Two quick points on the continuing Blair story (I really thought that this would have been over by now). 1) The New York Observer interview really shows what a pathological narcissistic personality Blair is. It’s frankly disturbing that this guy got as far as he did. 2) One place I slightly disagree with Jonah: I’m not sure that the hiring of Blair without a college degree is a sign of affirmative action. It’s somewhat unclear whether the Times people knew that he hadn’t graduated when they hired him full-time. Recall that he had worked as an intern the year before and then came back. It’s not unusual that a former intern at a company would have a leg up on being hired. While not exactly smart, it’s entirely possible that the Times folks saw this former intern, assumed that a year later he had graduated and they put him on full time. It’s certainly fair to slap them for sloppy background-checking, but this is one area where the screw-up could be unconnected to racial preference.