... doesn't necessarily require affection.
If Obama can smile while Maureen Dowd gossips fripperies in that awful voice of hers, if he can be anywhere in the vicinity of William Kristol and David Brooks without crinkling his nose from the stench, he can deal with the bluffs and confidentialities of politics, foreign and domestic.
Rachel Maddow, on the other hand, would be worth talking to.
Joan Vennochi pollutes the Boston Globe with pissy middle school insults aimed at Barack Obama. They could have been ghost-written by the RNC. Of course, of course, she balances her column with John McCain's modesty.
Joan, here's a little unfriendly but sincere advice: If you're in pain, as your writing suggests, get some help or medication, or find some joy. Also, journalism is a tough and precarious career these days, but the MoDo moment is ending under the weight of a huge variety of free, fresh-blogged snark; find another way to be valuable.
