Better columns, please

Ho, hum. It’s another tired Saturday on the op-ed page of The Star, and I still miss Molly Ivins. Garrison Keillor is a sorry substitute, especially as counterpoint to George Will.

What Keillor passes off as a political column this week belongs on “A Prairie Home Companion,” in a tale from Lake Woebegone. As opinion, it’s boring.

How is this balanced editorial content?

George discusses Clinton/Obama delegate counts, caucus issues, and other pithy political points while Garrison babbles on about winter weather. What are you editors thinking?

Couldn’t you print a columnist like, for instance, Gail Collins, who has a sense of humor and political savvy?

As this election year drags on, wouldn’t it be a breath of fresh air to put a real political humorist on the Saturday page? Or was the last great voice from the left really silenced with the death of Molly Ivins?

Marie Lerner-Sexton
Olathe

Comments

[stone]

Eng-
Appreciated

[Engineer]

stone
Walter Williams home page can be found at:http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/
On Sowell change to: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell.html

[Engineer]

stone
Googled and found "Thomas Sowell-Syndicated Column thru Creators published at the Jewish World Review" Link: www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell.html

[Engineer]

stone
I read them in The Conservative Chronicles. They are both syndicated but I do not have a copy of the Chronicles at hand to check their syndication.

[stone]

Eng-
Can you provide a link to these columnists works? (I'm bein lazy and don't feel like searching since you prob. already know exactly where to find it). I'd like to read them to see what you are talking about

[Engineer]

For really knowledgeable people I'd recommend Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams.

[Chris40]

I would agree with this letter. Even at less than 1000 words, Keillor's column is a struggle to get through.

I would widen this discussion to include all of the columnists that The Star buys from syndication, both on the left and right. I don't think they make the best choices.

On the right I enjoy Will and Brooks, but I would replace Malkin and Goldberg with someone else. Anne Applebaum has long been one of my favorites. Maybe Rod Dreher. I also think they should expand their horizons beyond NY Times and WaPo writers.

On the left I don't enjoy any of them, of course, but I usually find reading E.J. Dionne worthwhile. Richard Cohen has his moments, as well. Maybe someone else could suggest strongest lefties than Keillor.

To be honest, The Star would be far better off firing all of their local columnists, except for Yael Abouhalkah. These columns range from a waste of space to seriously insulting to one's intellect. If they want to keep a local angle, then just have a random guest columnist for each day. It's hard to imagine Joe Average writing a worse column than your average Diuguid column.