Tim – It is worth noting that they’ve also signed Christopher Caldwell at the Times magazine. Not only is Caldwell smarter than Helen Thomas is obnoxious, but if the Times is going to start a 1-to-1 ratio of conservative-to-liberal writers we should jump for joy. And, no offense to Confessore (who’s always seemed like an intellectually honest and decent guy to me), but his political views will no doubt get lost most of the time as part of the Times’ liberal choir. Meanwhile Caldwell should end up being even more of a stand-out in the Times than he has been on the right generally.