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No, he's paid to to echo the points of his handlers.  

He get's a byline at the NY Times because he's syndicated.  

He also 'writes' for the National Review, and some other members of the right wing organ grinders.

He's a hack.
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The Times prints material from all sides of the political spectrum. 

What applies to all of it is that not all of it is credible or ethical.

On the other hand, there's still some actual old school objective investigative journalism that can be found in the NYT.

One just has to winnow through the pap.