Remember back when Maureen Dowd was secretive and mysterious and didn't do interviews or sit for pictures?

• Spin and Vibe are — shhh! — up for sale, much to Quincy Jones' chagrin. Buy 'em now, 'cause they're not getting any more relevant. [Radar]
• Andrea Peyser, winner of the Bestest Column In the History Of the World Ever Award For Excellence, really, really, really wants to stir up shit with Maureen Dowd. She quotes an Imus transcript, sort of calls MoDo a slut while calling her out on calling Judy Miller a slut. Women, jeez. [NYP]
• New CBS News boss Sean McManus donated a whopping $250 to Bush in '04. So he's a conservative and extremely stingy. That's no way to be a Pioneer, Sean! [E&P, via some blog]
• The internet "encourages even the most diligent reporters to become entertainers, even shills." Hey, did you hear that Al Reynolds got arrested? [CityPaper]
• Rupert Murdoch is buying the internet. By the way, please welcome new Gawker Editor Andrea Peyser. [Guardian]

When Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the fifth-generation scion of arguably America's greatest newspaper family, moved into top Times management, he made a conscious decision to cut off the friendships with rank-and-file Timesmen he'd made during his years of seasoning at the paper. Two employees with whom he's remained friendly, however, are a former housemate from his Washburo days, Miss "Run Amok" Miller, and his star Washington columnist, Maureen Dowd.

Maureen Dowd doesn't need your dirty money to feel good about herself, and she's not going to whore herself out for her corporate masters. Having lost her reserved spot on the Most Emailed List, people who bother to shill out money for content have noticed that MoDo has become uncharacteristically withdrawn:

In a bizarre game of compare-and-contrast, Maureen Dowd compares George W to Vogue Editor Anna Wintour. We think she'd be better matched with Kim Jong Il, and he with Toby Young, but then it wouldn't be completely arbitrary and pointless, and we can't have that, now can we?
Two tough cookies [NYT]