Why anyone is surprised, let alone outraged, by The New York Times' hiring of William Kristol is beyond me.

Commentary has John Podhoretz tied up for the forseeable future, the L.A. Times has a contract with Doughy P., and they couldn't get liability insurance to cover Ann Althouse. Kristol was their default. This is the paper that gave space to Bill Safliar for decades (and still does on occassion, including, I suspect, next Monday), gave Sam Tannenhaus the book review, employed and defended Judy Miller, and still employs John Tierney. Bill Keller is as much a liberal as Pat Buchanan's right nut (maybe less so, if you count Iraq). The paper wastes space with no-weights like MoDo and Gail Collins and deadenders like Friedman and Nick Kristof, who will die in their spaces (of self-satisfaction) long after I'm to old, blind or dead to care.

Nondiscriminatory wedding announcements for the well-connected and hip-hop reviews don't make a paper the liberal media.

Update: Nor does this shit.