Tom Tugend of the JTA relates a moment when President Barack Obama (D), not using approved community organizing pep talk, succinctly deflated the almost imperturbable and biting NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd.

Dowd's view of Obama may have been influenced by an encounter while she was covering the then-Illinois senator as a candidate on the presidential campaign trail.

Obama called in a few top reporters, and at the end he turned to Dowd and said he wanted to speak with her privately for a couple of minutes. With visions of an exclusive, Dowd was a bit startled when the candidate greeted her with the words, "You know, you are really irritating."

Yeah, that could have influenced her view of the president. Good for him for speaking so candidly!