Kicked Off: Maureen Dowd Banned From Campaign Plane

[JonLP24]

Source: National Ledger


The New York Times and John McCain really don't seem to like each other all that well and it appears the disagreement may have spilled over into a campaign plane ban for Times columnist Maureen Dowd. McCain Campaign chief Steve Schmidt scalded the New York Times just last week in a conference call where he ripped the paper and screamed bias.

"Whatever the New York Times once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization. It is a pro-Obama advocacy organization," Schmidt said. "This is an organization that is completely, totally, 150 percent in the tank for the Democratic candidate."

***

Now a nugget buried deep in a Washington Post column from media critic Howard Kurtz has this, "Outside, on a summerlike evening, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs held forth for the likes of NBC’s Chuck Todd and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, who was wearing an Elvis T-shirt. (The company may have been more pleasant than that of McCain aides, who have barred Dowd from the candidate’s plane….)"

So is she off? The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this from Dowd, "I had had a great relationship with John McCain for 16 years, through columns he liked and didn't like. So at first I thought it was a mistake and doublechecked with the press office. They said I was banned from both planes for 'the foreseeable future.' Then Nicole Wallace was gloating about it to reporters on the Palin plane."

Read more: http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272622972.shtml

[Buzz Clik]

1. No more brilliant insights from Maureen.

:sarcasm:

[Scairp]

36. LOL!

She is a complete nutcase, as well as being one of the MOST incompetent "writers" ever given their own column in a paper of record. Whatever, she is no more pro-Obama than she is pro-McCain. After the "Obambi" nickname, just one among many, only someone as batshit crazy as she is could think she's a liberal in any way, form or fashion.

[Supersedeas]

2. Dowd may be off, but Kelly O'Donnell will earn her seat on the Free Ride Express

[NoodleyAppendage]

29. O'Donnell and her bountifulness could earn a Free Ride from me any day...yowza. n/t

J

[Supersedeas]

33. but would you respect her smiling/bobbing head in the morning?

[NoodleyAppendage]

34. boy, that's another invitation for sexual innuendo. ;) n/t

J

[Buzz Clik]

39. I never mix sex and politics.

Unfortunately, if she ever opened her mouth, my interest in her would be reduced to politics.

[Roy]

43. But what if she starts laughing? eeewww

[Scairp]

40. Maybe Wilgoren

Jodi Wilgoren, who famously compared John Kerry to a hamster and also implied some kind of inappropriate relationship between he and his (extremely) tall personal aide, would do a wonderful job as disinformation officer for the Times on the McCain plane. They have got to start administering some kind of sanity test at both the Times and the Post, 'cause every nutcase with a pen is getting a byline at these two papers. Very alarming.

[WarbirdForObama]

3. Never get into a battle

with someone who buys their ink by the barrel.

Just sayin.

[DrZeeLit]

8. Yup. Hate to be "sexist" but that whole "woman scorned" thing is gonna bite his ass.

And I don't always like Mo, but she's a writer and she's been in the thick of everything for a long time.
This is a mistake for McMeFirsy.

She's not gonna immediately endorse or even cheer on Obama, but I bet she eventually carves McMeFirst a new First Amendment tattoo.

[tblue]

21. I have a feeling MoDo is gonna wear this rejection like a badge of courage.

Have you seen her recent column, with the reprisal of The West Wing's Pres. Bartlett? Hi-larious! And so true.

And, what does this say about what kind of POTUS McC would be?

[gratuitous]

27. Maybe

I think it's equally likely that MoDo will change her tune toot fuckin' sweet to something a little more amenable to McThuselah's ears and the ears of his touchy campaign staff. Time will tell, and I never underestimate the possiblity of a sell-out when it comes to the likes of Maureen Dowd or her employer, the modestly self-proclaimed Newspaper of Record.

[Scairp]

42. Then allow me

I am a woman and she is a bitch and hack, with no business writing anything more serious than obituaries. Dowd, Katherine "Kit" Seelye, Wilgoren, Elizabeth Bumiller, Cece Connelly, they are all whoring for their respective papers, and fellow women or not, I loathe them and it galls me that they have gotten ahead by writing the bullshit they do and to obtain their massively bloated paychecks for writing said bullshit. If there really is a Hell, may they all burn in it.

[napi21]

4. Oooo...Maureen can be a viscous journalist when she get's pi**ed

off at someone! I'll have to be sure to read her articles for a while!

[Texano78704]

11. Vicious too...

And what's with the Elvis t-shirt?

[Raksha]

38. I think you mean viscious. Viscous means "sticky."

That would probably work as a good adjective for MoDo too.

[Bryan]

5. Great news

Not only is the McCain camp continuing its erratic and self-destructive tantrum against the press, but no less a sober beacon of reason than Maureen Dowd is catching the flak! It's like Christmas come early!

[melody]

6. Shortly, they'll be down to Fox News and Rowdy the Handpuppet from Kidnap News

Lots of room on the Express these days.

[tblue]

24. Bwaaaaaaahahaha! Boomp boomp boop. Another one rides the bus!

[CBHagman]

7. I'd be honored to be banned by the likes of Schmidt.

That McCain and his staff that they are seeking protection from the press speaks volumes. It's like standing on a chair and screaming when a mouse appears.

[ellie]

9. I am trying to decide

who I loathe more between them. I guess they are both equally vile.

[JonLP24]

10. It just shows how desperate McCain-Palin is to win this election

[TerribleLarryDingle]

12. I cant stand her

But I do love when she attacks the right people

[wryter2000]

16. Welcome to DU, Terrible Larry

:hi:

[marew]

13. I love her! It is a badge of honor for her! n/t

[barbtries]

14. that campaign

is being run by a bunch of spoiled brats. not grown-ups. jeez.

[Winterblues]

15. If only that "Bail Out" had happened...

All would be right with the world :crazy:

[KansDem]

17. Could this be a "warning" to the rest of the CorpMedia?

Did Mc/P kick Dowd off as a reminder about "access" and kowtowing?

[tblue]

25. Yep. What does this say about what kind of POTUS McC would be?

[FatDave]

18. I love the smell of desperation in the morning. Smells like...

...victory. Ours that is.

[Stinky The Clown]

19. Hahahahaha

Hahahahahaha


MoDo off the plane ......


Hahahahahahaha

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhahahahaha

[intheflow]

20. WTG, McCain campaign!

Banning reporters is the perfect way to get your sagging and dragging campaign the much-needed positive publicity it needs! :rofl:

[Lucky 13]

22. People here are laughing about this?

I assume the humor is because it's MoDo. But this is really not something we should be celebrating. A reporter is critical of the campaign and is kicked off the planes and now has no access to the candidates? That's an affront to freedom of the press. And as a result other reporters are beginning to censor their own remarks about Palin & McCain.

MoDo is certainly annoying at times, but she's not the enemy here...

[tblue]

26. Actually, the joke is on the Mc/P campaign. The drama queens throw another hissyfit.

Talk about inept. MoDo has her flaws but she has been skewering McC lately. I don't think this will exactly endear him to her.

[intheflow]

28. I don't think reporters will censor their remarks more over this.

They already censor themselves. But between the Palin "deference" BS and their sequestering her from reporters, and now kicking reporters out of their entourage, they are not endearing themselves to the Fourth Estate. So while the press might not be the vicious attack dogs they should be when this kind of affront happens, few are reporting anything positive from the McCain camp. Even the conservatives are unhappy with the way the McCain campaign is going, and they're reporting that unhappiness. It's a softer, lighter unhappiness reporting, but it certainly isn't glowing praise.

[notaboutus]

31. EXACTLY

First they make a joke of the election with an unqualified un vetted V.P. pick. Then they say screw the press. Report in our favor or get off the bus. We hardly heard the press mention the fact that McCain did no press conferences with his press corps for six weeks and Palin didn't talk to hers at all. Yet it is the press that have allowed them to get away with this.

[Quantess]

37. Agreed.

It's a seriously bad omen.

[applegrove]

23. Bullying the press to try and cow them. How pathetic. And what an old

GOP tactic at this point.

[GETPLANING]

30. She should appear on Letterman

and they should spend the entire show talking about what an ass McCain is.

[radfringe]

32. NEVER NEVER EVER piss people off who buy their ink by the barrel

papers are probably writing the obit for mccain's campaign

[dgibby]

35. Well, this is good news!

If Mo Do and Letterman team up, It's over! I likey!:evilgrin: :bounce:

[fed_up_mother]

41. Honestly, I don't consider Maureen a journalist so I have to agree with McCain on this one

I realize our standard for journalism has sunk to awful depths, but that woman is not a journalist. She's a mean spirited opinion writer, and imo, that doesn't grant her access to the candidates.

Imo, reporters should be travelling with the candidates - not idiots like Dowd.