A sassy title choice — “I Ponied Up for Sheryl Crow?” — would imply that even Maureen Dowd felt the gross offense of Sheryl Crow’s inclusion in Northern Trust of Chicago’s wild night of fun last week.

“Northern No Trust had a lavish dinner at the Ritz Carlton on Wednesday with a concert by Chicago (at a $100,000 fee); rented a private hangar at the Santa Monica Airport on Thursday for another big dinner with a gig by Earth, Wind & Fire, and closed down the House of Blues on Sunset Strip on Saturday (at a cost of $50,000) for a dinner and serenade by Sheryl Crow.”

We were kind of surprised too, Maureen; Sheryl has always painted herself as the kind of liberal who would look down her nose at such things. Remember when she yelled at Karl Rove? But then we did some digging, and found this snippet from an October 2006 interview:

“… I think what’s happening in our business — although I feel like it’s slightly karmic, it is what it is. It’s a failing business. And we have to figure out new ways to get what I feel like should be messages with integrity out to the American people, or to people in general, because the people are starving for it. I think they really are ready for that… Well, I think what’s going on in the music business is really reflective of the times. There’s so much money in business that music now has become part of commerce. The record labels now depend on advertising dollars coming through commercials and through TV programs. And what we felt like in the old days was something you would never do, like selling out to a commercial, now has become the norm for getting your music heard, because radio will only play six or eight songs in an hour. And then the next hour, they play six or eight songs, and it’s the same six or eight songs.”

So, there you go. Sheryl’s only being realistic, and she does have Wyatt Steven Crow to worry about now. That said, in 2007 Forbes estimated her net worth at $6 million, so maybe she could ease up on the crazy bankers gigs. Regardless, when Maureen Dowd thinks you’re doing something that’s lame, then it’s time to fire your manager — and to stop sucking up our tax dollars. This one goes out to you…