Departing WSJ columnist had ’em schnookered

Al Lewis, a columnist whose work appears in The Wall Street Journal, said goodbye to his readers on Sunday as he is becoming editor of the South Florida Business Journal.

Lewis writes, “Many other readers, I know, will miss me. Your emails bury me in way too much adulation, but it has been much appreciated.

“I never quite got what I did, though, to get some of you so angry. Thousands of articles get published every day. When most people see a piece they don’t like, they turn to the next one. Not you.

“You send emails that are often longer than the column itself. You hurl names when you can’t form arguments. You suggest that a business columnist shouldn’t have an opinion, especially if it doesn’t align with yours. ‘Since you have never written a pro-business article, how do you get published as a WSJ business writer?’ one reader recently wrote. ‘You sure have ’em schnookered, don’t you?’

“All my articles are pro-business. I love capitalism. I want the economy and our corporate system to run well. I admire entrepreneurs and seek free enterprise for all. Unfortunately, some things stand in the way, including tyrants, idiots and ideologies. And when you’re a columnist, it’s your job to point this out.”

Read more here.