News: The enemy of my enemy is my...friend?

While I freely admit to tending libertarian, I don't mind reading opinions in the editorial pages from all parts of the political map. Good ideas can come from anywhere, and if you aren't willing to listen to other people, you may miss some of them.

Except for one column. Maureen Dowd's.

Ever since John Ross' fisk of her book "Are Men Necessary?" and the controversy over various "Dowdifications" in her columns, I've made a point of avoiding her stuff in any newspaper I come across.

Except today.

Dowd was talking about the recent victory of the "conservative" Sarkozy in the French presidential election. Dowd attended the last rally of Socialist candidate Segolene Royal before the election results were announced. As I read the column, I thought to myself, "Anyone Maureen doesn't agree with is probably someone I do agree with."

And it turned out to be the case. Although I don't think Sarkozy is the perfect candidate (from some accounts, he's power-hungry and imperious), it's refreshing to see someone denounce the insipid 35-hour work week and various other socialist "reforms" that have made France the sick man of Europe for the past decade or so.