Michael Kelly, RIP

Tragic news from Iraq: Michael Kelly, one of our favorite columnists, was killed in a humvee accident. Kelly formerly edited both the New Republic and Atlantic magazines; the latter, in particular, he revitalized and turned into an excellent publication. But it was as a columnist that we most admired Kelly. He was hard-hitting and often funny, a tireless advocate of freedom and of conservative ideas. Kelly, the first American journalist to die in the war, is survived by his wife and two young sons.