I think, deep down, it was this arc when my love of Oracle turned to hatred. The idea that after taking on countless government agencies, super-villains, and goodness what else, someone as glaringly inconsequential Spy Smasher could shake Barbara made me realize she wasn't up to playing on the same level as I'd fooled myself to thinking she was.
This story, which obviously didn't have her enlisting Lois to help her take down Spy Smasher in what might have been a pretty kick ass CMOA...Spy Smasher sits down to read Lois' expose on Oracle and finds her face, history, and pattern of abuse plastered on the front page, which gets her burn noticed and black listed...seems to be when Oracle stopped trying to out maneuver her opponents and started thinking she could use brute force to win her fights, such as calling in a two-page spread of guests to scare off a bad guy.
Call me wrong. Call me crazy. Call me whatever. However, in the years since this, watching Burn Notice and Leverage, I can definitely say for sure that Oracle isn't even close to the same league as Michael Westen and Nathan Ford when it comes to being a mastermind, and for my money...this scene kind of proves it. If you can't realize Lois Lane might be more interested in helping you bust a hyper-corrupt spy than blackmailing her husband's colleague, the GTFO.