Dear Maureen Dowd: Stop writing about television. You've got better things to do. Leave TV criticism to lowly hack TV critics. Like me.
With all due respect. You can write about anything. Putin and Obama just relaunched the Cold War and you've devoted your column ("Reince Is Right") to the effects of a miniseries that hasn't been made on an election that's three years away.
Not to be impertinent, but let me remind you that there already was a miniseries (or limited series) about Hillary, or a very Hillary-like character. And it aired only last year, during a presidential election. And nobody seemed to care, or really notice. "Political Animals" starred Sigourney Weaver, a formidable actress. And it aired on the USA network, which is not exactly the Witness Protection Program. Or at least the fans of "Suits" and "Royal Pains" seem to think so.
The idea that miniseries can affect politics remains unproven. If miniseries really meant votes, then a Kennedy would be in White House, now and forever. Since JFK himself suggested that Warren Beatty play him in the adulatory 1963 biopic "PT 109," there have been roughly a gazillion movies and minis about the Kennedys, from the saintly and hagiographic to the sordid, "Joe-and-Jack-conspired-to-murder-Marilyn (but not before Bobby slept with her)" variety.
For the most part, nobody's really tried to stop these Kennedy projects, even the most ridiculous or scandalous. There were a few clucks about the 2011 miniseries "The Kennedys," but that aired on Reelz (see Witness Protection Program, above).
Efforts to stop, or censor, small screen biographies tend to create more publicity than the show itself. Back in 2003, CBS bowed to conservative pressure and dropped a Reagan biography miniseries starring James Brolin and Nancy Davis. It eventually aired on Showtime to relatively good reviews.
If anything, the whole affair reflected poorly on conservatives, who emerged as thin-skinned, hero-worshipping authoritarians. Apparently a gazillion (my estimate and I'm sticking to it!) minis about two murdered Kennedys was fair game, but just one series on Reagan was too much.
Speaking of thin-skinned, GOP chair Reince Priebus has declared war on NBC for announcing the Hillary project. And Maureen Dowd thinks he's right.
Apparently, neither he nor Dowd, remember Sigourney Weaver as a Hillary-ish Secy. of State in "Political Animals", or seen Hope Davis as Hillary in the 2010 movie "The Special Relationship" or Emma Thompson as Hillary in the 1998 adaptation of "Primary Colors."
If these films didn't provide a game change and attack documentaries like "Hillary: The Movie" (2008) didn't change minds, why do Reince Priebus and Maureen Dowd insist that an unmade, unseen and yet-to-be cast Hillary project is worth worrying about?
One thing is perfectly clear: In announcing the miniseries, NBC has succeeded in distracting writers from its terrible ratings. And Dowd and Priebus have helped them do it.
If Priebus wants to attract young people to the GOP, he'd be wise to stay out of the censorship business. And Maureen Dowd has much better things to do than write about than television.