinton say she'd always thought of herself as a "servant leader"? This is pure Mike Huckabee, and one of the things he says often.

Is this new for Hillary or has she always used the Christian term "servant leader" to describe herself?

So as Gail Collins points out instances where Sen. Clinton uses phrases from other candidates, right after she says she's "found her voice", I find her adopting the positions of John Edwards in her speeches, as well as the change theme that Obama had been using for months, problematical - and then there's that "servant leader" thing.

It bothers me and I guess it bothers Gail Collins of the New York Times.

And, no, I don't hate Hillary. I do, however, see a lot of things that if she wins the nomination, will make her vulnerable in the general election.

[Hello_Kitty]

12. Let's never forget that Dowd won a Pulitzer for her coverage of the Lewinsky scandal

Not for it being an in-depth look at the way Newt Gingrich's cabal were attempting to overthrow the Clinton administration in a coup either. Her stuff was nothing but empty snark about the salacious details. She fucking sucks ass. Anyone could write her column. All you have to do is make insulting comments about people you are clearly jealous of and collect a paycheck.