This is almost beyond belief (link via Atrios):

Times insiders say [former columnist William] Safire turned down Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.’s offer to succeed Daniel Okrent as the newspaper’s ombudsman.

Whatever you think about Safire or the Times, this is insane. He is (was) an opinion writer with a highly checkered past as both a Nixon apparatchik and a journalist. That’s not a confidence-inspiring watchdog who will improve the newspaper; it’s a blatant attempt to appease conservative critics of the Times. Thank goodness Safire said no. But what does this mean about Okrent’s successor? Is Sulzberger now courting Robert Novak? Brent Bozell?