Bush turns Good Samaritan

The tartest tongue in American newspapers is embarrassed. Maureen Dowd, the New York Times columnist, has come home from the White House's Middle East junket to the unmistakable sound of titters.

Lesser hacks can't resist a chuckle at the discomfort of the withering, flame-haired star from the mighty Times's editorial pages. Republicans have been giggling after suffering so long from her Bush-bashing columns, now collected into the bestselling Bushworld: Enter at Your own Risk.

Dowd, 56, has terrific writing skills and, like Bill Clinton, first came to fame at the fabled New Hampshire primary of 1992. A reporter, she opened a description of the rumbustuous Republican contender Pat