When I say the NYT, I mean the newspaper as a whole, in its articles that are presented as news, not its columnists who speak for themselves, and can take biased stances without making the newspaper biased. And that Krugman is very solidly left-wing isn't exactly a surprise to anyone, I think. He would indeed fit in that category of people who should backtrack and apologize - I can live with his title and parts of the column, but when he starts calling on GOP leaders to take action while glossing over the vitriol from the left, in a column inspired by the Tucson shooting, I agree with you that that's crossing the line.

We disagree there, that's what I've been saying, there definitely should be a presumed connection with the political climate. As I said, his political views don't seem too coherent, but politics do seem to have obsessed him nevertheless. And while "let's all tone down the rhetoric and try and get a bit of bipartisan spirit back" is indeed, technically speaking, a political agenda, I would say it is the kind that really should be supported by a tragedy like this one.