The New York Times is now involved in one of its earnest, baroque, hair-splitting and hair-pulling discussions about who should replace William Kristol on the op-ed page.
Kristol, you remember, is the Fox News commentator hired by Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. to be, along with David Brooks, an official conservative on the op-ed page (and to buy the Times some protection from the attack dogs at Fox News). Now, it used to be that you got to be a columnist at the Times because of worthy service to the paper. But in the Times' efforts to be with it and relevant in an opinionated world, it adopted the ideological bent, with Kristol being its highest concept example. This didn't work out, because pretty much as soon as Kristol was hired, the conservative epoch began to end, and because Kristol, in ideal circumstances not the best writer, didn't have his heart in it. In the end, the Times audience probably does not feed the ego and the glory of a red-blooded conservative.
The Times is now both frantically and painstakingly making lists. Who are its kind of conservatives?
After a period of this, of finding every conservative to be either quite a fuddy-duddy or quite crazy, which pretty much defines conservatives these days, some determined maverick at the Times will suggest they get a liberal. There will ensue, then, a long and complicated discussion about Rachel Maddow and the idea of not just a liberal columnist, but a gay one too, which the Times has never had (not openly).
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Bill Kristol's New York Times Column Ends
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Cut Kristol: As Era Ends at New York Times, Some of Bill's Greatest Bloopers
He gave us many belly laughs, several glaring errors, some choice takedowns by Jon Stewart, and Sarah Palin -- who doomed McCain.
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Should Tom Friedman Get Canned Along With Kristol?
How could the man who wrote maybe the best book on the Middle East become a paycheck-cashing mouthpiece and shill for the world's corporate villains?
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The Times Gives Kristol the Pink Slip
The neocons are returning to their liberal origins. It's interesting that Kristol's most interesting op-ed came at the end and could have been titled, "In Defense of Liberalism."
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If there exists a conservative who earns his lucrative income from speeches,books, etc., how about someone who would accept no pay from the NYT, but be allowed space on a regular basis to express his views!?!
1. Peggy Noonan
2. Arianna Huffington
3. Christopher Hitchens
4. Andrew Sullivan
5. Martin Amis
6. Noah Feldman
That Andrew Sullivan?
If the Times should, as you suggest, hire someone who is careful with his facts, why on earth would they choose Sullivan?