I gave some thoughts on William Safire’s passing already, but I couldn’t help but notice in the Washington Post obit how hard it is for a conservative to get accepted by colleagues at the New York Times.

His new colleagues in the Washington bureau of the Times also were suspicious — even a little hostile, said [Martin] Tolchin, a former Times colleague . . . The hostility disappeared at a party for the bureau when, as Tolchin recalled, the small son of reporter James Naughton fell into a swimming pool and a fully clothed Mr. Safire dived in to rescue him. “From that moment on, Bill was fully accepted by the bureau,” Tolchin said.

Ross Douthat, I hope you take a life preserver to office pool parties, just in case.