People On TV Are Stupid

8:39 pm EST December 1st, 2008 | Media, Politics | 4 Comments

There have been a few videos like this floating around, showing people who saw the subprime tsunami being laughed at by tv’s pundit class – smiley face with blood from watchmen especially the business people associated with Fox – but it isn’t just financial punditry. They’re just getting pwned because we can quantify their failure. There is no question that we are in a recession now, and a significant one at that, but I would argue that political punditry is in an even worse state than financial.

You’ve got entire armies of people who make unambiguous predictions that they’re never called on. And while we here in the blogosphere make those kinds of statements as well, our readers are usually smart enough to do a Google and call you out on it (In 2002, for instance, I said that the Bush administration was not nearly stupid enough to go to war in Iraq and that the use of force resolution was a political tool to whack Democrats with but not an actual threat – boy was I wrong).

Political punditry, a sloppy science that has now beaten actual reporting and analysis in sheer volume of noise, deserves to be put down, especially in its televised incarnation. Not just because its dumb but because its usually wrong. If you had followed Dick Morris instead of Nate Silver’s analysis this past election you would have a bad taste in your mouth.

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4 Responses to “People On TV Are Stupid”

Max Udargo says:

December 1, 2008 at 10:51 pm

I have a problem with these Peter Schiff videos the Paultards are promoting. There is a context that should be understood when watching people react to Schiff’s pessimism. The guy is nicknamed “Dr. Doom” because he ALWAYS argues the worst-case scenario when it comes to any aspect of the American economy. He’s been predicting an American economic apocalypse for a long time. I think these videos display an example of a broken clock being right twice a day, and the other commentators rolling their eyes and shaking their heads are reacting predictably to a boy who has been crying wolf for far too long.

I’m the last person on earth who would defend Ben Stein, who competes on a daily basis with Glenn Beck for the title of stupidest human alive, but here his snooty disdain is not unreasonable, even if Schiff was finally proven right.
C.S.Strowbridge says:

December 2, 2008 at 7:00 am

It’s almost like being wrong is considered valuable experience, while being right is derided.

The biggest problem is no one is held accountable for their predictions.

I would love to see a host say, “But you claimed the housing bubble would never burst, so why should we listen to you now?”
ed says:

December 2, 2008 at 10:13 am

but here his snooty disdain is not unreasonable, even if Schiff was finally proven right.

Except:

1. Schiff was called on for his opinion and he gave it. Then he was ridiculed for not having the right opinion (by Fox hosts among others–Klassee!). So the snotty disdain was indeed unreasonable.

2. Schiff wasn’t especially lucky, he pretty laid out exactly what was going to happen, and got the timing pretty close.

And we saw this same pattern with those of us who were, ahem, proved fucking right, about the Iraq Invasion. First we were mocked for not marching in lockstep with Dear Leader, then we were dismissed for getting lucky (or “being right for the wrong reasons”–which is ludicrous). I’m going to go way out on a limb and guess that Max Udargo supported the Iraq Invasion, whole heartedly, for at least a couple of years, even if he’s changed his mind about it by now.
The Reality-Based Dave says:

December 2, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Prostitute toe-sucker Dick Morris always has a bad taste in his mouth!

The Telegraph also alleged that Morris had a preference for “toe-sucking and dominance,” and that he regaled Rowlands with a version of “Popeye the Sailor Man,” performed in his underpants.

Dicky – the go-to guy for financial information.