It's Official: Bill Kristol, a Weekly N.Y. Times Columnist

The New York Times confirmed the buzz that it's hiring conservative William Kristol as a weekly op-ed page columnist. (As opposed to the early liberal gnashing of teeth.)The Times story began by noting Kristol is a "vigorous supporter of the Iraq war" and has even vigorously attacked his new newspaper home:

Mr. Kristol, 55, has been a fierce critic of The Times. In 2006, he said that the government should consider prosecuting The Times for disclosing a secret government program to track international banking transactions.

In a 2003 column on the turmoil within The Times that led to the downfall of the top two editors, he wrote [in The Weekly Standard]  that it was not "a first-rate newspaper of record," adding, "The Times is irredeemable."

That's an awfully weak way to describe the Jayson Blair scandal, which ended with the dismissal of Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd. Was it unreasonable to conclude that the Times was not a "first-rate newspaper of record" when it allowed young Jayson to type stories datelined from Jessica Lynch's West Virginia home while he was sitting in a bar in New York making stuff up?

Michael Calderone at Politico offered more:

Rosenthal told Politico shortly after the official announcement Saturday that he fails to understand "this weird fear of opposing views."

"The idea that The New York Times is giving voice to a guy who is a serious, respected conservative intellectual — and somehow that’s a bad thing," Rosenthal added. "How intolerant is that?"

Kristol, whose strident support of President Bush and the war in Iraq remains a source of consternation among liberals, took pride in the reaction on the Huffington Post, where the news first broke.

"I was flattered watching blogosphere heads explode," Kristol told Politico. "It was kind of amusing."

Rosenthal also said "People who don’t want to hear what their ideological opponents have to say are making a gigantic mistake." He came to know Kristol during the first Bush administration, when he was a White House reporter and Quayle was chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle.

Also: Steve Benen responds to Warner Todd Huston.