Posted by Damozel | It seems that neither Kristol nor Krauthammer will no longer on hand to defend the Bush Administration or its policies in Time Magazine. "Mr. Krauthammer confirmed the news to Off the Record, and a spokeswoman
for Time said Mr. Kristol’s contract would not be renewed." (The New York Observer). I never had any use for Kristol (editor of The Weekly Standard), who regularly seemed to this humble reader to be producing truly awe-inspiring nonsense. I am strangely conflicted over Krauthammer, who is someone I find I have loved to hate. Not that they won't be popping up all over the place just the same, but it's kind of the end of an era for Krauthammer and me. I remember boggling over Krauthammer's columns back before the literal watershed that was Katrina.
Back in March, Time managing editor Richard Stengel, who took over in May 2006, redesigned the magazine, putting columnists front-and-center. The top-heavy banner with the name “Krauthammer” was a visual signature in the new look; Mr. Kristol was hired last December, along with the liberal columnist Michael Kinsley, as part of an effort by Mr. Kristol to hire what he described as “star writers.”
“They’ve been looking for columnists basically since Rick came here,” said one Time staffer. “He’s in love with columnists—the idea of columnists.”
Mr. Stengel, though, has rejected at least one high-profile potential columnist hire. RadarNewsweek.
reported last month that he declined to sign Karl Rove, when approached about the idea by Mr. Rove’s agent, Robert Barnett....The exact reasons for the departures of Mr. Krauthammer and Mr. Kristol, both high-profile backers of the Iraq war, are not entirely clear....
Asked if he would have preferred to stay with the magazine, Mr. Krauthammer, a Pulitzer Prize winner who writes a regular column for The Washington Post, suggested there wasn’t much of a choice. “It’s a hypothetical that didn’t arise,” he said. (The New York Observer).
Kristol, who was only writing for them since March, "penned fewer than 20 columns, including only four since July."(The New York Observer).
So why did TIME let them go?
Alternate Brain:
Gee, ya don't think it could possibly be because these two warmongering neocon bastards are high-profile backers of the criminal Iraq war, do ya? (Time drops Kristol, Krauthammer)
Greatscat doesn't speculate, but is happy to send them on their way, rejoicing (Greatscat, that is, not K and K).
Two truly butt-ugly people, inside and out...War mongering fascists whose smugness was exceeded only by their dishonesty...('Bout Damn Time)
But why, if that's the reason, would TIME be replacing these two with Ramesh Ponnuru?
To borrow the tried technique of famour book reviewer Jon Swift, I have not actually read Ponnuru's book , but the title seems to be a bit of a giveaway. "The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life."
At The Agonist, Sean-Paul Kelley writes: "It would be very good news if they weren't hiring...Ramesh Ponnuru...What's up with that?" (Neocon Pundits Booted from Time Magazine). Alternate Brain: "Note to Time: Canning those assholes is a step in the right direction, but [it]....sounds like you're just replacing two neocon extremists with a garden variety right wing extremist. Watch it."(Time drops Kristol, Krauthammer)
Memeorandum blog buzz is here.
RELATED BN-POLITICS POSTINGS
Comments