The Pundits

Pundit: a learned man; teacher; one who gives opinions in an authoritative manner. [my emphasis]

I love the word “pundit.” It has a certain ring to it—short but easily said; it rolls off the tongue and has an air of erudition. When seen in print, it seems to jump out at the reader; “this must be a meaningful sentence,” it says. Its beauty is that it is a learned way of saying “one who has a big ego and displays it by expounding loads of b.s.”

Flyover country has few pundits and that is good. But the mainstream media, most weekly and monthly periodicals, and many blogs are populated by pundits. These are people, primarily from the northeast and around the DC beltway, graduates of ivy league schools or private institutions. Some of what they say is humorous; much of it is plain rationalism; and most of it is dull and boring.

About the only thing with more hubris than a pundit is a politician.