Maureen Dowd: "..Cadet Bone Spurs maliciously erodes it, seeing it as a hindrance to his lust for untrammeled power and

[riversedge]

I have not been a fan of--nor reading Dowd for several years--but she gets my cheers
for today's post.
PS--I do not subscribe to the NYT but please note that the words are in quotes--which to me means Dowd was quoting someone. That said, I am glad it was included in the post.


Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired)
@ColMoeDavis
·
1h
Maureen Dowd has an op-ed in today’s New York Times entitled “Founding Father vs. Foundering Toddler” in which she compares and contrasts George Washington and Donald Trump. It includes quotes by author Ron Chernow who won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of George Washington. Here are a few quotes (and a free link to the article is pasted below).

Ron Chernow: “I just can’t imagine two human beings who are more dissimilar than George Washington and Donald Trump. Washington was discreet, reserved, courteous — he avoided any kind of show or ostentation or self-promotion. With Donald Trump, it’s nonstop bragging and boasting and self-promotion that would have been, I think, completely alien to George Washington, and very much counter to his idea of the way that a public servant should behave.”

Maureen Dowd: “The hero who commanded the Continental Army was protective of the nascent democracy, realizing its fragility. Cadet Bone Spurs maliciously erodes it, seeing it as a hindrance to his lust for untrammeled power and cash grabs. . . One famously wouldn’t tell a lie. The other famously can’t stop telling lies.”

________

Trump spoke at Mt. Rushmore last night after buzzing over it twice in the 747 sky palace he got from Qatar and you paid to refurbish and he plans to keep. He said that those who aren’t loyal to him and supportive of his debasement of the presidency and his assault on our democratic republic are communists. “The Communist Party is made up of illegal immigrants, criminals and everybody that doesn’t want to work. . . It’s death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil.” That’s a hell of a way to describe the majority of Americans on the eve of America’s birthday who see Donald Trump for who he really is.

Lindsay Chervinsky, the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library, said this about how she believed George Washington would feel about America’s 250th birthday: “I think the dominant feeling would be one of joy that the nation is still here, because most republics just don’t last that long, and he knew that.”

It’s up to us to prevent the demagogue the Founding Fathers feared from destroying the fragile democracy that George Washington entrusted to us.

https://nytimes.com/2026/07/04/opi

Link to tweet

?s=20

[PJMcK]

1. It's a great column

I'm not a fan of Ms. Dowd but this column is spot-on brilliant.

Highly recommended.

[UpInArms]

2. Sorry, not sorry I despise Dowd ... this is the monster she helped create

Dowd has repeatedly belittled Gore's focus on environmental issues, and previously referred to Gore as “Ozone Man,” a slur originated by former President George H.W. Bush during the 1992 presidential campaign. For instance:

After President George W. Bush's April 2006 push to promote renewable energy, Dowd stated that Bush had made a “concession speech to Al Gore” but then added: "[T]he president sounded a bit like a wild-eyed Ozone Man himself yesterday, extolling the virtues of alternative fuel derived from cooking grease, sugar, grass, wood chips, soybean oil and corn." (4/26/06)

After attending the February 2002 World Economic Forum, Dowd wrote that her “whole body hurt” from the “chat about coalitions, commonalities and global climate crises.” Dowd continued: “The confab -- overrun with charts, hand-held computers and technobabble -- was starting to feel like an evening with ... Al Gore.” (2/3/02)

In a 2001 column, Dowd described Gore as “the champion of Kyoto and author of a chicken-little polemic warning of 'an ecological Kristallnacht' and 'wasteland.'" (8/5/01)

While complaining that the Bush administration has “reeled” the country “backwards so fast,” Dowd acknowledged that she “used to think” Gore was “striving too geekily to be Millennial Man. The Palm Pilot on your belt. The Blackberry. The Earth-cam you dreamed of. Citing 'Futurama' as your favorite show. The obsessions about global warming and the information highway. Boldly choosing the first Jewish running mate. But now I'm going hungry for a shred of modernity.” (6/1/01)

While discussing Gore's consideration of installing a webcam in the Oval Office, should he become president, Dowd asserted: “I have zero desire to see President Gore round the clock, putting comely interns to sleep with charts and lectures on gaseous reduction.” (10/19/00)

In 1999, Dowd claimed that “Al Gore is so feminized and diversified and ecologically correct, he's practically lactating.” (6/16/99)

(Bolding mine)

More at https://www.mediamatters.org/new-york-times/dowd-now-believes-gore-prescient-several-issues-despite-previously-belittling-him

[Orrex]

4. And let's not forget her efforts at helping to defeat Kerry, too.

She's been garbage for more than a quarter century. I'm not impressed by this single piece of glitter in the mountain of shit that she's produced over the years.

[Ocelot II]

3. Here's a gift link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/04/opinion/founding-father-vs-foundering-toddler.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vFA.5nja.fIFryVpRnbgu&smid=url-share

I don't like Maureen Dowd very much. But I can't argue with what she says here.

[dalton99a]

5. Kick

Washington was beloved by many for giving away power he could have kept. Trump is reviled by many for snatching power he isn’t entitled to. One was methodical and judicious, hoping to consult with the Senate more than the Senate even wanted him to. The other is driven by whims, co-opting legislative powers on tariffs and war. Washington actively avoided, as president, interfering in congressional races. Trump meddles in primaries to exact revenge and test fealty.

Chernow reflected on Trump’s astonishing grifting in office. In the first year of his second term, Trump collected $1.4 billion from his crypto ventures. (He made a fortune, even though the meme coin he hawked to his supporters is worth astronomically less now than it was when he took office.) Overall, his first year in office netted him at least $2.2 billion. “George Washington was a man of such unimpeachable integrity — there was not the faintest hint of scandal during his presidency — and he was always very reluctant to accept any kind of gift because he was afraid people might interpret it as a bribe,” he said. Washington agonized before accepting shoe buckles from David Humphreys, his aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War and speechwriter during his presidency.

“Trump can make all this money off cryptocurrencies and meme tokens, and there’s nothing in the Constitution specifically preventing that other than the president’s own sense of shame and integrity — and those don’t seem to apply with very great force to our president,” Chernow said. “Trump is very good at finding these holes in the system. He seems to have a sixth sense.

“Our founders did worry a lot about the future emergence of a demagogue,” Chernow said. “Their fear was what used to be called, in the 18th century, the man on horseback — the idea that after a bloody revolution, the victorious general would parlay the victory into power and become a dictator.”

[mwmisses4289]

6. Is she regretting her efforts and cheering that put t in office?

Sorry darling, you helped to create it, now you get to face the consequences.

[delisen]

10. Dowd paved the road ro our current Hell. Still cashing in.

[SocialDemocrat61]

7. F**k Maureen Dowd

[NNadir]

8. This is a woman who thought how Al Gore's suit fit was more important to America than its Constitution.

I note that she, and the "Bush is the same as Gore" set - the Naderites - all worked to put the political hack with contempt for the US Constitution - John Roberts - in the Chief Justice's seat.

Roberts is definitely challenging Roger Taney - who ruled that some people are equivalent to farm animals - for the title of the worst Chief Justice in history.

There may never be another Chief Justice in history, because the one now seated destroyed the US Constitution.

That idiot clown Maureen Dowd helped us to this outcome.

[oasis]

9. Modo can take her "clever" opinions and shove 'em.