He begins with Walter Lippman, the father of punditry, and then skips over to the Reagan and Bush years. A witty stylist, Alterman makes quick work of notables such as Martin Agronsky, Fred Barnes, Pat Buchanan, Rowland Evans, Jack Germond, Michael Kinsley, Morton Kondracke, Charles Krauthammer, Irving Kristol, Edward Luttwak, John McLaughlin, Robert Novak, Martin Peretz, Norman Podhoretz, William Safire, and George Will.
Curiously, Alterman claims that "the Carter presidency predated the
explosion of pundit television," but acknowledges that Clinton was an early
favorite of the Democratic punditocracy. It would seem that the phony two-
party system and its controlled media are the real problem, not the pundits
who get rich off of them. Were they to sing a tune that's slightly more
Democratic, watch for Alterman to join in on the chorus.
ISBN 0-06-016874-9
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