'NY Times' Gives Frank Rich an Op Ed Slot (Again)

[Dudley_DUright]

In a surprise announcement, The New York Times said today that Frank Rich, associate editor and Sunday Arts & Leisure columnist, will be returning to the Op-Ed pages as a columnist on April 10.

"We're thrilled to welcome back Frank, whose distinct writing style and broad range of experience as a theater critic and observer of art, entertainment and politics, will be a great asset to the expanded Sunday Op-Ed," said Gail Collins, editorial page editor, in a statement. "Our new, two-page Op-Ed section in the Sunday paper will give our readers what they have been requesting: more opinion pieces."

Rich, 55, has been a columnist for the Sunday Arts & Leisure section and associate editor of The Times since 2003. He was previously a columnist on the Op-Ed page from 1994 to 2003. He started working at The Times in 1980 and served as chief drama critic until 1994.

The Times will expand its Sunday Op-Ed section to two pages beginning April 10.

more...

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000836606

Although this is kind of a "news" story, I thought I should post it in the editorial section of DU. Glad to see that Frank Rich will be back on the Op-ed page of the NYT (He was a de facto political columnist anyway)

[autorank]

1. Ha, they're positioning themselves for the Miller shitstorm.

[MADem]

3. Kudos to you for your astute and succinct assessment

I think you are right on the mark!

[autorank]

6. Thanks!

:hi:

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. What do you mean?

[autorank]

5. Geez, I get praised then questioned (haha).

Judith Miller helped get us in the Iraq war through her featured reporting of the pre-war political and military landscape in Iraq. To say that she touted the notion of major WMD's in Iraq is an understatement. The Times (prostitutes that they are) ran with this. Her sole source was Chalabi, the convicted thief and accused Iranian spy (accused by the USA). She is, of course, an idiot and a fool. A Times correspondent tried to warn the paper that Chalabi was a bum but they stuck with Miller's sole-source stories. The support of the NYT for the * WMD fantasy was critical in legitimizing the war in Iraq since the times co-opted the left (Gee, if the Times thinks there is WMD, they must be there). In addition, Ms. Miller was one of those who presumably received information outing Valerie Plame, former CIA agent. Miller is going to jail for a while because she refuses to talk to prosecutor Fitzgerald.

Soooo, she is just the tip of the iceberg of NYT sycophancy in support of *. The WMD stories really drench the NYT in the blood of Iraq, they are fully culpable in promoting a bogus war and, as such, responsible for much suffering and death.

All along, Rich has written forcefully about the stupidity of * and the folly and tragedy of the Iraq war. Now that * is sliding, Miller is going to jail for contempt, there are clearly no WMDs, and Chalabi is a suspected Iranian spy, it behooves the NYT to look even handed. Enter Frank Rich (a great writer) stage left. When the shit storm that is Miller blows up and fingers are pointed (we always want scapegoats for our stupid wars), the NYT can say, "hey, we're fair and balanced...lookie here, it's Frank Rich on our esteemed OP ED page."

Sleazy bastards, they enabled and promoted the Iraq war. There will be Hell to pay for them and the deserve it. Frank Rich may well help deliver it.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. kick

[grytpype]

7. Awesome!

We lose Safliar and get Rich!

I like that deal!

[kskiska]

8. Fantastic news!!!

Rich is one of the best there is.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

9. Rich is a courageous and socially conscious journalist.

An endangered species among our corrupt corporate and government controlled media tools.