This is a tribute to the power of the word. In my opinion, Safire's political column was lame. It is his control over the vocabulary in which political events are discussed is what's made him SO dangerous. Here is a "language maven" who failed to discuss what the definition of "sovereignty", "big government", "conservative", "flip-flop", etc. etc. etc., were when simultaneously claiming to be an expert on political discourse in our nation. Safire is one of the architects of the 1984-ing of the US press. It is a loss to us all that Safire is being kept on as "language maven". Lies are truth. War is peace. Love is hate. Iraq is Iran. Iraq is terror. Bad is good. Unity is diversity. Diversity is unity. Heil. -- Emily "William Safire, whose political commentary column has appeared on the Op-Ed Page of The New York Times for more than 30 years, is stepping down, The Times said today. ... Mr. Safire, 74, will continue to write his Sunday column, "On Language," which has appeared in The New York Times Magazine since 1979 and has led to the publication of 15 books on the English language. ... "After more than three decades of opinionated reporting on the world's first and foremost political battle page, it's time to hang up my hatchet," Mr. Safire said in the statement. "The Times said at the start of this run that it wanted 'another point of view,' which was what it surely got, and its editors did not wince nor cry aloud. In my more scholarly persona, I couldn't resist continuing as Sunday language maven, so although Mr. Hyde will close up shop, Dr. Jekyll will carry on." " http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/15/business/media/15cnd-safi.html?ei=5094&en=8fac5e8b987010eb&hp=&ex=1100581200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1100556336-glALkz5bXC/FA60dASDliA&pagewanted=print&position= Emily Berk http://www.armadillosoft.com