Does Safire disapprove of Kristol at NYT?

The New York Times hired Bill Kristol as a weekly columnist with a conservative voice to replace William Safire, who retired in 2005. On Jan. 13, NYT public editor Clark Hoyt said of Kristol’s hiring: “This is a decision I would not have made.” Gabriel Sherman at The New Republic reports that when reached by phone for reaction, Safire told him: “I saw the excellent piece that the public editor wrote the other day, and that pretty much tells the story.”