According to the Politico, responding to criticism over the The New York Times' decision to hire Bill Kristol as a columnist, Times editorial page editor Andy Rosenthal said he doesn't understand “this weird fear of opposing views.” But it's not Kristol's “opposing views” that many critics are citing in denouncing the decision. As Media Matters for America documented, Kristol was chief among a handful of conservative commentators who offered highly optimistic predictions regarding the Iraq war's duration, difficulty, and human and financial costs -- even in the face of evidence to the contrary. And Kristol has not limited himself to misinformation on Iraq; Media Matters has documented numerous examples on a variety of topics.

For example:

Kristol falsely claimed of Clinton and Obama: “She hasn't passed any legislation. He hasn't either.”

Echoing White House, Kristol attacked Pelosi for trip to Syria, which GOP-led delegation also visited

Conservative pundits attacked Clinton for perjury and obstruction, but now defend Libby

Wallace failed to challenge Standard editors on debunked story

Kristol falsely claimed Dems “renounce[] the use of force” against “jihadist Islamic threat”

Kristol: I wish Bush had said “a little more about winning” and “a little less about helping the Iraqis”

Kristol's first Time column contradicted by Time's own reporting

Kristol repeatedly attacks “critics” of the Bush administration, yet refuses to name, or quote, a single one

Kristol and Kagan falsely claimed exit polls showed public evenly split on “pullout from Iraq”

On Fox News Sunday, Kristol falsely claimed “Missouri, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio” are “pro-Bush states”

On Fox, Kristol blamed “voters in Florida” for Foley debacle: "[M]aybe they should have known better"

Kristol accused Democrats -- not Republicans -- of turning 9-11 anniversary “into a partisan fight”; falsely claimed Bush never attacked Clinton terror policies

Kristol: Democrats oppose Lieberman because he is “pro-American”; Coulter claimed Lamont supporters are “anti-American”

Conservative pundits made wildly wrong claims about how Iraq would turn out -- what are they saying now about the Middle East?

Kristol falsely claimed Bush “declassified most” of the NIE

Kristol erroneously cited polls; falsely claimed that, since March, “no new information” Bush misled U.S. into Iraq

Kristol called Britain a “happy ACLU playground” for both “decent dissidents” and terrorists

After GOP source of Schiavo memo was confirmed, Hume, Kristol failed to acknowledge their roles in suggesting Democrats had authored it