The New York Times surely once had an institutional policy against cronyism. But between then and now, something must have happened to the Times, or to ethics. Maureen Dowd, whom I actually like when she gets off politics, published a collection of her Bush-bashing columns and the Times, her paper, got it quickly reviewed and (mostly) praised. I thought that strange. Maureen is a big girl now and she ought to hunt and fight for coverage and praise like the rest of us. Stranger still is the saga of Tom Friedman. Those of us in the writing and opinion business...
