"I admire many mainstream columnists, including Molly Ivins (a heroine and model), Helen Thomas, Paul Krugman, Robert Scheer, Richard Cohen, Maureen Dowd, Katha Pollit, David Corn, Lewis Lapham, etc."
What a hoot! Checks and balances my a&$...
In effect, they become her main sources for writing - so one must ask her who is doing the heavy lifting here? - Certainly NOT her.