Like alcoholics, whenever a journalist has a moment, however brief, of political clarity to consider that perhaps they are the “baddies,” it should be commended. Such is the case with columnist and former candidate for governor of Oregon, Nicholas Kristof. Earlier this week, Kristof penned a piece in the New York Times titled, “What Have We Liberals Done to the West Coast?” and strained to defend his own political philosophy.
Who can you put next to President Joe Biden that will make him look good? We know it’s not the G7, as Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni had to wrangle the US commander-in-chief when he threatened to drift away from the group of world leaders during a parachuting demonstration. And Saturday confirmed that former president Barack Obama isn’t the answer either, after grabbing his former VP by the wrist and guiding him by his shoulders off the stage at a Los Angeles event as Biden appeared to freeze for about five seconds. Biden’s handlers have already equipped him with special shoes and a gaggle of aides now surround him during boarding of Marine One to disguise his shuffling gait.
The long-serving New York Times opinion writer Nick Kristof apparently now wants to be governor of Oregon. The 62-year-old media superstar seems to be a rather changeable sort of chap. It might almost seem he’s one of the many New York-area residents to have had their identities stolen. Perhaps it was an old platinum credit card, carelessly tossed in a Midtown trash can, which allowed the criminals to strike, or perhaps the purchase over the phone of a first-class air ticket to one of the exotic locales his business frequently takes him. Whatever it was, it’s difficult to reconcile the superbly cerebral, crusading double Pulitzer Prize-winner and regular CNN contributor with the self-styled ‘Oregon farmboy’ with his finger firmly on the Beaver State’s troubled pulse.
