Charles Krauthammer's 25th Anniversary

One of my favorite writers and TV panelists is Charles Krauthammer, a psychiatrist turned conservative political pundit with a biting wit. Charles is celebrating his 25th anniversary as a columnist for the Washington Post:

Twenty-five years ago this week, I wrote my first column. I’m not much given to self-reflection — why do you think I quit psychiatry? — but I figure once every quarter-century is not excessive.

When editorial-page editor Meg Greenfield approached me to do a column for the Washington Post, I was somewhat daunted. The norm in those days was to write two or three a week, hence the old joke that being a columnist is like being married to a nymphomaniac — as soon as you’re done, you’ve got to do it again.

So I proposed once a week. First, I explained, because I was enjoying the leisurely life of a magazine writer, and, with a child on the way, I was looking forward to fatherhood. Second, because I don’t have two ideas a week; I barely have one (as many of my critics no doubt agree).

The first objection she dismissed as mere sloth (Meg was always a good judge of character). The second reason she bought. On Dec. 14, 1984, my first column appeared.

Read the rest of it here. His viewpoints are always interesting and well-reasoned.

And usually pretty funny.