William Safire, Political Columnist and Oracle of Language, Dies at 79

The New York Times reports on the death of columnist William Safire, a man who plied his pen with precision and panache.

There may be many sides in a genteel debate, but in the Safire world of politics and journalism it was simpler: There was his own unambiguous wit and wisdom on one hand and, on the other, the blubber of fools he called “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.”