Pundit Admits Mistake!

When you think of a pundit, people like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, etc., come to mind. Of course, there are other figures in other parts of the political spectrum that might be mentioned. I would suppose Bill Nye might be considered a pundit and Rachel Maddow would certainly fall into that category. 

And pundits have been wrong, sometimes, a little, sometimes, a lot. However, just as the chief protagonist in Love Story says, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry,” there is a similar rule in the world of punditry that indicates a mistake should be quickly forgotten and ignored. 

Jordan Weissmann writing in Slate magazine is defying the conventional wisdom and admitting that a previous column was a mistake. 

His essay entitled: How I Got the Democratic Primary Very, Very Wrong is an example of good business ethics. 

He writes: 

This was wrong. And in the interest of pundit transparency, I wanted to take an opportunity to admit as much. 

And then later in the essay: 

So, again, I was wrong. And the reason why is fairly straightforward: Like a lot of writers, I never expected Sanders to attract the kind of support he has. I expected him and Clinton to debate. I didn’t expect them to debate for the soul of the party. But they have.

So, he doesn’t admit he was wrong, he admits he was wrong twice. That’s incredible and even better business ethics than before when I thought he was admitting he was wrong once. 

Now, you should read his whole essay. It is well worth it. And reflect that all pundits tend to be full of pride but at least one has a genuine touch of humility. 

James Pilant