With his debut column, Bill Kristol decided, for whatever reason, to plant a big wet one on Mike Huckabee's cheek. Compared to the folks Kristol normally approves of, Huckabee is to the left of George McGovern, so one has to wonder if the Times gig has perhaps forced Kristol into believing he needs to mellow a bit given the readership.

That said he starts the column off by thanking Obama for "sparing us a third Clinton term." Yeah, I have to admit those two Clinton terms in the '90s were just god-awful compared to these last two by GW -- Kristol is off to a predictable (nonsensical) start. He later has the gall to cite a quote from lunatic-fringe blogger Michelle Malkin, something even David Brooks would never do. And then Kristol makes the ridiculous point that because Huckabee plays bass guitar he's not a "crazy Christian." Wow, who knew? Quite the litmus test.

Brooks should be happy. His columns will only look better.