Billy, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

rollhead · January-27th-2009, 01:15 AM

Kristol Severs Ties With the N.Y. Times
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 27, 2009; C01

Bill Kristol and the New York Times parted company yesterday, one year after he began writing a weekly opinion column that became a high-profile target for his detractors on the left.

But the conservative commentator, who edits the Weekly Standard and appears on Fox News, won't lack for media exposure. He will write a monthly column and occasional pieces for The Washington Post, as he did before joining the Times.

Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt called Kristol "very smart and very plugged in," saying Kristol would be an influential voice in the coming debate over redefining the Republican Party. "It seems to me there were a lot of Times readers who felt the Times shouldn't hire someone who supported the Iraq war," said Hiatt, adding that he wants "a diverse range of opinions" on his page.

The Times hired Kristol for a one-year run during the 2008 campaign, and Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal told his paper that the arrangement was ending by "mutual agreement." Rosenthal would not say whether the Times plans to hire another conservative. Kristol, who did not return calls yesterday, told Portfolio.com in November that he was "ambivalent" about continuing, noting that the weekly column was "a lot of work" and "I have a lot of things going on."

Even some journalists sympathetic to Kristol say his Times writing was often predictable and not his best work, and noted that he had to correct three factual errors.

Kristol's earlier punditry for The Post was also controversial. In July 2007, he wrote in the paper's Outlook section that "George W. Bush's presidency will probably be a successful one." He also said the Iraq war could be won and that "military progress on the ground in Iraq in the past few months has been greater than even surge proponents like me expected."

In a typical missive, liberal blogger Arianna Huffington called it "the single most deceptive piece of the entire war." Kristol said then that his views had not changed and "it would really be pathetic to adjust one's analysis based on public opinion."

Scott Dolan · January-27th-2009, 01:53 AM

Oddest fucking matchup since Carville and Matalin.

I gave up my NYT subscription before he started writing for them. But I can imagine there were some real gems.

Monte Smith · January-27th-2009, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollhead

The Times hired Kristol for a one-year run during the 2008 campaign

And, shockingly, after a year he stops writing for them!

Tom Storer · January-27th-2009, 10:27 AM

Very unimaginative of him, wouldn't you say?

Dr Dave · January-27th-2009, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

And, shockingly, after a year he stops writing for them!

Yeah. Nobody smells very good after this little episode. Certainly not Andrew Rosenthal.

Billy will take it in stride. He's still got the Weekly Standard and Fox platforms from which to broadcast his stupidity, and he'll be blogging for the Washington Post. I like to think of the Post these days as the Mississippi of "serious" national newspapers: Somebody's got to be worst.

rollhead · January-27th-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Yeah. Nobody smells very good after this little episode. Certainly not Andrew Rosenthal.

Billy will take it in stride. He's still got the Weekly Standard and Fox platforms from which to broadcast his stupidity, and he'll be blogging for the Washington Post. I like to think of the Post these days as the Mississippi of "serious" national newspapers: Somebody's got to be worst.

The Post is run by Warren Buffett, so no surprise he is trying to turn it into a kind of "Old Country Buffet" of newspapers.

The only problem with replacing Kristol with another conservative is that it will be nearly impossible to find a "creative conservative."

But my vote for the next year-long tryout would go to the team of Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, who are the only Republicans who have even mildly interesting ideas.

Monte Smith · January-27th-2009, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Nobody smells very good after this little episode.

Is there really an episode? I don't see (or smell) an episode here.

hornplayer · January-27th-2009, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

I like to think of the Post these days as the Mississippi of "serious" national newspapers: Somebody's got to be worst.

I thought that was now the Wall Street Journal. Long live Rupert Murdoch.

rollhead · January-28th-2009, 11:21 AM

The New York Times had a story on Kristol "parting ways with The Times" in Tuesday's paper. A day late to its own story.

Monte Smith · January-28th-2009, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollhead

The New York Times had a story on Kristol "parting ways with The Times" in Tuesday's paper. A day late to its own story.

If they are going to cover the leaving, after a year, of a writer with a one-year contract, I suggest that they run similar stories, like Arriving at Stop, Bus Riders Exit Vehicle.

Scott Dolan · January-28th-2009, 12:40 PM

Well, it isn't as though Kristol was an inexperienced hack fresh out of journalism school.

Though you'd have to be in the loop to actually realize that.

jesus marion joseph · January-28th-2009, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

If they are going to cover the leaving, after a year, of a writer with a one-year contract, I suggest that they run similar stories, like Arriving at Stop, Bus Riders Exit Vehicle.

I smell obtusity here (and I think I just invented a new word). The story is not that the contract ended, Monte, it's that he sucked badly enough not to be offered another contract. They're just polite enough not to say it that way.

Root Doctor · January-28th-2009, 02:08 PM

Kristol is the Tim McCarver of political punditry. I'm sure a nice enough guy in person, but a tedious moron while on the clock.

Monte Smith · January-28th-2009, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesus marion joseph

I smell obtusity here (and I think I just invented a new word). The story is not that the contract ended, Monte, it's that he sucked badly enough not to be offered another contract. They're just polite enough not to say it that way.

I think their reason for buying Kristol's column was just what they said it was: fodder for election year.

Scott Dolan · January-28th-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Root Doctor

Kristol is the Tim McCarver of political punditry. I'm sure a nice enough guy in person, but a tedious moron while on the clock.

Gotta carry on the family tradition.

Dr Dave · January-29th-2009, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

Is there really an episode? I don't see (or smell) an episode here.

Episode: "a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events."

NY Times hires Op-Ed columnists; NY Times hires Bill Kristol; NY Times fails to renew Op-Ed columnist contracts, etc. Is the non-renewal of Kristol's contract distinctive? The question answers itself...