Bill Kristol's Op-Ed Column: The New York Times's Gain is the Washington Post's Loss

Brian Doherty | January 27, 2009

After a year, neocon king Bill Kristol gets booted from his weekly column at the New York Times, and returns for a monthly one at the Washington Post.

While the Times' Andrew Rosenthal says the decision for Kristol to leave the paper was mutual, Scott Horton at the Daily Beast says it was a canning in an anoymously sourced piece, not for his ideology but because of sloppiness and, maybe even worse, disloyalty to his employer:

....he might still have survived as a columnist had it not been for an attitude of casual and reflexive disloyalty he publicly displayed towards The Times itself. A good example came in an appearance with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show on October 30. Here’s the way Editor and Publisher described it:

“Appearing once again on The Daily Show, Bill Kristol, Jon Stewart's favorite whipping boy (‘Bill Kristol, aren't you ever right?’), on Thursday night defended the McCain-Palin ticket, at one point informing the show's host that he was getting his news from suspect sources. ‘You're reading The New York Times too much,’ he declared. ‘Bill, you WORK for The New York Times!’ Stewart pointed out.”

That, apparently, was the last straw for the Gray Lady.

Radley Balko's apt comment upon Kristol getting the Times gig: "Failing Upward," for the man who saw the Bush administration as "probably" successful as late as 2007. This time it's failing sideways, I guess. Politico wonders on who should fill the neocon slot at the Times.

Comments

|1.27.09 @ 11:16AM|#

I'd recommend Mr. Hanky, the Christmas Poo, for the post, but, tragically, he appears to have some shreds of dignity and empathy.
Automatic disqualifiers for membership in the feculent hordes of neocons.

no hugs for thugs,
Shirley Knott

Gilbert Martin|1.27.09 @ 11:27AM|#

"Scott Horton at the Daily Beast says it was a canning in an anoymously sourced piece, not for his ideology but because of sloppiness..."

That can't be it.

Sloppiness is the pervasive standard operating procedure at the NYT.

Warty|1.27.09 @ 11:32AM|#

They should do away with the neocon slot and make it the surly paleocon slot instead. Unfortunately, I can't think of any good ones besides Ron Paul.

Reasonable|1.27.09 @ 11:33AM|#

And now you see why the NYT hired Kristol, and why conservatives don't particularly like David Brooks.

And you see why Carlos Slim bought the NYT. Hey, why buy an ad when you can have the whole paper shilling for you?

EJM|1.27.09 @ 11:40AM|#

At least Nicholas Kristof won't be confused with Kristol as much anymore (see here and here).

That said, maybe there's now a greater chance of him being confused with the similarly named Mexican VJ who hates emo (read more here and here).

Bluto|1.27.09 @ 11:53AM|#

"Radley Balko's apt comment upon Kristol getting the Times gig: "Failing Upward," for the man who saw the Bush administration as "probably" successful as late as 2007. This time it's failing sideways, I guess. Politico wonders on who should fill the neocon slot at the Times."

At least he didn't "Free-fall" his ass all the way down to writing for Reason.

|1.27.09 @ 11:56AM|#

After a year, neocon king Bill Kristol gets booted from his weekly column at the New York Times, and returns for a monthly one at the Washington Post.

In a just universe, Bill Kristol would be reduced to wring solely for the Pinconning News.

|1.27.09 @ 11:57AM|#

writing, not wring.

|1.27.09 @ 12:00PM|#

J sub D,

I understood you. I figured those darn terrorist stole your "i" and "t". If only the New York mes hadn't led the country astray.

Taktix®|1.27.09 @ 12:01PM|#

Yo, fuck Bill Kristol.

Seriously, that guy really sucks.

What about Gillespie for the NYT spot? Show em' your WSJ piece and show up for the interview in the leather jacket, and you'll be a lock...

|1.27.09 @ 12:04PM|#

('Bill Kristol, aren't you ever right?')

I'm not much of a Jon Stewart fan, but that pretty much sums it up.

economist|1.27.09 @ 12:07PM|#

"Bill Kristol, aren't you ever right?"

I once heard him say that higher tax rates on income tend to discourage productivity and investment.

Other than that, no.

Franklin Harris|1.27.09 @ 12:48PM|#

"Scott Horton at the Daily Beast says it was a canning in an anoymously [sic] sourced piece, not for his ideology but because of sloppiness..."

Then why is Thomas Friedman still on the NYT op-ed page, doing to metaphors what Dick Cheney did to detainees at Gitmo?

Jerry|1.27.09 @ 12:59PM|#

@Bluto
David Frum just recently appeared in the Reason magazine interview show.

|1.27.09 @ 1:42PM|#

Then why is Thomas Friedman still on the NYT op-ed page, doing to metaphors what Dick Cheney did to detainees at Gitmo?

FH,
Because being wrong all of the time is a bigger crime than mixing metaphors like you're DJ Quik.

Fluffy|1.27.09 @ 2:05PM|#

I wish Kristol would come out of the closet on his bisexuality.

That would make him more credible in my eyes.

shecky|1.27.09 @ 2:21PM|#

If anything, Krisol's time at NYT could be spun as a dastardly liberal plot to discredit conservatism even more.

If they must have a conservative, I'd love to see a serious, young righty given the opportunity. Maybe someone like Daniel Larison. If they put up another conservative clown, as Pat Ruffini suggests, conservatism will continue to be ridiculed. And rightly so.

If filling a quota isn't a concern, I'd prefer a libertarian/cosmotarian. Any of the Reason regulars would do.

EJM|1.27.09 @ 2:34PM|#

If filling a quota isn't a concern, I'd prefer a libertarian/cosmotarian.

Don't forget that Nat Hentoff recently lost his Village Voice gig (although he still has his syndicated column).

TallDave|1.27.09 @ 3:15PM|#

Because being wrong all of the time is a bigger crime than mixing metaphors like you're DJ Quik

Doesn't explain how Bob Herbert and Paul Krugman have survived.

|1.28.09 @ 11:03PM|#

I am hoping for a real conservative, not another national greatness scum-bag. George Will would be amazing but anyone against the stimulus and articulate would be welcome. His writing was sloppy, but as Franklin pointed out so is Freeman's (Freeman is also an annoying consensus whore); I think they fired him because he told Stewart to read less of the paper he worked for. Very un-classy, I don't think any business should tolerate any employee who publicly tells people to consume less of the buisness' product, but then that's the rage among oil companies, so maybe Kristol was just confused