Final Free Rich

Starting tomorrow, The New York Times starts charging for its opinion columns, so that means today's Frank Rich column is the last one we'll be able to read for free. I've enjoyed a number of the Times columnists, but Rich has always been the most reliable for a clever, insightful read. And, just as if he was making his case for us to pay the subscription fee, he provided a great summation of the fallout on the administration from Katrina.

Once Toto parts the curtain, the Wizard of Oz can never be the wizard again. He is forever Professor Marvel, blowhard and snake-oil salesman. Hurricane Katrina, which is likely to endure in the American psyche as long as L. Frank Baum's mythic tornado, has similarly unmasked George W. Bush.

The worst storm in our history proved perfect for exposing this president because in one big blast it illuminated all his failings: the rampant cronyism, the empty sloganeering of "compassionate conservatism," the lack of concern for the "underprivileged" his mother condescended to at the Astrodome, the reckless lack of planning for all government operations except tax cuts, the use of spin and photo-ops to camouflage failure and to substitute for action.

In the chaos unleashed by Katrina, these plot strands coalesced into a single tragic epic played out in real time on television. The narrative is just too powerful to be undone now by the administration's desperate recycling of its greatest hits: a return Sunshine Boys tour by the surrogate empathizers Clinton and Bush I, another round of prayers at the Washington National Cathedral, another ludicrously overhyped prime-time address flecked with speechwriters' "poetry" and framed by a picturesque backdrop. Reruns never eclipse a riveting new show.

Everything the administration is doing these days reeks of desperation. Their old tricks don't seem to be working at the moment, but these guys know how to stay on message, and I'm not convinced that the repetition won't work to change a few minds. Even as everything seems to be falling apart for the administration and Congressional Repubs don't seem to be doing anything but offering cover, the Democrats continue to sit on their hands. Now is the time to present some sort of alternate message, any sort of competition for the party in power, but nothing seems to be in the offing. The Repubs may survive their current troubles because Dems refused to take the field and enter the game.

Coincidentally, The New York Times is about to withdraw its participation in the public discussion to behind a subscription curtain. I don't know whether this will work for them in the long run, but the short run will find much less reference to Rich, Maureen Dowd, Tom Friedman, Paul Krugman, David Brooks, and the whole Op/Ed gang within greater blogsylvania. Other papers may follow their lead in charging for access or may step in to soak up some of the vacuum. The Internet has consistently proven itself resilient, but it also changes quickly. Blogs have not evolved into their final form, and any attempt at predicting what such a form might be like would be fruitless. Will that evolution be affected by the withdrawal of the Times, or will blogs even notice the change? My money's on "barely notice," for what that's worth. But as we wave goodbye to easy online access for the Times's pundits, let's take a look at Rich's final free paragraph, which sets up our challenge for life after Bush.

What comes next? Having turned the page on Mr. Bush, the country hungers for a vision that is something other than either liberal boilerplate or Rovian stagecraft. At this point, merely plain old competence, integrity and heart might do.