Low, crude, and nasty . . . even for Maureen Dowd

I know, I know . . . why do I (why does anyone) read Maureen Dowd?  It's all snark, snarl, preen, repeat.  Still, her recent piece on Gov. Mitt Romney's Mormon religion is, even for her, stands out.  After not-remotely-subtly calling attention to Mormon practices and beliefs that she knows her readers will find strange or objectionable, she then acts as though she's just reporting and warning about those nasty other folks "who have made faith part of the presidential test," rather than stoking the fires of anti-Mormonism herself (obviously, with an eye toward the 2012 general election).  (To be clear, I don't think it's necessarily wrong for citizens to think and talk about candidates' religious beliefs and commitments, and -- if they are relevant, as they surely can be -- to take them into account when voting.  What is wrong, I think, is to stoke prejudice while purporting to criticize it.)