or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
•
"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
November 17, 2006
Nothing You Can Do To Stop Being An Expert
Get Out of Iraq Now? Not So Fast, Experts Say
And who are these experts?
Kenneth M. Pollack, an expert at the Brookings Institution who served on the staff of the National Security Council during the Clinton administration, also argued that a push for troop reductions would backfire by contributing to the disorder in Iraq.
That's a pretty good description of Pollack. But it might have been more informative for NY Times readers if it has said this:
Kenneth M. Pollack, Ted Koppel's son-in-law, husband of CNN's Capitol Hill correspondent, and author of a prominent book that was utterly and completely wrong about invading Iraq, also argued that a push for troop reductions would backfire by contributing to the disorder in Iraq.
What would have been great about this is it both tells us Pollack's views and also how the NY Times determines who is and isn't an expert.
Posted at November 17, 2006 08:36 AM | TrackBackExpertise is to knowledge what Busch Lite is to beer.
Or what George W Bush is to statesmanship.
Posted by: wkmaier at November 17, 2006 11:53 AMThat would also supply to Anthony 'one of the guys who lied us into this' Cordesman of the Institute of G*d-d*mned Liars Who Got Us Into This.
Posted by: Barry at November 17, 2006 12:09 PMNBC's Bagdhad bureau chief Richard Engel was on the Today Show this morning. Matt Lauer asked Engel the question "What would happen to Iraq if we left?" Engel's answer in short: Chaos; Iraq becomes a breeding ground for terrorists; Osama laughs at us. Lauer didn't think to ask what would happen if we stayed.
Posted by: Lloyd at November 17, 2006 01:00 PMI understand that Sen. McCain, before the Bushwackers bought him, once said that what W knows about foreign policy he learned at the International House of Pancakes.
Funny, sad and true, whether he said it or not.
you should have also added to Kenneth M. Pollack's resume his involvement in the Larry Franklin - AIPAC espionage case
Another person quoted as an expert in the same story is sadly, Tony Zinni, who opposed the war before it began. But he's been unwilling to accept the consequences of his own analysis for the last two and a half years, which qualifies him for "expertise" in the world of the NYT and Michael Gordon (Judith Miller's co-byliner on at least two of the garbage prewar WMD stories).
Posted by: Nell at November 17, 2006 06:49 PM
