Ethereal
05-04-2016, 03:00 PM
Beyond Schadenfreude, the Spectacular Pundit Failure on Trump Is Worth Remembering (https://theintercept.com/2016/05/04/beyond-schadenfreude-the-spectacular-pundit-failure-on-trump-is-worth-remembering/)
Glenn Greenwald
TRYING TO PREDICT the future can be fun, which is why — from office sports pools to stock market speculation — many do it. Generally, though, people make such predictions with at least some humility: with the knowledge that they do not actually know what the future holds.
But not America’s beloved political pundits. When they pronounce what the future has in store for us, it comes in the form of definitive decrees, shaped with the tone of authoritative certainty. With a few exceptions, those who purported to see the future of the 2016 GOP nomination process spent many months categorically assuring everyone that, polls notwithstanding, Donald Trump simply could not, would not, become the GOP nominee; one could spend all day posting humiliating examples, so a representative sampling will have to suffice:
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/vox-540x323.png
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/milbank-300x217.png
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/natecohn-540x395.png
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/vox2-540x305.jpg
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/benwhite-231x300.png
By itself, the intense schadenfreude makes it genuinely hard to get oneself to stop posting these (there were at least a dozen others gathered by Twitter commentators such as @blippoblappo — excellent all — that we forced ourselves to omit). But if one can tear oneself away from the sheer joy of wallowing in this festival of fantastic failure, there are several substantive points worth making:
...CONTINUED
Scores of pundits predicted that Trump would never become the Republican nominee.
And scores of pundits turned out to be completely wrong.
Now those same pundits are trying to predict that Trump will never win the Presidency, that Clinton is a shoo-in.
The reason for this seems to be twofold.
One, it generates interest in their articles and TV segments because predictions are fun to make and talk about.
Two, and more importantly, it is an attempt to create an air of certainty and inevitablility that serves to discourage Trump supporters, both actual and potential.
In other words, these pundits don't want Trump to win, so they try to persuade people that he cannot win.
Just give up and let Hillary's coronation proceed smoothly.
But something tells me their predictions are going to fail once again because they have no idea just how fed up people are with establishment politicians like Hillary Clinton.
I don't presume to know either way. Just remember to take all the predictions of Clinton victory with a grain of salt.
Glenn Greenwald
TRYING TO PREDICT the future can be fun, which is why — from office sports pools to stock market speculation — many do it. Generally, though, people make such predictions with at least some humility: with the knowledge that they do not actually know what the future holds.
But not America’s beloved political pundits. When they pronounce what the future has in store for us, it comes in the form of definitive decrees, shaped with the tone of authoritative certainty. With a few exceptions, those who purported to see the future of the 2016 GOP nomination process spent many months categorically assuring everyone that, polls notwithstanding, Donald Trump simply could not, would not, become the GOP nominee; one could spend all day posting humiliating examples, so a representative sampling will have to suffice:
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/vox-540x323.png
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/milbank-300x217.png
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/natecohn-540x395.png
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/vox2-540x305.jpg
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/05/benwhite-231x300.png
By itself, the intense schadenfreude makes it genuinely hard to get oneself to stop posting these (there were at least a dozen others gathered by Twitter commentators such as @blippoblappo — excellent all — that we forced ourselves to omit). But if one can tear oneself away from the sheer joy of wallowing in this festival of fantastic failure, there are several substantive points worth making:
...CONTINUED
Scores of pundits predicted that Trump would never become the Republican nominee.
And scores of pundits turned out to be completely wrong.
Now those same pundits are trying to predict that Trump will never win the Presidency, that Clinton is a shoo-in.
The reason for this seems to be twofold.
One, it generates interest in their articles and TV segments because predictions are fun to make and talk about.
Two, and more importantly, it is an attempt to create an air of certainty and inevitablility that serves to discourage Trump supporters, both actual and potential.
In other words, these pundits don't want Trump to win, so they try to persuade people that he cannot win.
Just give up and let Hillary's coronation proceed smoothly.
But something tells me their predictions are going to fail once again because they have no idea just how fed up people are with establishment politicians like Hillary Clinton.
I don't presume to know either way. Just remember to take all the predictions of Clinton victory with a grain of salt.