Why Are Smart Guys Nate Silver and Ezra Klein Acting Like the GOP’s Useful Idiots?
Nate Silver and Ezra Klein, two of the left’s smartest smart guys, are saying usefully dumb stuff these days. Their down-the-middle “credibility” grab is understandable, but why is the rest of the Left so afraid to call them out? Both of these Guardians of the Wonk Universe occupy varying degrees of heroic space among liberals, but what they truly crave is an intellectual authority that can’t be dismissed as partisan confirmation bias, and this has led them to be horribly, usefully wrong. Liberals are not helping them by cowering at their fully operational Death Star brains.
First, there’s Ezra Klein, who began flacking Paul Ryan’s poverty plan a few weeks ago, and continued to do so this weekend on MSNBC’s Up with Steve Kornacki. In both cases, the credulity with which Klein greeted Ryan’s plan was infuriating:
Klein’s conclusions about the Ryan “poverty plan” are so dizzyingly stupid that a Twitter rant from yours truly ensued…READ MORE
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By: Tommy Christopher
Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
18 responses to Why Are Smart Guys Nate Silver and Ezra Klein Acting Like the GOP’s Useful Idiots?
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arc99 August 4th, 2014 at 15:06
I think Silver’s and Klein’s opinions are useful. When you have a Republican party whose only apparent agenda is to oppose anything the President supports, I welcome the opportunity for an intellectually honest debate on the pros and cons of any proposal.
arc99 August 4th, 2014 at 15:06
I think Silver’s and Klein’s opinions are useful. When you have a Republican party whose only apparent agenda is to oppose anything the President supports, I welcome the opportunity for an intellectually honest debate on the pros and cons of any proposal.
R.J. Carter August 4th, 2014 at 15:41
Why are smart guys like Nate Silver and Ezra Klein only considered smart guys when they agree with you?
arc99 August 4th, 2014 at 16:18
I would wager it’s the same reason why it is not socialist tyranny when Sarah Palin raises taxes on oil companies to send more free stuff to every man, woman and child in Alaska, regardless of need.
R.J. Carter August 4th, 2014 at 16:38
On the mark!
Hambone72 August 5th, 2014 at 01:30
Statist is a statist is a socialist. Red or Blue. Reagan was a damn socialist too.
R.J. Carter August 4th, 2014 at 15:41
Why are smart guys like Nate Silver and Ezra Klein only considered smart guys when they agree with you?
arc99 August 4th, 2014 at 16:18
I would wager it’s the same reason why it is not socialist tyranny when Sarah Palin raises taxes on oil companies to send more free stuff to every man, woman and child in Alaska, regardless of need.
R.J. Carter August 4th, 2014 at 16:38
On the mark!
Hambone72 August 5th, 2014 at 01:30
Statist is a statist is a socialist. Red or Blue. Reagan was a damn socialist too.
TheOriginalDonald August 4th, 2014 at 20:57
Does ANYONE remember what happened in 2006? I suspect they ARE aware of what happens in a second-term midterm election, are seeing O’s numbers drop like a rock, and predict accordingly
TheOriginalDonald August 4th, 2014 at 20:57
Does ANYONE remember what happened in 2006? I suspect they ARE aware of what happens in a second-term midterm election, are seeing O’s numbers drop like a rock, and predict accordingly
Broadnax August 4th, 2014 at 22:30
Presumably truth should trump partisan politics. I read Nate Silver’s book and read his column. He is simply making statistical estimates. Should he lie to keep his liberal friends happy?
Broadnax August 4th, 2014 at 22:30
Presumably truth should trump partisan politics. I read Nate Silver’s book and read his column. He is simply making statistical estimates. Should he lie to keep his liberal friends happy?
Hambone72 August 5th, 2014 at 01:28
Maybe because they’re reasonable human beings who don’t just follow “mass line” so to speak. Silver runs algorithms and Klein just calls things as he sees it good and bad regardless of what agenda people think they should follow.
Hambone72 August 5th, 2014 at 01:28
Maybe because they’re reasonable human beings who don’t just follow “mass line” so to speak. Silver runs algorithms and Klein just calls things as he sees it good and bad regardless of what agenda people think they should follow.
greenfloyd August 5th, 2014 at 06:13
So, Mr. Christopher, do they actually pay you over at Daily Banter to write like that? After wading through all your sexual imagery and excretory fixations I no longer cared what your point was. Instead I felt like I needed a shower and could not get away from you soon enough.
floyd[@]greenfloyd.org August 5th, 2014 at 06:13
So, Mr. Christopher, do they actually pay you over at Daily Banter to write like that? After wading through all your sexual imagery and excretory fixations I no longer cared what your point was. Instead I felt like I needed a shower and could not get away from you soon enough.