columnists

Bill Keller Will Stop Throwing the Word 'Illegals' Around So Much

Jim Newell · 12/13/11 12:50PM

Great news from the official top paper of historical world record, import, & fame, &c., the New York Times: former executive editor Bill Keller won't use "illegals" to refer to illegal immigrants in his profound-ish columns! What's the big deal? Perhaps that he was using it left and right in his column the other day and everyone got mad at him for this? Indeed, it is so.

Does Frank Bruni Know He's Writing a New York Times Column?

Hamilton Nolan · 12/13/11 10:05AM

In the past, we have used this space to mock new New York Times columnist Frank Bruni for starting out poorly, then getting progressively, unbelievably worse. He seems to lack any convictions at all, let alone interesting ones; though he's only been on the job for half a year, he's already been reduced to padding his column with excruciatingly boring stories from his own life, due to his apparent dearth of worthwhile ideas about important issues.

Expert: Gold-Digging Welfare Whore Is After Herman Cain's Money

Hamilton Nolan · 11/08/11 09:31AM

Halfwit tabloid sex perv Andrea Peyser has a major Republican sex fetish. Yes, fine, that's a matter of record. But Andrea is, first and foremost, a professional sexxx journalist, and she takes that duty quite seriously. So it's alarming to learn that—in Andrea's unbiased opinion—Sharon Bialek (pictured), who yesterday accused Herman Cain of sexual assault, is a gold-digging slutty slutwhore bad mom welfare queen (and ugly).

Against All Odds, Frank Bruni Gets Worse

Hamilton Nolan · 11/07/11 11:18AM

Frank Bruni is nice clean-cut fella and a talented writer who was a good restaurant critic but good lord in heaven is he a dispensable columnist. It's as if moving onto the opinion pages has magically rendered this once-capable journalist into a trite hack!

Peggy Noonan Observes Average Americans via Closed Circuit Video

Hamilton Nolan · 10/07/11 10:49AM

The readers of the Wall Street Journal don't have time to go out into the dirty corners of the world to find out what the rabble is thinking. That's why they buy the Wall Street Journal—to keep abreast of the various maneuverings and machinations of the rabble, as described by columnists who are, frankly, also too well-off to go out into the dirty corners of the world to find out what the rabble is thinking.

Thomas Friedman Calls for Sleeve-Rolling

Hamilton Nolan · 09/21/11 11:46AM

Untalented but successful writer Thomas Friedman has been doing a lot of thinking lately. "I like golf," he thinks to himself, while sitting in his palatial mansion. Then he realizes his next column is due in an hour. "Manservant!" he cries. "Bring me a metaphor! Any metaphor!"

The War on Paul Krugman's 9/11 Blog Post

Jim Newell · 09/12/11 12:52PM

Those patriotic Internet-Americans who honor the anniversary of 9/11 by surfing political blogs all day for something to get offended about seized on a pointed blog post from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman yesterday, and show no sign of letting up. Paul Krugman is now the most worst person in the history of America, for pointing out that certain politicians made some bad decisions after 9/11.

Uh Oh: Thomas Friedman Has a Golf-Themed Column

Jim Newell · 08/24/11 12:57PM

If you, too, specifically seek to read pieces of writing that you know will be depressing if not dangerous, then there's nothing better than a Thomas Friedman column's opening paragraph that runs with either a misleading anecdote or confusing extended metaphor. Today's the latter! Let's take a gander at this sumbitch. It is about golf.

Tabloid Lady: I Hate Everybody

Hamilton Nolan · 08/24/11 08:24AM

The unsatisfying resolution of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case raises tough questions of race, sex, power, and law. Indeed, this one murky encounter and its muddled aftermath could be used as a prism through which to dissect the very nature of morals in our sometimes unsettling globalized world. Or, you could just say: fuck everybody involved.