IS MAUREEN DOWD GHOSTING EDITORIALS FOR THE NEW YORK SUN? Read the introduction to this editorial:

It feels a bit like Los Angeles here in New York these days. It was bad enough when people started getting Botox injections. Then Monica Lewinsky moved here. Lawyers and bankers stopped wearing neckties to work. The next thing you know, Mayor Bloomberg made a pitch for the Big Apple to host the Academy Awards, a symbol if ever there was one of the star-obsessed culture of the City of Angels. He’s also trying to lure the Democratic National Convention, which was in Los Angeles the last time around. Now, our mayor is trying to import L.A.’s health fanaticism to the city that never sleeps by outlawing smoking in our bars and restaurants.

Hmm. Does Howell Raines know about this?