Russ Smith takes the Bizzaro World edition of the New York Times:

"William Safire is certainly the most palatable voice found on the New York Times's left-wing op-ed pages. Mr. Safire's blend of conservative/libertarian commentary remains the daily's tonic to the strident anti-Republican columns of Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof, and Bob Herbert. Charitably, I'm still reserving judgment on the Times's newest pundit, David Brooks, often described as 'every Democrat's favorite conservative.' So far, in the six months Brooks has written for the paper, his columns have too often been timid and apologetic, as if he dare not present assertive opinions lest his tenure at the Times wind up as a dashed experiment."

I guess that whole "criticizing neo-cons = anti-Semitism" rant was too shy and retiring for our boy Russ.