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Eureka!

(Now, one feels like a bit of a jackass for saying, "Hey, look what I just discovered," when one just made his discovery on the NYTimes.com homepage, of all places, but, still bear with us.)

We've just discovered The Opinionator!

It seems the Times's newfound blogging bug has carpetbagged itself all the way to the op-ed page, under the aegis of which Chris Suellentrop is now blogging about news, politics, and opinions. Fulltime. With comments.

It's almost like, you know, a real blog!

We're not quite sure what the Times's publicity plan for this new project is — there's a link from the homepage, but no press release, nothing in the print paper, and, so far, only one hit each in Nexis and on Technorati. But, still, it's certainly an exciting day for all of us — not least in the Suellentrop household, where young Chris, a Slate vet, now gets to rub elbows, electronically, at least, with the likes of Rich and Friedman and Dowd and Krugman.

Plus, this new addition is sure to be a boon to the fortunes of the TimesSelect program, of which you must be a member to read The Opinionator.

Because God knows it's impossible to find discussions of politics on the web for free.

UPDATE: After the jump, Suellentrop's email to friends, which contains not just one but two analogies to Time Inc. marketing swag.

The Opinionator [NYT]

From: Chris Suellentrop
To: Christopher Michael Suellentrop
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 2:53 PM
Subject: Chris Suellentrop's new gig

Dear friends, family, colleagues, and near strangers with whom I've exchanged one e-mail,

The New York Times has a new blog, "The Opinionator," written by yours truly. It's on Times Select, so if you've been thinking, "Hey, those New York Times columnists are worth only $48.50 a year," I'm here to provide the extra $1.45 in annual value to meet your demand curve. If you're already a Times or Times Select subscriber (all Times subscribers get Times Select for free), think of The Opinionator as the free shoephone that Sports Illustrated used to hand out with its paid subscriptions. It's the "but-wait-there's-more" product, the journalism equivalent of that special bonus CD of classic country duets that Time-Life gave you when you bought their '70s funk anthology.

Set your bookmarks (or favorites, as the case may be) to: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com.

Impersonally but at least briefly,

Chris

—
Chris Suellentrop
www.suellentrop.com
202 460 XXXX
xxxx@gmail.com