Another of our lions is gone

William Safire, speechwriter to President Richard Nixon and author, for Vice President Spiro Agnew, of the line, “nattering nabobs of negativism,” is gone.

For 30 years he manned the lonely conservative pillbox on the editorial page at The New York Times, and today the paper returns the favor with a fond obit focusing on Safire’s limitless love for language.

RIP, word man.