Letters to the Editor

• The Sensible (Sounding) Pundit

  [Read the article: The remaining GOP base -- the 30%'ers and the Broder/Ignatius pundit]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  I agree, all too often we see pundits serving as the GOP echo chamber. But the more troubling aspect of this problem is not the pundits' refusal to gather information from an array of sources, but their ability to make arguments sound sensible. They try to sound as if they "wish" they could root for Democrats, but they just can't until the Dems begin adhering to the "realities" propagated in their columns. David Brooks pretends as if he tries to listen to Democrats, but cannot in good conscience do so until they stop listening to the netroots, which to him are so separated from reality. To many of us, it is clear from what they write that Brooks, Broder and co. do not even attempt to incorporate a Democratic position or even read the blogs they decry, but for probably a majority of their readers these arguments hold a lot of water due to their "insider" status. At times these pundits raise their own version of the Democratic position, and this gives their words a false sense of objectivity that is absorbed by readers who are not informed enough to see through the surface argument. To these readers the pundits matter-of-fact dismissal of the Democratic position sounds very sensible.

  Permalink Sunday, October 7, 2007 08:28 AM