The Distemper of the Times

By Patrick Buchanan - HUMAN EVENTS

With reports circulating of its imminent demise, The New York
Times announced in January that it had found a white knight.

Sort of. For the knight in question, who already owns 6 percent
of the sinking Times and was investing $250 million in notes carrying 14 percent interest, was Carlos Slim. Reputedly the richest man in the world, taking the title from Bill Gates in 2007, Carlos is not so highly regarded in his own country.

In Mexico, according to Forbes, "the media and the masses long
have held a sneaking suspicion that there is something shady about Slim. He is described as a rapacious monopolist who built his empire on cozy ties to Mexican presidents ... ."

For this column, however, the issue is not how Carlos bought up
the Mexican telephone monopoly, but whether this Big Enchilada has bought up Andrew Rosenthal's editorial page.[Read more]