Welcome to 'Dowdworld'

“It's their reality. We just live and die in it.”

This is how Maureen Dowd views what has become of American politics. They(politicians) make poor choices and we like hamsters in a wheel follow the motions and live that reality.

Dowd began her career with the New York Times in 1983 when she was hired as a metropolitan reporter. She began writing on the op-ed page in 1995 and has been writing columns that have grabbed the attention of readers both supportive and appalled by her work, ever since.

Some say you either love her or hate her but if you were to talk to George Bush senior he might say he has more of an up and down relationship with her than anything else. In an interview with The Early Show Dowd described the elder George Bush’s views on their relationship, “a love/hate relationship, because he loved it when I would tweak the Clintons and hates it when I tweak the Bushes."

Truth is that Dowd has a gift of “tweaking” our countries administration in a way that can make your sides hurt from laughter.

With the release of her book Bushworld in 2004, Dowd spoke of the Bush Dynasty and made strong and often brutal comparisons of the father and son duo.

Her points of view of the Bush family could be what makes people assume that she is liberal but she does not see it that way. “"I think I'm an equal opportunity skeptic," she says. “I used to tweak Clinton just as much...(as Bush).”

It is the tweaking of Clinton (and Monica Lewinsky) that got her the Pulitzer Prize in 1999. This well known scandal was followed by viewers and Dowd was able to put a spin on it that made her stand out from the rest. She refers to Clinton as, “the animal house president” and Hillary as the “enabler”.

She creates caricatures and makes them almost seem made up even though you know that they are real. She refers to George W. Bush as “W” and emasculates Al Gore by saying, “he is practically lactating”.

She has been referred to as a “the most dangerous columnist in America”, by Ariel Levy and possesses qualities that you might find in the strongest man. She has been nicknamed by George W. as the “cobra” and when you look at her red hair and soft appearance you would not suspect that she had so much fire inside of her that is until she either opened her mouth or began writing.

"I have a fear of castration," Dowd explains. "Not fear of being castrated but fear of castrating." It is comments like this that glue her columns to my hand and make it impossible for me to put them down.

She has endured criticism on many levels and does not let it slow her down.

"When I started as a White House correspondent," says Dowd in an interview with Ariel Levy, only the second female in the position in The Times' history, "there was a lot of criticism from guys saying 'she focuses too much on the person, not enough on policy'. I never understood that argument at all.”

Dowd has a talent for taking the frightening reality of American politics and adding humor and wit to make her columns enjoyable and tolerable. It is difficult to read about the same presidential scandals over and over again but Dowd offers a different approach that makes the lives behind White House doors seem more like a T.V sitcom.

I am so relieved that I found a columnist that I can respect and enjoy as much as I do Maureen Dowd. Her strength, humor and intelligence are admirable. She shows society that women can be successful and makes it obvious the power that she has with her words.

What attracts me the most to her columns is that while she pokes fun at political officials, she never takes a stance and stands behind someone just because they lean to the left or the right. She understands that there are faults to every administration and she is not affraid to point them out.

http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6221