Horrible news for America from the Times. First, the silver lining in a black cloud: Yes, it will be great to have Gail Collins back as a columnist, unplugged and unmodulated, next summer. She'll continue to do a great service for the country as an op-ed writer, just as she did before.

But the real public service she performed for the nation – and it will prove to have been an historically important one – was behind the scenes, as the editorial page editor, in transplanting a spine into the most important editorial operation in the nation starting five years ago, during an era when media spine was in particularly short supply. Her stepping away from that post is a disaster.

In addition to a general tone of editorial good judgment and willingness to take on the powerful that was unprecedented for the Times, more particularly, Collins brought Krugman on board, and protected him. (I initially was irritated when David Brooks started writing for the Times, until I realized this was a shrewd way of protecting Krugman's job from the constant, vicious attacks the ruling party levels at him: bring on a conservative to insulate the Times from cries of partisanship, but pick the goofiest and least effective and serious conservative possible.)

Without Collins looking out for him, Krugman's days are certainly numbered, just as were Russell Baker's. A Times columnist simply can't be that right about the direction of the country for that long without needing to be pushed out. Our only hope is that Krugman can last through the 2008 election cycle. Given the gravitational pull Krugman has created around himself at the Times, it may take that long to bring him down.