Maureen Dowd has a turn of phrase to die for. My last nine years of technical writing experience has obviously blunted my ability to one day craft a phrase like Dowd's that is as lyrical as it is stinging.
Part of it is practice, obviously. If I wrote opinion columns instead of engineering manuals, I might at least stand a chance. Part of it too is material. Being a part of the Washington press corps, and among the D.C. news elite would be enough to give anyone ammunition to write something sensational.
As a person, she's a tough nut to crack. Her feminist viewpoints may rub some the wrong way, but she does, after all, have a woman's point of view. And as a woman in a generally male-dominated job, maybe she needs to speak just a bit louder to be heard.
Equally at home criticizing President George W. for being lazy, and President Bill Clinton for being a lying womanizer, no one seems immune from her gaze. If she has an agenda, it seems to be to provide a wake up call to those who go through life half asleep.
And maybe that's the way a lot of columnists should operate. Call out those who have it coming, regardless of their politics or prior good deeds. Praise those who deserve it.
And always do it with eloquence.
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