Maureen Dowd: Obama Is 'Maddeningly Naïve' - His Presidency Has 'All the Joy of a Root Canal'

January 22nd, 2012 11:16 AM

The perilously liberal New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd appears fed up with Barack Obama.

In her piece published Sunday, she called the current White House resident "maddeningly naïve" right after saying his presidency has "all the joy of a root canal":

The man who came to Washington on a wave of euphoria has had a presidency with all the joy of a root canal, dragged down by W.’s recklessness and his own inability to read America’s panic and its thirst for a strong leader.

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria for this week’s Time cover story, the president is maddeningly naïve.

After sharing a quote from Zakaria's piece of Obama saying that he's depicted as being cold and aloof because he doesn't attend a lot of Washington parties - "The fact is, I’ve got a 13-year-old and 10-year-old daughter” - Dowd observed, "Reagan didn’t socialize with the press. He spent his evenings with Nancy, watching TV with dinner trays. But he knew that to transcend, you can’t condescend."

She continued her critique:

The portrait of the first couple in Jodi Kantor’s new book, “The Obamas,” bristles with aggrievement and the rational president’s disdain for the irrational nature of politics, the press and Republicans. Despite what his rivals say, the president and the first lady do believe in American exceptionalism — their own, and they feel overassaulted and underappreciated.

We disappointed them...They still believed, as their friend Valerie Jarrett once said, that Obama was “just too talented to do what ordinary people do.”


Dowd also shared with her readers revelations made last week by former President Jimmy Carter to CNN's Piers Morgan that he doesn't have any relationship with Obama. According to Dowd, "The Clintons have not been courted with dinners in the private residence either."

She continued, "The Obamas, especially Michelle, have radiated the sense that Americans do not appreciate what they sacrifice by living in a gilded cage. They’ve forgotten Rule No. 1 of politics: No one sheds tears for anyone lucky enough to live at the White House."

All well and good, but Dowd better be careful with her criticisms lest she too be wrongly accused of calling the first lady an angry black woman or be included in the list of Obama critics Newsweek and Andrew Sullivan think are dumb.

Associate Editor’s note: As you are likely aware, since the financial collapse of 2008, charities and non-profit organizations have seen a sharp reduction in donations. Although the environment has improved, contributions are still nowhere near where they were prior to the recession. Unfortunately, the Media Research Center has not been immune. With this in mind, your support has become more important than ever. With a critical election approaching, the liberal media needs to be monitored 24/7. As we have been predicting for months, the press are willing to do anything to get their beloved politicians elected and/or reelected. As such, we need your help to fight this fight. Any contribution, even $10, is greatly appreciated. Please consider a tax-deductible gift to the Media Research Center to help us battle the liberal media. Thank you.