Looks like we won't have old Billy Safire to kick around anymore.

[jefferson_dem]

NEW YORK William Safire, the conservative voice on the New York Times Op-Ed page for more than three decades, will end his regular column in early 2005, a Times spokeswoman said Monday.

"He's written it for a long time and has been talking to Arthur about this for a year and a half," said spokeswoman Catherine Mathis. "His last column will be Jan. 24."

Safire joined the paper in 1973 after working as a speechwriter for President Nixon, and he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for distinguished commentary. He plans to continue his Sunday New York Times Magazine "On Language" feature, which began in 1979, Mathis said, but he will end his syndicated column.

"The New York Times without Bill Safire is all but unimaginable," Sulzberger said in a statement. "Reaching for his column became a critical and enjoyable part of the day for our readers across the country and around the world. Whether you agreed with him or not was never the point. His writing is delightful, informed and engaging. So, too, is the man, who in addition to being a world-class columnist has been a world-class friend and colleague to a generation of Times men and women."

<SNIP>

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000719411

[Cleita]

1. What happened did he become to far to the left for them?

LOL

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Heheheh

-----------------------------------
Fight the fraud; fund the recount!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[NJCher]

2. really funny subject line

All things considered.


Cher

[annabanana]

3. I never felt that he let his politics intrude much into his columns.....

And I enjoy erudite wordplay. So.. I will miss the columns.

[Tace]

4. Yes, The End Of The Billy Buckley Era Of Conservatism

These guys don't want to face the music -- the ultimate results of their efforts.

[ieoeja]

5. The man horrified by Bill Clinton's use of the phrase,

"we got the shaft" during his '92 acceptance speech as being "the first time a president used an obscenity in a public speech", but who said nary a word about "go Cheney yourself"?

[jefferson_dem]

7. He did show such great respect for the "congenital liar" First Lady

however. Oh' Billy Boy, can't say we hardly knew ya!

[pacalo]

6. Don't let the door hit you on your way out, you s.o.b.!

I guess another 4 years of struggling to spin gold out of a rat's hair was more than his Grinch-sized heart could take.

[yellowcanine]

8. "Nattering Nabobs of Negativism" - I will always fondly remember Bill

Safire for that gem he wrote for Spiro Agnew. Gotta admit he did have a way with words. Of course so did Adolf Hitler.

[THUNDER HANDS]

10. good on civil liberties

not the worst Republican you could find. And I did enjoy his NYT Times Magazine column.