I recently attended a Washington event where a New York Times columnist proposed that the Old Gray Lady gives the Right a fairer shake than the right-leaning WSJ gives Lefties.  He is certainly correct, at least when it comes to the Neoconservatives.  Witness today’s op-ed page top headlines:

First we have a mishmash of quantitative evidence from David Brooks arguing for why we ought to see Iraq as a success (America fought in part to bring cellular telephones to millions of Iraqis).  He argues that $57 billion and over 4,000 American soldiers was worth the result in Iraq, a precarious state where even Brooks admits there is low social trust and little professional human capital.  Then Paul Wolfowitz recommends that America follow the Korea model, and keep tens of thousands of troops on the ground for many decades to come.

A few weeks ago, The Weekly Standard ran a piece by Joseph Epstein announcing that he was canceling his subscription to the NYT.  While  wittier than the average attack on the NYT from the Right, today’s op-ed page indicates that perhaps he and the other Standard folks should reconsider.

(It’s possible that the NYT‘s op-ed illustrator had the last laugh here, though.  His image, ostensibly designed to convey the idea of “boots on the ground” looks more Orwellian to me: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.”)