Boston Bureau

Dowd keeps 'em laughing

By Libby Hughes, Boston Bureau for Cape Cod Today

From the press riser at the Kennedy School of Government's Forum, I kept staring at the back of Maureen Dowd's head as she waited to be introduced as the key speaker. Her hair is red (she's Irish) and straight, falling about four inches below her shoulders. The hair isn't a bright red or an auburn red. It is a chestnut roan red --like that of a star race horse. The highlights sparkled under the spotlights around the Forum, filled with an audience of a mature vintage, but mixed with eager students in the bleachers above.

NY Times columnist

Maureen Dowd is a famous, acerbic columnist for The New York Times. Not in the venomous style of Molly Ivins, but more satiric. Often the verbal stabs are swathed in sweet and sour phrases or quips or Dowd word creations. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her commentaries in 1999 about the Clinton/Monica Lewinsky affair. The reason for her presence at Harvard was to give the annual Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics, sponsored by the Joan Shorenstein Center.

Nyhan prize to Dana Priest

Before her speech began, the third David Nyhan prize for political journalism was presented to Dana Priest, reporter for The Washington Post for her coverage of the Walter Reid Hospital scandal in D.C. and for the torture expose in Iraq by the American military. She shyly accepted the framed certificate, said a few words and thank you, and sat down.

Alex Jones introduced Dowd

Alex Jones, a former New York Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner, made a lengthy introduction, which told us a little about Maureen Dowd. He told how Arthur Gelb, managing editor, had discovered her unique writing talents in the newsroom. Jones described how she wrote her columns when he was at the Times. "First, she would put her quotes up on the screen. Then, she would sit and sit and sit. She seemed to go into a trance. Finally, the reporting and language would come."

In 1995, she wrote an op-ed piece that scourged the Clintons. She was equally scathing of George W. Bush in later columns. According to Jones, these pieces earned her the nickname of "The Cobra."

Fear of speaking

Finally, Dowd stepped to the podium in a sleeveless black outfit, looking like a model as her long red bangs fell across her right forehead and eye. She promised to talk fast because of the upcoming Red Sox game. She admitted to feeling great dread at coming to speak and felt a little like Marie Osmond. She had heard that Harvard folks ignore visitors and she feared they would "ignore me." Her friend Michael Kinsley told her that he had a fear of no one showing up at his talks and hoped that there would be a no-show. In his stage fright, he said that he couldn't remember the name of the person he had sat next to for two hours at dinner. A far worse thing, however, would be a small introduction by Lee Bollinger. RAUCOUS LAUGHTER.

Declaring herself from the old school of journalism, Dowd told what advice her mother had given her when she became a journalist. "Get on the front page and use the word "allegedly" a lot."

Shakespearean drama at White House

Dowd compared the politics of the White House to a Shakespearean drama, full of sex and envy. She cast Dick Cheney in the role of Iago ( without charm) in the play "Othello." She alluded to Cheney as devious and Rummy as Darth Vader. She noted the political dynasties of the Roosevelts, Kennedys, Bushes, and  probably--Clintons. She wondered whether it will be Hillaryland or Rudyville in 2009. "If Rudy Guiliani is a Red Sox fan, anything is possible." She briefly compared Barack Obama to Adlai Stevenson for his self-image as "no image." Dowd also had taken a swipe in her column at Obama's big ears and discovered she had hit a vulnerable chink in Obama's armor.

Her lines rolled out fast and "trippingly on the tongue" as polite laughter rolled after her one-liners. When the question period came, she was much more effective. Being tied to her written speech was inhibiting or maybe covered up her nervousness.

There were 13 questions. Here are some.

One gentleman wanted to know if she cared whether we win or lose in Iraq and if her Bush-hatred meant she was not patriotic.

A.     Many of the men in my family have been in uniform. My father was a cop and my brothers were in the Coast Guard. My mother is overly patriotic on July 4. Yes, I am patriotic. I challenge government to tell the truth. APPLAUSE.

A student asked if she wrote as an American or as a columnist when on deadline..

A.    A deadline is terrifying. In the last years, the stories have been amazing. George W. and Cheney forgot "We, the people..." They thought they knew best, but journalists keep pressing and pressing.

Another student wondered if we can trust newspapers to endorse candidates?

A.    We as reporters don't endorse although Thomas Friedman often tells whom he is not voting for. Times columnist William Saffire, now retired, said it wasn't fair to kick anyone when he was down. I believe in second chances.

Someone wanted to know if newspapers were partisan and whether they exercised self-restraint.

A.    Sam Donaldson could be rude in asking questions, but Ronald Reagan loved it. You know, journalists are citizens, too. After 9/11, things changed. When British reporters came over here, they were rude. Now the U.S. press is back to their old role.

The next question had to do with the columns of Robert Novak and Dana Priest and whether journalists in the future can protect anonymous sources.

A.    Dowd called on several of her colleagues in the audience from The New York Times to help her with an answer. Perhaps because of their one-time reporter Judith Miller's involvement with Scooter Libby, they were reluctant. Finally, the managing editor stepped forward. "The disclosure of anonymous sources as in the Valerie Plame case is worrisome. To puncture the sources journalists establish in government is disturbing."

One of the final questions came from a young woman who wanted to know if Dowd experienced sexism as a reporter.

A.    I don't like the word sexism. Relations are complicated. One muddles through with humor unless another species comes along. LAUGHTER!

Did the young lady know that Maureen Dowd has written a book called "Are Men Necessary?"

The red-haired polemic fulfilled her duty as speaker and entertainer, putting her verbal sword back in its sheath.