Bill Clinton era over, says Dowd

Bill Clinton hasn't been president for years, yet this is the fear that Maureen Dowd believes is a talking point this Sunday. She solely focuses Her Sunday column is on media fueled rumors about Hillary Clinton as a possible Secretary of State. If this were true, it would be a backstep for Obama, according to Maureen Dowd. Maureen Dowd read into Obama's rhetoric about bringing Change, that he would not work with Hillary Clinton (because she is the wife of the ex-president of eight years).

Other points of irrelevance: campaign strife, Bill Clinton's possible meddling, bureaucratic paperwork that Executive Branch employees have to fill out, and whether or not Hillary would enjoy diplomatic tasks.

What is remarkable about the column, though, is that it says very little. To reduce it to a sentence: Obama would contradict some of his promises by taking on Hillary, but Hillary, even though she had campaign team problems, would still be able to do a good job.

But Barack Obama made no promises of the kind, Hillary's campaign team only looks problematic when lined up against Obama's (universally regarded as the best campaign in history), and after those falsities and mis-characterizations, we're left with Maureen Dowd's endorsement. I shouldn't have to write this, but Maureen Dowd weighing in on campaigns and appointments only brings up bad memories. Al Gore. Impeachment trial. Pulitzer.

Maureen Dowd's column is not looking like itself these days. Where are the below-the-belt punches? Where are the paragraphs that beg for even a hint of research?

Perhaps Maureen Dowd is not sure how to attack the forthcoming presidency. If she's going to continue to attack the biggest guy in the room, then she's got to have a good strategy. It's humbling to know that this supposed Washington insider has to act like a Normal Person: she can't pass judgement on Obama because he's given people little to criticize or praise. He's not president yet, as he's reminded people.

Yet, there still is a sitting president and some very real (not to mention confusing) problems going on in America and the World. A fair few opedders used their spaces to expound on these varied issues: Tom Friedman, David Brooks, Paul Krugman, and Bob Herbert.

Nicholas Kristof wrote an airy piece about kids who network for social causes. It was inspiring, though, to learn that some kids can touch a nerve profoundly before they're in Middle School. I hope Nicholas Kristof takes some of these children on his worldwide trips so that these future mini Kristof's familiarize themselves with cultures who have different takes on the world, on human worth, and even on the act of charity itself.