Granby01033

I watch the Sunday morning talk shows religiously. So religiously that I’ve stopped going to church. Yet I’m constantly disappointed with the stupidity of pundits and the people who set up their appearances. By far, the worst of these shows is This Week With George Stephanopoulos.

George Will is an aging ideologue who is frequently foiled by the facts whenever there’s anyone informed enough to provide them. In spite of his poor track record, he’s a regular along with Stephanopoulos, a sort of cross between a Mouseketeer and a eunuch.

Some regulars are okay. Republicans Matthew Dowd and Mike Murphy often have something reality-based to add. He Who Must Be Read also appears, but though he’s usually drowned out by the ninnies who confuse themselves with people who know something.

Other regulars are just plain awful. The Arch-Condescenioness Cokie Roberts, the very buckle of the beltway, offers rumor and opinion as fact. Sam Donaldson, the former host of the show, who knows next to nothing makes cameos as well.

More regularly-appearing pundits include Donna Brazile, a Democratic Party apparatchnik, who doesn’t do much to enlighten. Katrina Vanden Heuvel of my regular read, The Nation, does her best, but she hasn’t exactly mastered the format and generally sounds strident.

Today’s award for stupidity goes to Torie Clarke, a Pentagon propagandist. And I mean propagandist. A public relations specialist, she actually created and ran the program that recruited military pundits who appeared on television to spout Bush talking points during to the lead-up and early years of the Iraq War. She outdid herself recommending a book by ding-dong Amity Shlaes. Clarke’s economic expertise? Yeah, it’s right up there with mine. Ignorance, however, has never been a disqualification for a pundit. But a propagandist? Where’s the credibility?

Mark