The Atlantic's Ross Douthat, who helms a popular and analytically sincere right-leaning blog for the magazine, has been tapped to write opinion for the New York Times, the Columbia Journalism Review reports. According to a memo from editorial-page editor Andy Rosenthal, "he will start out primarily online, but will soon be writing with increasing frequency, and then regularity, on the op-ed page, in the Monday slot opposite Paul." Douthat will start up full-time in mid-April, and "at some point, he’ll also resume his work as a blogger." Douthat's presence on the page will likely soothe irked liberals (and many moderates) who openly loathed the knee-jerk GOP rhetoric spouted by his predecessor, Bill Kristol. If you're looking for a reason to resent him, though, just note that he graduated from Harvard in 2002. Which makes him 30 years old, or under.

Update: The Times rubs it in in a story headlined, "A 29-Year-Old Joins Times Op-Ed Lineup": "Asked when The Times last had such a young columnist, Andrew Rosenthal, the editorial page editor, said, “I don’t think ever.”

Douthat To Fill Kristol’s NYT Op-Ed Slot [CJR]
Earlier: Defending Sarah Palin: Ross Douthat and Jonah Goldberg on McCain’s V.P. Pick As Culture-War Hand Grenade
Ross Douthat and Tyler Cowen on Lieberman, Palin, and Outlawing Abortion