One merciful reform, at least, would be term limits for
columnists. An older generation is long overdue for gentle removal to
Hoover or Brookings. David Frum, Thomas Friedman, Andrew Sullivan, and
David Brooks are a decade and a half past their most enduring
intellectual contribution: zealous support for an evil and illegal
war. (Frum, newly recast as a hero since the election, even helped
start it.) Sullivan may have recanted his support for invading Iraq,
but he has the particular distinction of never having backed away from
publishing an excerpt from
The Bell Curve
in the
New Republic.
Perhaps they should be offered a platform in the AARP newsletter,
where they can continue to compete for the attention of ageing
Americans with the dementia-inducing Fox News.