If one judges writers by their enemies, then Jonah Goldberg, whom I already regard with a mixture of respect, awe, and affection (his mom is a pal), has taken on a stature approaching mythic. Judge for yourself the following letter to the editor appearing in the Los Angeles Times:

LETTERS

Singing the Op—Ed blues

Re "Times Plans New Op—Ed Lineup," Nov. 11

The greater Southern California community is one that not only proudly embraces its diversity, but demands it. Your decision to fire Robert Scheer is a great disservice to the spirit of our community.

It seems that your new leadership, especially Publisher Jeff Johnson, is entirely out of touch with your readers and their desire to be exposed to views that stretch them beyond their own paradigms. So although the number of contributors to your Op—Ed pages may have increased, in firing Scheer and hiring columnists such as Jonah Goldberg, the gamut of voices has undeniably been diluted. I suspect this may ultimately decrease the number of readers of those same pages.

My greatest fear is that the underlying reason for Scheer's termination is part of a larger trend toward the corporatization of our media, a trend that we, as American citizens, must fervently battle for the sake of our swiftly diminishing free press.

BARBRA STREISAND

My congratulations to the entire Goldberg clan. If only his father (may he rest in peace!) were alive to see it.

Thomas Lifson   11 23 05