Maureen Dowd should stop writing, and just talk

The one-millionth takedown of Maureen Dowd's wasted New York Times space is here. I'll admit that not every Times column has to be deep, but Dowd's end of the swimming pool is barely humid. Wonkette does the gossip thing much better, and Molly Ivins sunk the verbal knife with a moral heft attached to it, something Dowd can't find. And while we should be past the time when women are standard-bearers for their gender, it's a shame that the woman with the best media real estate space in the country chooses this stuff for her material.

The funny thing is that she's so good at giving speeches. I heard her on the radio one time delivering the same material, and she was excellent. Gossip launched over the back fence doesn't look so good written down. Dowd should keep it in the air.