Kristol Bawl: An 'Appreciation' As Column Ends at 'NYT'

By: Greg Mitchell As you surely know by now, Bill Kristol wrote his final column today for The New York Times, sparing the paper any further embarrassment. But, as usual, he did not spare us all a good belly laugh: The news of his demise came in a brief tagline at the end of a column that, amazingly, opened, "All good things must come to end." It's about the alleged end of a golden conservative era.

A fitting end for a column that often made The Times read like The Onion.

Let's recall some of the highlights of his one-year (plus two weeks) reign, as chronicled in my new book, "Why Obama Won":

-- His very first column earned a correction, when he misattributed a Michael Medved quote to Michelle Malkin.

-- His track record as a pundit was so poor, Jon Stewart frequently asked, "Bill Kristol, aren't you ever right?"

-- Who can forget when he told Stewart he was getting wrong information because he was relying too much on....The New York Times. Stewart replied: "But you work for The New York Times, Bill!"

-- He touted, of all people, Clarence Thomas as a GOP vice-presidential candidate. Or, as the sage wrote of McCain, "He could persuade the most impressive conservative in American public life, Clarence Thomas, to join the ticket."

-- Later, smitten with Sarah Palin during a brief cruise stopover in Alaska, he pushed her for Veep, publicly and privately. Then he lobbied for McCain to let Palin be Palin, or as he urged: "Hockey Mom Knows Best." So we have Kristol partly to thank for McCain's single worst blunder and a real game-changer (though not as he intended) in the fall campaign.

So, for the laughs and all the rest, a tip of our cap to you, Mr. Kristol! And don't let the door hit you on the way out. We'll see you soon at The Washington Post, where Opinion editor Fred Haitt, amazingly but not surprisingly, comments of Kristol's work at the Times: "I thought he wrote a good column."

UPDATE: The Times now has a news story in which Editorial Editor Andy Rosenthal claims the decision to cut Kristol was "mutual." Right. At first the headline for that story read "Kristol Ends" column but was later changed to read that the column "ends," without Kristol as the decider.

My new book, "Why Obama Won," is available only online, for info: here.