Saturday, November 20, 2004Virginia Postrel is suggesting John Tierney for Safire's successor as the Times' conservative, though he might be libertarian, more than conservative. Of course, one could say the same of Safire.What John Tierney is is sharp. Those of his columns that I've read usually hit the right notes (most referred by Virginia). His Best Case Survival Guide was cute throughout but quite to the point in those situations where there was the chance to get the jump on the priggish, the smarmy and other odious types. However, the best case for John Tierney is the company he keeps. Tierney is a longtime pal of the great Christopher Buckley. They even wrote a book together, God Is My Broker, the best send-up of Deepak Chopra and Peter Lynch ever written (you can buy it by clicking on the title at left). I'm not sure where the post-Safire question will come out, but I'm pretty sure, alas, that it won't be Tierney. The Times has made too much of a habit of being anything but cheering to readers like me to offer such a bright writer as the voice of conservatism, particularly since no one is allowed to be both more clever and more hip than the big Mo. 
posted by gbarto at 1:10 AM |
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