Hypocrisy on the part of Times columnist Maureen Dowd will not come as shocking news, but Wednesday’s column attacking Rush Limbaugh,  “Who Are You Calling a Narcissist, Rush?” is unusually virulent.

After the standard overheated rhetoric....

But the tactics of Limbaugh, Palin, Cheney & Fille are more cynical: They spin certainty, ignoring their side’s screw-ups, and they exploit patriotism, labeling all critics as traitors.

...come the personal insults:

Even a chickenhawk like Rush should remember how well that worked in Vietnam, or in the early years of Iraq. The founding fathers designated a civilian as commander in chief for a reason.

Dowd got her feelings hurt by Rush a while back. So, after accusing Limbaugh of making personal attacks against her, Dowd seized the moral high ground by...bringing up Limbaugh’s struggles with the painkiller Oxycontin and ironically accusing Limbaugh of hypocrisy:

But on Sunday, he ripped the president for having "an out-of-this-world ego," for being "very narcissistic," "immature, inexperienced, in over his head."(Isn't immaturity scoring OxyContin from your maid?)

It gives new meaning to pot, kettle and black.

As an insult, that’s not even very good. Then again, unmediated anger doesn’t make for good copy.