Maureen Dowd went to her eye doctor this week, shopped for makeup in Georgetown, and chatted with her MSNBC pals about making HDTV promotional adverts. Norah O’Donnell had baby-spitup on her dress that no one but the HDTV camera could see.
And David Shuster took off his pants.
Out of this she wove Sunday’s column. This is what passes for liberal/snarky political/cultural commentary on the New York Times’ most influential op-ed real estate nowadays: an attempt to gender-deconstruct America’s love affair with HDTV that, sadly, falls apart when Dowd tells us that both male & female on-air talent despise what the new cameras do to their skin. And "that high-def acts almost like an X-ray to show the slightly bluish tinge of some fillers or the lumpy bumps and ripples from fillers and surgery."
Did I mention that David Shuster took off his pants?
Gauzy, fuzzy and with less acuity — that’s how Maureen Dowd tells us she likes her world. Isn’t it wonderful that The New York Times still pays her to share that wonderful world with us? I bet her eye doctor, the Georgetown Sephora, and Armani all appreciate their brand-name-drops into Sunday’s column, too.
Nothing like a little product placement to catch a reader’s eye. Oh, and David Shuster’s pants.
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I’m surprised that Mona Charen didn’t catch that Shuster’s pants thing… Too busy obsessing on Nicholas Kristof’s pants…
David Shuster’s pants!
teddy! well at least we can be thankful that it was not rushbo who took off his pants
There’s also something about David Shuster’s five-o-clock HDTV shadow, but it was the taking-off-the-pants that caught my attention. Something about steaming out the creases, she says.
Fie upon you for even thinking of typing that! Brain bleach, please.
According to MoDo:
I’m not a woman (yet) and I couldn’t care less about high-def. Uh-oh, I think I’m experiencing some shrinkage…
I maintain that the reason fat guys tend to show their crack is that their pants are trying to get away. Rush’s trousers likely fled the country. Fortunately, the fact that he is on radio does not allow the HD cameras to reveal that his pants are only painted on.
mission accomplished
MoDo is a fraud. Another on the “celebrate the obit” list.
According to EvilDrPuma:
I resemble that remark.
!
Yah, me too.
=:-O
Good thing no one can see his dingle to begin with.
MoDo has had her moments, which last until the plagiarized party steps forward.
Modo is an anagram for Doom.
-G
Teddy!
To call Dowd insipid and vacuous would be a compliment.
TGFD (thank god for dunlop).
Me three.
The pants can’t really be blamed, they follow the path of least resistance. You can tell which guys have given up because they wear suspenders.
Kobe!!!
Great, the one piece of news we could have used she left out – C’mon MoDo, Boxers or Briefs?
Is it time for another installment of Elephants on Parade yet?
I rarely fall for that steaming-out-the-creases line anymore.
& Mood
j!
He also claimed that he was only repeating similar comments Michelle had made recently, which is, of course, false.
The comment was clearly racist, you stupid wingnut prick.
One time Kobe took his pants off at the wrong time, and it didn’t turn out so well. Tonight he kept them on; and see how good things work out?
An anagram for “Maureen Dowd” is “manure dowed.”
from Webster’s
dowed: to be able or capable
Going forward, Ahmadinejad may want to watch his back; or he may find himself getting a pants press and crease, while he’s still wearing them.
An appalling attempt to defend the indefensible.
He’s a Republican activist. What do we expect?
He does appear representative of the party remnants. Bottom of the barrel, as it were.
It’s humorless liberals who can’t take a joke that are going to destroy this nation, or at least the South Carolina part of it.
(Did you know there are NO women elected to state government in South Carolina at ANY level?)
I guess they don’t count Miss Teen South Carolina, such as.
Meanwhile, I’m just beside myself that HD happens just in time for my late middle age vision to go myopic. Actually, it’s a blessing in disguise. I don’t have to spend the extra money, because in the near future, I won’t be able to appreciate it anyway.
Sorry to hear about your declining vision, if that is actually the case.
Yawn. I guess David’s pants don’t have legs.
I don’t want HD. Imagine having to look at Joe Lieberman up close – not to mention Newt, Bill O, and, god forbid, Ms. McConnell.
Fixed.
Since I’m far-sighted, at least the Dept Motor Vehicles is still satisfied.
No. Don’t wanna.
I have decided tonight, after the cable guy spent an hour here today attaching my new cable box, that the digital teevee is much softer sounding. Or I have lost more hearing from just yesterday.
I have noticed on Countdown that Chris Cillizza has non-small pores.
With HD you can still change the channel.:-)
I agree though. I guess I’ve entered middle age. Don’t care about trendy consumer technology but don’t yell at kids to get off my lawn (much) yet.
“Imagine having to look at Joe Lieberman up close”
Don’t forget Virginia Fox.
Second thought, forget Virginia Fox.
Pore guy.
Non-small – that’s funny. :)
I can’t even imagine how awful Janice Dickinson will appear on “I’m a celebrity get me out of here.” Which, I must confess, I am hooked on this summer.
Patti Blago seems like a really nice person.
Teddy – thanks for the shot of Gloria up top. I love her. Sunset Blvd., was it?
I AM big. I know, sad, but fabulous.
“…non-small pores”
Paraphrasing Gloria, ‘the TV is big, it’s the pores that got non-small.’
Sorry to hear it. It would be more like justice if she deserved the corrupt narcissist she’s married to.
I like my HDTV, it’s not a life size screen and I don’t sit that close where I can see awful details that I could see otherwise. It’s great on some travel shows that are filmed in HD.
Well, of course, she’s also playing a role on television, for money. There’s no guarantee that the character she’s playing (”Patti”) who seems nice, is anything like the actual person, Patti.
But Janice Dickinson could make any human look good.
Elmore has been saying for two years that there will be either a lot of plastic work or taking heads will be shifting around….. do you remember the brouhaha over Rosie O’Donell’s fuzzy cheeks? Lots of chem peals or you can be Andy Rooney and just be warts and all….
Animal Planet is also pretty cool.
Cameron Diaz is rather notorious for her skin nowadays, which MoDo doesn’t omit.
HDTV and it’s sister versions have a lot of technical limitations and require a lot of special handling. There are limitations of the length of fiber cable that can be used for transmission. HDTV has complicated the shows and increased the setup time.
Years ago, when I worked at Warner Bros., Rosie did a week in LA and I went to a taping. I was too far away to notice her fuzz. She wasn’t very nice though.
Millinaryman — how are the cooking shows? Does stuff look more appetizing?
So many pixels, so many channels, so little time. Maybe next we’ll have, the dental surgery channel. DSC is already used, so they’ll call it SOR.
How was the singing cow?
But then again, you have some of the Housewives on Bravo…
Many of the cooking shows are filmed, not taped on video…. Everyday Italian and Barefoot Contessa are two that are filmed. So there is no way to know….
Well the sound guy had some problems so I didn’t get to see it. I couldn’t stay for the second show.
And the cooking show really doesn’t make too much of a difference from what I can see, but my TV is 19″, so I do think that might have something to do with it.
Maureen Dowd — anagram “Adore New Mud!”
Great pic up there.
I don’t watch much tv and have never ever watched a cooking show. I was mainly just trying to make conversation.
1) bummer – that’s the problem with live.
2) so, you watch low calorie?
I will not hear a single discouraging word against David Shuster. He’s the only true reporter we have nowadays. Yes, some others come close, but David’s the real deal, with or without pants.
Great anagram!
Did you do that one yourself, or did you use the computer machine?
It’s only been 11 months since I started back on TV, I didn’t have it for a very long time. The only reason I got an HDTV is I got a floor model of a Sony for 135 of my own money. Great sale and a nice gift card.
I use the digital music stations more then the TV.
Yea but not as bad for the people who paid to see the show.
You will never hear me say anything bad about David Shuster!
I rather embarassed the Plame House team during the Libby trial with my incessant fanboy ranting in the FDL comments section; our correspondents made good friends with David, a friendship he still shares with the blog as you’ll sometimes see Jane on his show. But I almost ruined it with my swooning.
So how is demi tonight?
Due to my illness I have watched way toooooo much TV…. partly because of the high dose steroids which kept me away and only sleeping 2 hrs or so….. it is amazing what is on and what isn’t at 3:30 am…..I’m kind of picky on what I watch, foodnetwork, PBS cooking shows, travel shows, House, Law&Order, CSI…..
i can’t wait for Julie & Julia to come out in theatres. I showed my kids the Dan Ackroyd skit of Julia Child and they ROFL.
Oh, I love the music stations. When things get too stupid on the news, I put on soundscapes to calm down. When I’m gardening, I open the LR window and put on classic rock and roll, real loud.
lol. he’s so dang polite, I can’t believe the pants thing!
I’m glad reporters and bloggers connect! It can only help journalism and raise the bar for cable news (maybe).
I’m doing pretty well. I started a part time job last week. At a book store. It’s kind of boring and low pay but I get a 30% discount. A little money, keeps me off the street and it’s in Old Town Pasadena which is a nice neighborhood.
Eh. Kicks just keep getting harder to find.
good night everyone.
Much on TV is either taped or on film, even the daily sitcoms are filmed in front of a live audience…..It is only the first of the “live” newscasts are actually live, as the broadcast is occurring it is put on tape….so the earlier KO is live then unless there is an event, the rest of the shows are a replay of the earlier broadcast.
Nite nite MM. See you tomorrow, maybe. Sweet dreams.
niters mm
Sorry, Teddy, I had to anagram and run. Missed your response earlier. No machine, didn’t know they had em. :)
Trivial, says much about what I pretty much already knew, faintly worrisome (regarding how MoDo prefers to see the world)… but I’d even read Liberal Fascism if it made some kind of mention of David Shuster’s pants (oh Lord, what does this say about me?), so in the very least, she knows how to sell her stuff.