Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Who To Replace Kristol?

Who To Replace Kristol?

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Kevin Drum asks who should replace Bill Kristol at the NY Times. My first thought was a steaming pile of dog leftovers, then I moved on to Otto from Airplane, both of whom are on equal intellectual footing with Kristol, and probably cost less to pay. I then briefly considered the high comedy of having the entire nation exposed weekly to Jew-baiting neo-McCarthyite Michael Goldfarb’s deep thoughts. I can’t think of anything that would discredit the neo-con movement more than a year of Kristol followed by a year of Goldfarb.

If you want a serious answer: Larison, Larison, Larison.

Although in all likelihood, we will end up with someone like David Frum, and he and Brooks can offer dueling banalities every week. As Frum is currently exiting from the National Review, it might already be a done deal.

Reader Interactions

132Comments

  4. 4.

    low-tech cyclist

    I’ll second Larison. I want to save Tyler Cowen for whenever the WaPo wakes up and realizes that their econ pundit, Robert J. Samuelson, not only isn’t Paul Samuelson, but isn’t even an economist.

  5. 5.

    The Other Steve

    When is the NY Times going to hire some liberal pundits?

    Other than Paul Krugman, I guess. Do they have any?

  7. 7.

    DrDave

    Does that mean Fred Reed is out of the running?

    I’m not sure that Fred qualifies as a conservative but he is more intelligent and more fun to read than Kristol. By orders of magnitude.

  9. 9.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    Who should replace Bill Kristol?
    Isn’t it obvious?
    Sarah Palin, you betcha! Elections have consequences dontcha know, also.

  11. 11.

    Joshua Norton

    They could just write a computer program to randomly throw all the neo-con buzz phrases together and end up with the same results.

  13. 13.

    Brachiator

    Kevin Drum asks who should replace Bill Kristol at the NY Times.

    My first instinct would be to say, "Why bother?" Conservatives seem to be intent on running on stoopid power. But a good choice might be Christopher Buckley. It would be a nice jab in the eyes of the folks at National Review, and get a pundit with a brain.

  15. 15.

    NonyNony

    You got my hopes up, I thought they were actually dumping him.

    But no, Drum is just following up on the suggestion from someone else that the paper dump him when his "probation" period ends in December.

    So he’s not getting dumped. I imagine he’s going to be on the editorial page with whatever they call "tenure" in the op-ed world. Being wrong or boring isn’t going to be enough to get him unwedged from the "even the liberal NY Times" op-ed page because he serves the purpose of being a big obvious conservative name that they can point to when people say that they’re biased.

    And really, if they Times dumped Kristol, how would I have my best indicator for knowing what is surely the most disastrous, wrong-headed course to take in a given situation? Sometimes it’s nice to know where the icebergs are, and Kristol somehow seems to manage to find them all. I wish I knew how he did it because being able to be that wrong that reliably has got be worth some money to someone.

  16. 16.

    Semanticleo

    It should be Glenn Reynolds, the poster child for redemptive self-awareness.

    It would be choice to get some two-way imbroglio with
    the insulated, and pusillanimous tech-nerd who hides behind his signature, ‘innuendo’.

  17. 17.

    The Other Steve

    HURRAY! There is a Treasure Island ad on the left side! This is the first non-Pajamas video not featuring Michelle Malkin I’ve seen in a long time.

    We’re staying at Treasure Island next week when we get married. If anybody wants to come to Vegas, click the ad and get cheap rooms. You’re not invited to our weddding though! :-)

  21. 21.

    R-Jud

    I, too, was all excited by the headline into thinking they actually are going to fire him. I don’t read him anymore, but my father keeps sending me links to him nearly every week with the single word, "Thoughts?"

    Kristol doesn’t have any, Dad.

    As a commenter on Drum’s post said, the NYT put up with William Safire for ages, and he was just as tedious (outside of the occasional interesting "On Language" column). I don’t hold out much hope that Kristol Blue Delusion is going anywhere.

    But if he does, Larison for sure.

  24. 24.

    HyperIon

    I like Larison and visit the AmCon site regularly, using the B-J blogroll here. And sometimes he does says very insightful and interesting things. But he is not always an easy read. In fact he is often a difficult read (heterodoxy? wtf?). I don’t think he would be "accessible" enough for the NYT.

    Besides, Kristol is not going anywhere. Damn you John Cole for tricking me into thinking otherwise, if only until I read the comments of other crest-fallen Juicers.

  25. 25.

    Politically Lost

    Adding:

    The howling from the wingnutoshpere would be earsplitting even on the north pole.

  26. 26.

    HyperIon

    Huckabee.
    That would be a real change from Kristol.
    He writes entertainingly.
    And his ideas are not the typical Repub BS.

  27. 27.

    Siryn

    I love Larison, but Ross Douthat would probably be more "accessible." But since we are now into talking to people like adults, why not Larison? We’ve dumbed down our population so much, he will force people to raise their game.

  28. 28.

    Incertus

    @The Other Steve: Bob Herbert certainly qualifies as another liberal voice, and Kristof is also one, depending on what he had in his coffee that morning.

    It would be nice to have a sane conservative in the NY Times Op-Ed pages, but the benefit of Kristol is that he’s always wrong, so it’s easy to know what to do–the opposite of what he says.

  30. 30.

    Tymannosourus

    Who To Replace Kristol?.

    "10 monkeys on 10 word processors."

    T’was the best of times, twas the blurst of times? Stupid Monkey!

  32. 32.

    JL

    The NYTimes added Kristol to appease the right. Has he increased their readership? Have the whackos signed up for home delivery? I say add another liberal to the oped page.

  35. 35.

    Garrigus Carraig

    I know the answer to this one.

    Bill Kristol with a lifetime contract.

    Because don’t they deserve each other? This is the Times. Was it not the paper of Friedman, the paper of Miller, the paper of Bumiller? Was that not just a bunch of pussyfooting about until they became the paper of Kristol? Maybe they’ll peak as the paper of Marie Jon[‘]. Also.

  37. 37.

    Objective Scrutator

    Okay, so Fred Reed is not conservative enough. Hmmm. How about Lew Rockwell? That oughta put some neocon panties in a bunch.

    This article is some of the most shameless mockery of President Bush I’ve ever seen. The sad thing is that his ideas are good.

  38. 38.

    28 Percent

    The New York Times is just another piece of the MSM except it is worse than all the other MSM together it is so bad and liberal but even it has to admit that Bill Kristol has something good to say. That just proves how untrustworthy they are that they will not just be all LIEBERAL they try to pretend to be "balanced" but I am not fooled. If they really wanted to tell the TRUTH they would get someone like ME because I am a REAL AMERICAN who TELLS IT LIKE IT IS. But they will not it is because they are too afraid that reading theyre paper might LEARN SOMETHING AND THINK FOR YOURSELVES.

  39. 39.

    qwerty42

    I agree with Larison. Does Bacevich do columns? Douthet is interesting, but needs a few years. Jeeze, I don’t vote for their candidates, and often/usually disagree with all/part of what they write, but I appreciate a lot of these guys. As opposed to the brain dead (and deadening) hacks that get palmed off as "conservatives" these days.
    Go with Larison. But they will probably stay with Kristol.

  41. 41.

    Zifnab

    Can’t we just keep Kristol’s name and change the byline? Then we won’t have to worry what hack job replaces him and – at the end of the next year – Bill can jump out of a cake dressed in a french maid’s outfit and say, "Surprise! I fooled you all! Don’t you look silly."

    Of course, if we want to be really awesome, I say they just give the spot to Erick from Red State. Conservatives these days demand the real deal, the pure shit, uncut. Why settle for David Frum’s short feverish crack highs of stupid when you can get the good stuff from the preeminent wingnut blogger himself.

    But in all seriousness, I’m with @Brachiator. I’d love to see them pick up Christopher Buckley, just to poke a stick in the NR’s eye.

  43. 43.

    Punchy

    Kevin Drum asks who should replace Bill Kristol at the NY Times.

    Pam Atlas Gellar Juggs Mooslim Hater.

  46. 46.

    Michael D.

    @Jeff:

    I vote for Jon Swift. We’ll be able to laugh, while Conservatives will not know the difference.

    I second that. By far one of the under-appreciated, smart bloggers.

  47. 47.

    les

    I found this Larison dude, I think from a reference link here. It seems like every post of his that I’ve read has something to do with analyzing angels v. heads of pins–he’s certainly articulate, and strings words together well, and all, but it’s pretty "who the fuck cares" by the end. Still, it would take a lot longer to figure out if he’s right or wrong–in the cases where that’s even possible, given his topics–than Kristol, and it would up the pretension number for the NYT. And how do I know, maybe there’s some benefit to figuring out who’s really xian, or pro-life, or whatever, and by what definition.

  48. 48.

    The Moar You Know

    Quit fucking around and dump that key of 100% uncut on the table. I gotta get my hate on.

    K-Lo.
    Erick
    Hannity
    Hal Turner
    Malkin

    You get the idea. I want the good shit, not that dilute crap they’ve been peddling.

  49. 49.

    Michael D.

    In all seriousness, however, why replace him with a conservative at all? Replace him with someone on the left if that’s a good fit for the paper. Don’t try to claim balanced coverage by going out and hiring a conservative because you feel it can deflect criticism. As long as he or she is intellectually honest, can back up the writing with facts, and is, well, a geniunely good writer, that’s what should matter.

    It’s like someone said during the election season – and I paraphrase and wish I had the reference (I think it was Ben Smith at Politico) – the Mainstream Media isn’t bias towards Obama by giving him more positive coverage. It’s because McCain ran such a shitty campaign. Same goes here. Hire someone who can defend good ideas rather than someone who tries to defend shitty ideas just so you can maintain the masquerade of “balance.” Whether that’s a liberal or conservative, at least you make the choice honestly.

    Personally, I would rather see Maureen Dowd leave the paper than Kristol. She is a joke of a writer and makes Kristol seem eminently more intelligent by comparison!

    Hire a good writer. If that writer is liberal, so be it. If the writer’s a conservative, fine. Just don’t go out fishing for a conservative because Hannity and Rush are shaming you into it.

  50. 50.

    Tymannosourus

    I am a REAL AMERICAN who TELLS IT LIKE IT IS.

    Real Americans kick so much ass, MOST OF THEIR WORDS HAVE EMPHASIS!

  51. 51.

    Alan

    Larison would be a good replacement. Although, he does seem to have a problem making distinctions that don’t produce different outcomes. It’s hard to square his support for the Constitution Party’s Presidential candidate with his distaste for the Limbaughs of the world. Especially when that Party is the true home for people like Limbaugh and Alan Keyes.

    BTW, did you catch Larison’s post stating Pro-Lifers aren’t the problem? IMO, Conradg is taking Larison to school. :)

  52. 52.

    dbrown

    I say the NYT should just drop Kristol and place a picture of a topless woman in his place like that British tabloid – then finally, by replacing a single boob with two would finally raise both the intellectual level of the paper and readership at the same time.

  53. 53.

    oh really

    From Drum:

    In his year on the Op-Ed page, not one memorable sentence, not one provocative thought, not one valuable piece of information appeared under his name…. George Packer

    Hey, we’re talking about the New York Times. This is hardly grounds for termination. Kristol writes MSM opinion page pabulum. How many columnists at the Times or Post have written anything memorable, provocative, or valuable in the last year?

    Besides, since we now have a Marxist as president (the most right-wing Marxist ever), shouldn’t the Times be filling the Op-Ed pages with more Kristols, rather than getting rid of the one they already have?

  54. 54.

    Comrade Stuck

    Wingnuts? I like mine tasting like something feral, well seasoned in Hotsauce, Vinegar, and Piss. Able to suck the chrome off the shift knob of a 56 Chevy while reading passages of Revelations faster than a speeding bullet, and finish by leaping over any fact with a single bound.

  55. 55.

    Michael D.

    @oh really: I think Friedman is ok, and I always think Nick Kristof is a good read. Even when I was a delusional republican, I always respected Krugman’s columns. Gail Collins might be pabulum, I don’t know, but she sure is a good read. I’ve also enjoyed Frank Rich, but I read him less often.

    IMO, Maureen Dowd is a waste of column inches.

  56. 56.

    tjproudamerican

    Balloon Juice is a blog that kept me sane, and I discovered Eunomia (Daniel Larison) through you.

    Larison is a very good writer, a real conservative, and he would elevate any paper.

    I hope the Times hires him anyway.

    I am very liberal but I don’t want to only hear liberal voices. Larison writes for everyone from a consistently conservative perspective.

    Thank you for linking to him.

  58. 58.

    Scott H

    I nominate PJ O’Rourke. He’s crossed the threshold into the Cialis needy, but he writes well. Douthat is a twink whose voice will never change. Chris Buckley is too sharp, and he doesn’t need the NY Times. He’s like his father; a stage forms around him wherever he goes.

    Or tits. That was good idea.

  61. 61.

    HyperIon

    @Alan: Thanks for the link.

    Interestingly, the previous (and very excellent) comment was by Balloon Juice old-timer and fellow citizen of Seattle, CaseyL. No CaseyL comments here for a long time. :=(

  62. 62.

    Svensker

    @dbrown:

    I say the NYT should just drop Kristol and place a picture of a topless woman in his place like that British tabloid – then finally, by replacing a single boob with two would finally raise both the intellectual level of the paper and readership at the same time.

    I’m a hetero girl and I like your idea. Yes!

  63. 63.

    Comrade Stuck

    Balloon Juice is a blog that kept me sane

    Funhouse Musing?/
    One mans Sane is another mans Atanajurat

  64. 64.

    sparky

    @dbrown: Win.

    or Taibbi.

    but really, Kristol isn’t going anywhere. that would require Arthur disinviting Bill to brunches, not to mention the Vineyard. i can’t believe anyone even bothers thinking this is anything other than the usual incestuous Park Avenue relationship.

  66. 66.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Seeing how the Times is broke and hemorrhaging readership, it may have to hire someone willing to work cheap. I suggest Alberto Gonzalez in this case.

    The babe idea is good too.

  67. 67.

    p.a.

    An African Grey Parrot; if they can find one that wouldn’t consider it an insult following in the hoofprints of Kristool.

  69. 69.

    DougJ

    I’ve heard some people claim that Michael Lewis qualifies as a conservative. If so, I’d go with him. If not, I’d try to hire him anyway because he’s probably the most readable serious journalist in America (this piece on the Wall Street collapse was brilliant).

    Let’s be honest about the paper, though: they should fire all the opinion writers except Krugman and possibly Herbert.

  71. 71.

    [delurk]...[/delurk]

    Now that we’ve awakened from this 28-year fever dream, only to realize that Kristol, Perle, and Wolfowitz’s diseased fantasies about Soviet strategic superiority (which turned out to be 100%, no-money-back, spun-glass crapola) cost us $6 trillion under Ray-gun and Bush the First, and that the same unholy trio’s diseased fantasies about Saddam’s WMDs (They’re still big, it’s just the villains who’ve gotten smaller) have cost us another 3 or 4 and counting under Bush the Second, Kristol’s going to need that job to help pay back his share of that. Or maybe we could take it out of his hide at 89 cents a pound?

  72. 72.

    Comrade Kevin

    @sparky:

    Taibbi would be pretty funny.

    I suggest they hire Jim Anchower. His travails with his Ford Festiva need to reach a larger audience.

  73. 73.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    In all seriousness, however, why replace him with a conservative at all?

    I’m with that. I know that if someone says that the Earth is flat, our media has to lead with "opinions differ on shape of planet"* but come on. What does conservatism, right now, in this day and age, have to offer? In the past 100 years it has controlled our government absolutely twice, and both times ended in unmitigated disaster. Haven’t we learned anything?

    *thanks Krugman

  74. 74.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    How many columnists at the Times or Post have written anything memorable, provocative, or valuable in the last year?

    Well, one of the Times’s columnists just won a Nobel prize. If I ran that paper, I would take that as a call to raise one’s game.

  75. 75.

    That One - Cain

    Speaking of Gonzalez, he and his bff Cheney just got indicted by a Texas grand jury.

    Read all about it here

    Ahh.. a good time to be a non-republican. :-) Maybe dailykos will stop their freakout long enough for a little schadenfreude!

    Country Frist!
    cain

  79. 79.

    Comrade Stuck

    My comment got et. testing testing

    weird, oh well Cain beat me to it anyway.
    The South Texas Liebural Pitchfork Brigade has struck

  81. 81.

    DougJ

    Realistically, is Kristol really any worse than Friedman? Kristol never told the Iraqi people to "Suck. On. This."

    Not in so many words anyway.

  82. 82.

    Jeff

    This tweet reminded me about Kathleen Parker.

    At drinks w/Kathleen Parker, talking abt column tmrw: She says truth does set you free. And, "also"? If you thot the right hated her now…

  86. 86.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    "How Radical Islam is Subverting America"? Unless that book details how bin Laden succeeded in getting W to ruin our military, our finances, our reputation, and our Constitutional freedoms, f**k it.

  92. 92.

    Comrade Stuck

    I think Cole would be perfect. America needs a daily dose of Earthy Language and we could mock him from his own blog. Of course, the wingnuts and BTD would lay an egg, but who cares.

  98. 98.

    TheHatOnMyCat

    Ask me who should replace Kristol when Kristol’s job is actually open. I don’t think they are going to replace him.

    He is the perfect specimen. He innoculates the paper in terms of righty opinion, and nobody pays any attention to him any more. He’s too boring.

    What could be better … for our side?

  101. 101.

    Brian J

    Ask me who should replace Kristol when Kristol’s job is actually open. I don’t think they are going to replace him.

    He is the perfect specimen. He innoculates the paper in terms of righty opinion, and nobody pays any attention to him any more. He’s too boring.

    What could be better … for our side?

    It’d make far more sense for the paper to have a legitimate popular, respected conservative columnist, in a business sense and an intellectual sense.

    As I said at Kevin Drum’s blog, Jack Schafer of Slate writes about this every so often and has suggested, among others, Heather McDonald of City Journal and the Manhattan Institute. He said she’s the sort of person who, upon recommending the use of racial profiling, could really get the blood boiling among the Upper West side liberal readers of The Times. I wouldn’t mind having someone who would recommend some policies I would vehemently disagree with, as long as they weren’t stupid and dishonest. Of course, the problem is that this removes a lot of well known people on the right from consideration.

    I’m not really sure who would be a good replacement. There might be a good case for picking a fairly obscure personality, at least to national audiences, and then letting them make a big debut. That would probably help the paper’s bottom line.

  102. 102.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    I wouldn’t mind having someone who would recommend some policies I would vehemently disagree with, as long as they weren’t stupid and dishonest. Of course, the problem is that this removes a lot of well known people on the right from consideration.

    That’s the rub, isn’t it? The best suggestion I’ve seen in this thread is Chris Buckley–and he endorsed Obama, so it remains to be seen whether he continues to be a member of "the right".

    Someone who belongs to a bona fide hate group doesn’t deserve a voice in the national stage.

  103. 103.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Of course, the wingnuts and BTD would lay an egg, but who cares.

    You say that like it’s a bad thing.

    Added bonus: He’d lure some decent trolls back to this joint.

    Buckley would be awesome, but it would mean we might be subjected to the sight of Krazee Kathryn K-Load standing athwart the NYTs yelling stop.

  104. 104.

    AnneLaurie

    Leave Kristol right where he is (insert your own joke here) and add Ted Rall. Rall’s ‘graphic essays’ are as far to the left as Kristol’s are to the right, rather better written, and considerably less likely to be 100% wrong and 110% stupid.

  108. 108.

    Brian J

    That’s the rub, isn’t it? The best suggestion I’ve seen in this thread is Chris Buckley—and he endorsed Obama, so it remains to be seen whether he continues to be a member of "the right".

    Someone who belongs to a bona fide hate group doesn’t deserve a voice in the national stage.

    I’ll be honest. I know very little about Christopher Buckley’s views because I stopped reading the National Review years ago. The last piece I read of his was the one at The Daily Beast where he endorsed Obama. (That line about the right being torn on whether he should be boiled in a pot of oil or simply thrown up against the wall and shot was one of the more memorable lines this year, at least for me.) I don’t know much about his politics, but if what I’ve read of him is right, he’s conservative, even if it’s not a wingnut. Like other Obamacons, I think he was disgusted by McCain and definitely by Palin more than anything else.

  109. 109.

    Octavian

    Bring H.L. Mencken back from the dead. Failing that, I guess Christopher Buckley works, or maybe Andrew O’Hagan, though he’s not American.

    For a real shock to the system I’d like to see them select Matt Taibbi or Chris Hedges.

  110. 110.

    GSD

    A suitable replacement for Kristhole would be a lobotomized lab monkey that does nothing but jackoff and hurl shit.

    -GSD

  112. 112.

    JGabriel

    I nominate John Ziegler. Here are some excerpts from his recent interview with Nate Silver:

    NS: Why would you commission a survey question with no correct response?
    JZ: The purpose of the question, you pinhead, was we wanted to determine the Tina Fey Effect.

    …

    NS: What did Zogby charge you — what did you pay for this survey?
    JZ: I’m not going to tell you that, I’m not a fucking idiot.

    …

    NS: Did you have financing for the project or was it paid for out of pocket?
    JZ: It is not self-financed.

    NS: Who paid for it?
    JZ: You think I’m going to tell you that? When you’ve already shown yourself to be the enemy?

    …

    NS: Would you consider yourself well-informed
    JZ: I’d consider myself extremely well-informed.

    NS: Who are the two senators from South Dakota
    JZ: Thune and, uh, Johnson.

    NS: Very good. South Carolina?
    JZ: Go fuck yourself. I’m done with this interview if you’re going to ask me stupid questions like that. Obviously I know who Lindsay Graham is.

    NS: Well, since you’re running a website calling people misinformed, I’d like to see if — there are certain things you’ve said that I would consider misinformed.
    JZ: Misinformed? You’re a piece of work! You are never going to have the guts to post a representative transcript on your website! I thought you actually ran a legitimate website!

    NS: Thank you, have a good day.
    JZ: Go fuck yourself.

    Ah, wingnuts. They really elevate the discourse.

    .

  113. 113.

    pseudonymous in nc

    It’ll be Frum, because it’s the Safire spot, and it’s not enough to be conservative: you have to have connections.

    Chris Buckley is the first to admit that his NR job was pretty much a legacy appointment, and while his libertarian-leaning viewpoint would be an interesting addition, he also admits that he’s not particularly plugged into the day-by-day of politics and policy, which is generally what the NYT wants from its op-edders.

  116. 116.

    Brian J

    I second the nomination of Fred Phelps, first made on Drum’s blog. Or if Dobson is looking to earn some extra income to prop up his flailing business, perhaps he’d like to write some columns. Maybe these guys could alternate and go every other week. The first column could be entitled "FAGS! Faggity, faggity, faggity….FAGS!!!!!!! Who hates them more?"

  118. 118.

    mclaren

    No, we need to keep it serious. Hannibal Lecter.

    "A liberal tested me once. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

  119. 119.

    JGabriel

    Hannibal Lecter, huh?

    You know, there was a time when I thought being a fictional character might pose some problems for the Times, in terms of hiring decisions. There was also a time when I thought being a serial killer might pose an ethical dilemma for them.

    Then they hired Bill Kristol.

    If the Times will hire the pathetic bastard who inflicts the Weekly Standard on the rest of the world, ostensibly without remorse, then they clearly have much lower standards than anyone ever suspected.

    However, I doubt the conservative base would find Lecter an acceptable alternative for the position of right-wing columnist: I’m pretty sure he doesn’t give a damn whether someone is gay or not before he eats ’em.

    .

  121. 121.

    DanJoaquinOz

    I’m with Mike at 107. Andrew Sullivan is the only remaining conservative writer around that can construct an interesting sentence, conduct a rational argument and has the er…testicular fortitude to admit when he’s wrong. While I personally find his monomanical animus towards both Governor Palin and Senator Clinton borderline misogynistic and frankly creepy, he is that rarest of endangered species -a genuinely conservative intellectual. As such, he’d force the glibly resident, unintentionally self-parodying NYT hacks like Brooks and Dowd to up their game.

  122. 122.

    Maximus

    Sarah Palin…she can get the experience for when she "writes" her book.

    On that note, wouldn’t you hate to be her ghostwriter? It would be hard to keep a straight face while taking her words down. I’d be hard pressed not to ask, "was that gibberish all one sentence?"

  123. 123.

    robertdsc

    and Dowd to up their game

    I’m reading her Bushworld right now and she had a real cutting wit once upon a time. Nowadays she’s brain dead. Love her red hair, though.

  128. 128.

    Joey Maloney

    Otto is a nonstarter. Have you all forgotten that he got a hummer in his office? From a married woman not his wife, no less!

    As we all remember, according to the Republican party this completely disqualifies him from participating in public life in any capacity.

  129. 129.

    Deborah

    Zakaria. Larison is good too. O’Rourke if they want to give it to someone who can at least make the readership laugh through their tears.

  130. 130.

    Richard Stanczak

    After reading the three linked articles, I am positively dumbfounded. A conservative writer who does not automatically push for confrontation and military expansion? The articles were short and to the point, bereft of personal attacks, and well written in easily understood English.

    If this is what a real conservative is we could use a lot more of them.

  131. 131.

    Frank

    As legal counsel to Mr. Otto Autopilot, I wish to inform you that Mr. Autopilot resents comparison to Mr. Kristol.

    Mr. Autopilot may look like an airhead.

    Mr. Kristol is an airhead.

    Mr. Autopilot demands a retraction of the comparison.

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