Female spat

Washington DC

As far as catfights are concerned, this one cannot compare with, say, Bette Davis v. Joan Crawford, or even Crystal v. Alexis Carrington, but it will do for the rainy season. Maureen Dowd, a 55-year-old New York Times columnist known for her hysterical outbursts against George W. Bush, has taken an 800-word swipe against her Times colleague Judith Miller, fresh out of jail for refusing to reveal her so-called sources. This is the kind of fight where the fans root for a double knockout. It’s more Paris Hilton v. Nicole Ritchie, if you know what I mean. The more blood spilled, the better.

If any of you have missed it, and I’m sure most of you have — after all, who gives a rat’s ass about two old women hacks desperately vying for attention — here’s the real scoop. And it was broken by none other than Justin Raimondo of the American Conservative — founding editor, the greatest Greek writer since Aristophanes. Judy Miller, a highly strung, shrill social-climber since birth, has just spent 85 days in the pokey claiming she would not reveal her sources in a criminal case. To say that a multimillion book contract, a Pulitzer prize and journalistic martyrdom had entered her mind would be the grossest understatement of all time. ‘The idea that she is a martyr to the concept of a free press inverts her real role in this matter, which has been to obstruct not only justice but also the truth — the truth about how we were lured into the Iraqi quagmire by unscrupulous government officials of dubious loyalty.’

Miller, you see, was at the epicentre of the Chalabi–Iranian disinformation campaign to get Uncle Sam to attack Iraq, and has refused to speak without a forked tongue because if she did the truth would come out and bury her and her informants.