The New York Times doesn't just put its foot in its mouth. It stuffs its own toes in and cries "yummy"!
The next big mistake is to hire Bill Kristol. Kristol -- a bright guy but what happened to him? -- has become a slim, garrulous and often pathetic buffoon who keeps getting things wrong over and over. Is the Times hiring him to decorate their editorial page with laughs? Or what? Starting early in the new year, interested parties might want to track the Times' circulation figures and advertising revenue to see if Kristol can be credited with moving the stats in one direction or another.
If you want really good conservative commentary, read Andrew Sullivan. According to Sullivan, "national greatness" guys are being hired regularly at a time when, you have to admit, America's "national greatness" has all but disappeared. But hey, that may be the very reason for hiring the flacks. When you can't have the real thing -- when national greatness eludes us -- we can pick up the New York Times and pretend for a few minutes each day that everything is just wunnerful.