“Liberal” New York Times Hires Neocon Propagandist

The Huffington Post has learned that, in a move bound to create controversy, the New York Times is set to announce that Bill Kristol will become a weekly columnist in 2008. Kristol, a prominent neo-conservative who recently departed Time magazine in what was reported as a "mutual" decision, has close ties to the White House and is a well-known proponent of the war in Iraq. Kristol also is a regular contributor to Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume.

One commentator suggests the Times real motive:

Simple...the same reason the fake world of WWF has villains. People tune in and scream their displeasure. Kristol gets a lot of people angry, so they read his columns to attack him. More readers, more ad revenue. If we accept that this matters, given that Kristol has no credibility, then we are no different than those fans who screamed that Hulk Hogan was cheated. We become marginalized and silly in appearance.

Ask yourself why David Brooks, who also inspires left-wing anger, remains? How about Maureen Dowd or Paul Krugman? These peoples' columns anger those of a different opinion, but they have to read the column to attack the columnist. This is just about making money...I don't believe anyone in authority at the NY Times cares about accuracy in their columnists, they want attention, and these comments tell them they are correct.

See also Joe Klein and Glenn Beck.