Dowd's Lies

I've wondered about this for a while.

Does anyone read Maureen Dowd's column as a source of serious commentary?

It would be a perfect feature in The Onion. The silliness belongs in a farcical newspaper. Then again, Dowd's home base is the New York Times. Now that I reflect a bit more, it does belong right where it is.

Her latest, "Uncle Dick and Papa," is so goofy it's entertaining. She presents a case that basically says Vice President Cheney and Pope Benedict XVI are twins separated at birth. One isn't evil. They both are.

Dowd at her kookiest:

--"It was a move so smooth and bold, accomplished with such backstage bureaucratic finesse, that it was worthy of Dick Cheney himself.

The éminence grise who had long whispered in the ear of power and who had helped oversee the selection process ended up selecting himself. In Cheneyesque fashion, he searched far and wide for a pope by looking around the room and swiftly deciding he was the best man for the job."

--"The two, from rural, conservative parts of their countries, want to turn back the clock and exorcise New Age silliness. Mr. Cheney wants to dismantle the New Deal and go back to 1937. Pope Benedict XVI wants to dismantle Vatican II and go back to 1397."

--"They want to enlist Catholics in the conservative cause, turning confession boxes into ballot boxes with the threat that a vote for a liberal Democrat could lead to eternal damnation."

--"W.'s Doberman and John Paul's "God's Rottweiler," as the new pope was called, are both global enforcers with cult followings. Just as the vice president acted to solidify the view of America as a hyperpower, so the new pope views the Roman Catholic Church as the one true religion. He once branded other faiths as deficient."

--"...this pope - who seems to want a smaller, purer church - encourages a militant role for Catholic bishops and priests in the political process."

With all due respect, the woman is reshaping the truth to fit her own reality. "Reshaping" is a kind way to say she is lying about Pope Benedict XVI.

From CNN:

VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI outlined goals for his papacy Wednesday, including the unification of all Christians, continuing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and reaching out to people of other faiths.

"This successor of Peter knows he has been entrusted with the task of confirming his brothers ... with the intention of working to reconstitute the full and visible unity of all the followers of Christ," Benedict told cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel for his first Mass as pontiff.

Still adjusting to his new role as head of the Roman Catholic Church, the pope acknowledged that he was experiencing feelings of "inadequacy and an inner disquiet," but professed a "profound gratitude toward God."

Benedict often invoked his predecessor during his message, promising to continue John Paul II's legacy and to use the Second Vatican Council as the cornerstone for spreading the Gospel to the world.

The thrust of the council in 1965 was to make the Catholic Church more accessible to the masses.

"The new pope knows that his task is to make the light of Christ shine before men and women of world -- not his own light, but that of Christ," Benedict said.
"With this full knowledge, I would like to greet all those, including those who follow other religions ... to reassure them that the church wants to continue with its open ... sincere dialogue looking for the true good of man and of society."

In her column, Dowd insists that Pope Benedict intends to dismantle Vatican II. The Pope says he intends to use it as the cornerstone for his papacy.

Dowd says Pope Benedict want a "smaller, purer church." That's not what the Pope said he wants. Quite the opposite. He wants to "greet all those, including those who follow other religions ... to reassure them that the church wants to continue with its open ... sincere dialogue looking for the true good of man and of society."

Where does Dowd get her information? Does she write about what she and her fellow self-proclaimed enlightened liberal elites chat about at elite gatherings in elite places?

She could only come up with her ridiculous assessment of Pope Benedict by completely dismissing what he has said and totally insulating herself from REALITY.

Bottom line: Dowd is ignorant or a liar. Most likely, she's both.

She has considered Vice President Cheney the Antichrist for years. There's no excuse for her schoolyard bullying. Even worse, however, is her depiction of the new pope.

Why must she demonize the newly elected Holy Father on the day of his installation?

Aren't liberals supposed to be tolerant? Couldn't Dowd exhibit a little self-control and rein in her hate just for one day?