A cover piece I wrote for The American Conservative has drawn agreement from TNR’s Christopher Orr (Eeeek!) and from Andrew Sullivan (Aaaaargh!) Both speculate that this was a piece rejected by National Review.

That is not the case. The TAC editors suggested the piece in an email to me dated January 28. I agreed to do it. I did it. They edited it. I signed off on it. They published it. They paid me. Arts & Letters Daily picked it up. It’s bouncing around the web. I’ll be talking about it this evening on Alan Colmes’s radio show, sometime in the 11:15-11:45 EST zone. I’ll be talking about it again on Fox News TV Saturday afternoon, around 5:10 EST.

National Review was not involved at any point. I’m a freelancer. I write for all kinds of outlets. Sometimes editors suggest topics, and I take them up, or not. Sometimes I write stuff on spec, and editors take the piece, or not. In neither case is an editor obliged to consult any other editor. That’s the freelance life.