It's a David Carr opinion piece. The NYT generally protects its columnists, regardless of how bizarrely out of whack their statements may be (some exceptions e

It's a David Carr opinion piece. The NYT generally protects its columnists, regardless of how bizarrely out of whack their statements may be (some exceptions exist, usually involving getting the public editor Margaret Sullivan involved). For example, have you read some of the things Joe Nocera has said about Apple (or others, for that matter)? The guy is basically a real life version of a liberal Stephen Colbert: being wrong is a sport!