Replacing Safire
A couple weeks back, William Safire announced his retirement from the Op-Ed pages of the NYT. Since a Safire-less Op-Ed gives the Old Gray Lady just one (nominal) conservative writer (David Brooks), I assume that they'll look to balance things out by hiring a conservative in Safire's place. I assume.
But, who to hire?
First off, Safire was a somewhat traditional, Nixon-style conservative, so I suppose the NYT needs to decide whether they'll want a George Will, or somebody much younger. Maybe somebody from the blogging generation? The time might be right for that. Bloggers recently shook up CBS News and continue to play a great part in checking and rolling back the MSM's power. BUT...the NYT has never really demonstrated any understanding, or even embrace, of blogging. They pretty much like to pretend it doesn't exist. They even treat the liberal blogs crappy.
So, I don't think Glenn Reynolds (libertarian), or Hugh Hewitt (conservative), or David Horowitz (insane), will suddenly pop up on the NYT pages.
Looking at conservative/rightist rags, I think that Jonah Goldberg, Mark Steyn, or Stephen Hayes would all be great choices. In fact, Mark Steyn could probably end the talk of the NYT being overwhelmingly liberal overnight. He's that strong and smart a writer. Plus, he's prolific as hell. His articles pop up every where.
Ann Coulter would actually be an awesome choice as far as selling papers goes.
Still, part of me would really like to see a serious academic in there. Thomas Sowell would be a great choice, as would Victor Davis Hanson, Thomas Wilson, or Camille Paglia (not a conservative, but a maverick thinker.) Kevin Phillips is very much anti-Bush, but he's also an awesome demographer and would bring historical analysis to pages that often demonstrate weak knowledge of history. He's my dark horse pick.
My official pick, though: Tucker Carlson. He's the only type of conservative that mainline liberals (Jon Stewart notwithstanding) seem to tolerate. He does a news/commentary show on PBS, for chrissakes! I don't know how he managed to put that one past Bill Moyers and Jim Leher. So, yeah. Carlson. Hurm.
But, who to hire?
First off, Safire was a somewhat traditional, Nixon-style conservative, so I suppose the NYT needs to decide whether they'll want a George Will, or somebody much younger. Maybe somebody from the blogging generation? The time might be right for that. Bloggers recently shook up CBS News and continue to play a great part in checking and rolling back the MSM's power. BUT...the NYT has never really demonstrated any understanding, or even embrace, of blogging. They pretty much like to pretend it doesn't exist. They even treat the liberal blogs crappy.
So, I don't think Glenn Reynolds (libertarian), or Hugh Hewitt (conservative), or David Horowitz (insane), will suddenly pop up on the NYT pages.
Looking at conservative/rightist rags, I think that Jonah Goldberg, Mark Steyn, or Stephen Hayes would all be great choices. In fact, Mark Steyn could probably end the talk of the NYT being overwhelmingly liberal overnight. He's that strong and smart a writer. Plus, he's prolific as hell. His articles pop up every where.
Ann Coulter would actually be an awesome choice as far as selling papers goes.
Still, part of me would really like to see a serious academic in there. Thomas Sowell would be a great choice, as would Victor Davis Hanson, Thomas Wilson, or Camille Paglia (not a conservative, but a maverick thinker.) Kevin Phillips is very much anti-Bush, but he's also an awesome demographer and would bring historical analysis to pages that often demonstrate weak knowledge of history. He's my dark horse pick.
My official pick, though: Tucker Carlson. He's the only type of conservative that mainline liberals (Jon Stewart notwithstanding) seem to tolerate. He does a news/commentary show on PBS, for chrissakes! I don't know how he managed to put that one past Bill Moyers and Jim Leher. So, yeah. Carlson. Hurm.
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