No, he’s not being forced out. But nonetheless, news that John Tierney — broken in his final piece today as a regular New York Times columnist — is leaving for the paper’s Science Times section can’t be happy news. Without its most independent voice, what could possibly make the Krugman-Dowd page worth looking forward to? But Tierney leaves on a happy note. Addressing his “libertarian comrades” (though isn’t that an oxymoron?), he notes the timing is right. “We’ve voted out big-government conservatism, and the result is the happy state of gridlock.”
But what if gridlock doesn’t return? Will he then?
