When will Gail Collins come up with some new material? Her end-of-year quiz includes her 12th Bristol Palin reference since October 2008, her 13th reference to Mitt Romney putting his dog on the roof of his car since August 2007, and fourth joke about John Boehner crying in the last month. She only became a columnist in July 2007 and she’s already recycling material. Even by the low standards of op-ed columnists, it’s been an incredibly fast decline toward intellectual and creative exhaustion.

As many other people have pointed out, the problem is that people like Collins are frequently elevated into columnist roles based on their career in journalism even though they themselves have nothing to say. Even those with a more substantive approach quickly run out of material and/or descend into self-parody (Broder, Friedman, etc.). Despite these obvious problems, prominent columnists are apparently given something resembling life tenure and can never be removed from their positions (the economics of the news create strong incentives to retain brand names). A better approach would be to have some sort of limit on the time anyone can spend as a columnist. Set Gail free!

Update 1/5 4:43 PM: Andrew Sullivan comments:

But term limits only make sense when there are a limited number of spots, and someone’s longevity is preventing someone else getting a point across. That was true a decade ago; it couldn’t be less true today. The institutional sinecures keep disappearing. Eventually, only Richard Cohen will be left.

I’m not sure what this means. Of course anyone can start a blog, but there are still only a few prestigious columnist slots at national publications like the Times and the Post. Given that those outlets continue to show little inclination to push out incumbents, the longevity of Collins, Cohen, and other established columnists is preventing newcomers from getting a chance.

Update 1/6 9:01 AM: Today’s column includes her fifth reference to Boehner crying. Stop her before she jokes again!