Comments on: One of the “smartest people” Fareed Zakaria knows?

By: dick joseph

dick joseph — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:44:25 +0000

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By: karen marie

karen marie — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:54:50 +0000

i’m not familiar with zakaria’s newsweek articles — people still read that rag? i recognized it as wastepaper over 25 years ago.

but i am familiar with zakaria from his former program on pbs. he was even then clearly a shill. despite his ethnic background, he aligned himself a long time ago with people who could enhance his career, not his understanding and knowledge.

his “new” program is a perfect example of why i gave up cable four years ago and look forward to losing broadcast tv in february 2009. don’t encourage these people by listening to them.

By: Russ Wellen

Russ Wellen — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:19:26 +0000

Thanks, Brad, for the Drum quote. Enjoy his work at Washington Monthly.

PMorlan: Thanks and please visit often.

By: pmorlan

pmorlan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:48:09 +0000

This is my first visit to your site and if this piece is any indication of the quality of work that I may find here I will gladly be back to visit many times. Thank you.

By: David

David — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:23:34 +0000

Well written and informative. Thanks for giving me greater insight into why some of Zakaria’s articles seem so out of character.

By: Brad Jacobson

Brad Jacobson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:30:08 +0000

Thanks for your kind words, folks. Russ, there’s a telling Kevin Drum quote on Zakaria that didn’t make it into this piece:

“Zakaria is a smart guy, but he’s also a person who’s good at putting his finger to the wind â€” and then getting credit for leading the way when he anticipates an imminent shift.”

By: Russ Wellen

Russ Wellen — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:29:40 +0000

Thanks, Brad, for the greatest hits list of Feith. And for doing the dirty work of poring through Zakaria’s output. Especially for reminding readers of that meeting. When I first read about it, I knew I could never take him seriously.

Zakaria is kind of like Thomas Friedman, David Brooks and Christopher Hitchens. Nine out of ten columns infuriate. The tenth is so brilliant, you think what an asset to the media they could be if they weren’t so vain or whatever their problems are.

By: Zac

Zac — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:09:17 +0000

Doug Feith is the person for whom the term “ass-hat” was practically invented. I’ve seen Zakaria on “The Daily Show” and read his Newsweek articles, believing him to be a smart guy. Either Feith was foisted upon him with no opportunity for decline, or else Fareed’s not as smart as I thought. Either way, in my mind his rating has just declined 75%.

By: www.buzzflash.net

www.buzzflash.net — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:10:49 +0000

One of the â€œsmartest peopleâ€ Fareed Zakaria knows?…

CNN should be commended for both green-lighting a Sunday talk show that focuses on world events and letting a Muslim Indian-American host it. But if Zakariaâ€™s program genuinely strives to bring the world into sharper focus, rewriting the recent histo…

By: Dr. Denny

Dr. Denny — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:47:20 +0000

I had the same (although not nearly as well expressed) sentiment watching the inaugural GPS. Well done, Brad.

By: Dr. Slammy

Dr. Slammy — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:34:30 +0000

Damn. This is one of the more thorough take-downs I’ve read in awhile.

I think it’s also a good example of what’s wrong with the corporate/legacy media’s commitment to “balance.” These days, if you’re going to have a program that talks about anything political, you have to have somebody representing the Bushies, and that usually means a token idiot.