Fareed Zakaria, an over-rated thinker

by Rishi Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:38 am

FAREED ZAKARIA

Fareed Zakaria is enormously important to an understanding of many things, because he provides a one-stop example of conventional thinking about them all. He is a barometer in a good suit, a creature of establishment consensus, an exemplary spokesman for the always-evolving middle. He was for the Iraq war when almost everybody was for it, criticized it when almost everybody criticized it, and now is an active member of the ubiquitous “declining American power” chorus. When Obama wanted to trust the Iranians, Zakaria agreed (“They May Not Want the Bomb,” was a story he did for Newsweek); and, when Obama learned different, Zakaria thought differently. There’s something suspicious about a thinker always so perfectly in tune with the moment. Most of Zakaria’s appeal is owed to the A-list aura that he likes to give off—“At the influential TED conference ...” began a recent piece in The New York Times. On his CNN show, he ingratiates himself to his high-powered guests. This mix of elitism and banality is unattractive. And so is this: “My friends all say I’m going to be Secretary of State,” Zakaria told New York magazine in 2003. “But I don’t see how that would be much different from the job I have now.” Zakaria later denied making those remarks.

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/96141/over-rated-thinkers?page=0,1

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:41 am

how did he get out of the sinkhole after he was caught doing a Rashmun in his articles? Guess the iSlamic quota and the need to appear "secular" worked in his favor.

by Guest Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:51 am

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:how did he get out of the sinkhole after he was caught doing an ~~Rashmun~~ Uppili the Poopili in his articles? ~~Guess the iSlamic quota and the need to appear "secular" worked in his favor~~.

Old timers recall how Uppili was caught red handed copy pasting from here and there to come up with his Morning Coffee posts. no links were given in these. It was a blatant attempt to pass off the material as his own. finally someone gave the link to an article from where he had lifted his latest post and the Morning Coffee posts came to an abrupt end.

by truthbetold Sun Jan 06, 2013 9:20 am

Fareed is all right. He brings a non european view of the world to an audience filled with that diet. He presents his view reasonably well to make it interesting for us viewers. He dresses his opinion to make it palatable to his viewers and his employers. I suspect he aligns his views with at least one mainstream view to survive in american media.

by Maria S Sun Jan 06, 2013 9:51 am

Fareed is very boring and bland as a TV Program Host. Incredibly lucky to have his own show. Can't watch him for more than a few mins.

Sanjay Gupta seems nice..a dignified, good expert Neurosurgeon..but, another bland and boring TV Program host, he is fine when is on for a few mins to give his medical opinions.

Ramesh Ponnuru the conservative is no movie star in looks, is low-key and has a nasal, irritating and almost feminine voice..I disagree with 90% of his views..but, he is an original thinker, interesting guy to listen to.

Bobby Ghosh..I like and always listen to..has some interesting thoughts/points (not particularly nice to see that combo- bald head with a beard and mustache)..but, he is not bland.

I can't think of any Indian/Indian American women commentators..who appear often on American TV..see one or two occasionally..

by truthbetold Sun Jan 06, 2013 10:11 am

Fareed tv host. Agree. Somebody advised him to speak slowly and he sounds like a foreign language instructor.
Gupta good for few mins. Also looks authentic as he doesnit have to moderate his views.
Ramesh, read his articles. Did not see him much on tv. He is the long lost cousin of dinesh d'souza.
Dinesh d'souza. What a suck up. Not a bad presenter. But it always make me laugh to see him talking large crowds and making a fool of them by saying things like slavery helped blacks and india sucks.
dinesh chopra, boring but cohesive presenter. However i feel like he is a snake oil salesman.
Who is bobby ghosh?

by Maria S Sun Jan 06, 2013 10:22 am

Bobby Ghosh is TIME’s Deputy International Editor.

http://world.time.com/author/bobbyghosh/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N4EaCBzaMU

*Dinesh as you say is so ridiculous..have to call him "special" Smile

Oh..Ramesh is not so bad..he is no Tea Party Ponnuru..

TBT, I may not be your secret admirer or adorerer (!) but, I really like your style..we may agree (as in this thread) or totally disagree..you are direct..always like to read your posts/views on anything:)

by truthbetold Sun Jan 06, 2013 10:33 am

Maria,

Thanks. But wait till slimy to follow up with some nasty remarks.

Dinesh d'souza made that obama documentary. He made a good deal of money.

Talking of talking heads, bobby jindal is sharp and smart but what a terrible speaker.

Have not seen nicky haley much on tv but she seems to handle herself well. Picking a black senator is a smart and devious move.

by Maria S Sun Jan 06, 2013 10:55 am

Agree again about Bobby and Nicki..if only Bobby had more charisma..and while Nikki is charismatic..she will have more opposition in future elections/GOP. But, they are both young and have potential to play key roles in the future..will watch their political journeys!

Some of my younger relatives..who watched that D'Souza movie and liked it..tried their best to entice me to watch it..obviously they could not, and we had some fun-heated discussions! They were among the early callers on Election night to congratulate..well, it was a fun conversation for me:)

Ok, Sunday routines are calling..may be back later.

Have a good day!

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:41 pm

who is dinesh chopra? did you mean deepak chopra?

by truthbetold Sun Jan 06, 2013 2:03 pm

Max,
yes. Deepak chopra. Guru and all that holistic stuff.

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:05 pm

truthbetold wrote:Max,
yes. Deepak chopra. Guru and all that holistic stuff.

in that case there should be no comparison between all those folks mentioned earlier and deepak chopra. you may like or dislike their style of presentation or their politics, but at least there is some rational thought process that one could accept or refute. with chopra there is nothing to refute because his blathering is always in the not even wrong category. if you want to know what not even wrong is, click on the link. even if you don't have the patience, here is the nub of not even wrong:

A correct argument or explanation is easy to spot; it may look like this: 2 + 2 = 4

A wrong argument has an incorrect conclusion, but is presented in such a way that we can evaluate it, like so: 2 + 2 = 6

The above two examples can be shown to be right and wrong; they at least make enough sense for us to spot where the error is. Something that is not even wrong is usually so far out of the ballpark or so far from reality that it is, quite simply, flabbergastingly irrelevant. For example: 2 + zebra ÷ glockenspiel = homeopathy works!

by Kris Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:18 pm

truthbetold wrote:Fareed is all right. He brings a non european view of the world to an audience filled with that diet. He presents his view reasonably well to make it interesting for us viewers. He dresses his opinion to make it palatable to his viewers and his employers. I suspect he aligns his views with at least one mainstream view to survive in american media.

>>>>I don't know if he does this intentionally , but for long term survival that strategy doesn't hurt. I haven't watched him of late, but I haven't found him to be disingenuous. In fact, I think he has been balanced on many issues as far as I can recall.

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:26 pm

another thing the charlatan deepak chopra does is to use the terminology of quantum physics, because to the lay public it all sounds very mystical and arcane, to promote his gobbledygook. this has driven quite a few actual physicists up the wall and a couple of them were motivated enough to take him on dress him down publicly. there are at least a couple of youtube videos. the interested can check it out for themselves.

by Rishi Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:30 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
truthbetold wrote:Max,
yes. Deepak chopra. Guru and all that holistic stuff.

in that case there should be no comparison between all those folks mentioned earlier and deepak chopra. you may like or dislike their style of presentation or their politics, but at least there is some rational thought process that one could accept or refute. with chopra there is nothing to refute because his blathering is always in the not even wrong category. if you want to know what not even wrong is, click on the link. even if you don't have the patience, here is the nub of not even wrong:

A correct argument or explanation is easy to spot; it may look like this: 2 + 2 = 4

A wrong argument has an incorrect conclusion, but is presented in such a way that we can evaluate it, like so: 2 + 2 = 6

The above two examples can be shown to be right and wrong; they at least make enough sense for us to spot where the error is. Something that is not even wrong is usually so far out of the ballpark or so far from reality that it is, quite simply, flabbergastingly irrelevant. For example: 2 + zebra ÷ glockenspiel = homeopathy works!

Anyway, I heard the guy has made 65 million dollars.

On the other hand, why is that in the Indian community, people put up with doctors who blather on topics on which they have no clue?

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:32 pm

Rishi wrote:
Anyway, I heard the guy has made 65 million dollars.

which is a standard response whenever i criticize chopra. that says more about the people willing to listen to his blather than the substance of anything he says. lots of swamis in india make a lot of money too. it just says there is a huge market for well packaged blather.

by Guest Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:35 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:another thing the charlatan deepak chopra does is to use the terminology of quantum physics, because to the lay public it all sounds very mystical and arcane, to promote his gobbledygook. this has driven quite a few actual physicists up the wall and a couple of them were motivated enough to take him on dress him down publicly. there are at least a couple of youtube videos. the interested can check it out for themselves.

Please give the links to these videos when you have time.

by Kris Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:43 pm

Rishi wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
truthbetold wrote:Max,
yes. Deepak chopra. Guru and all that holistic stuff.

in that case there should be no comparison between all those folks mentioned earlier and deepak chopra. you may like or dislike their style of presentation or their politics, but at least there is some rational thought process that one could accept or refute. with chopra there is nothing to refute because his blathering is always in the not even wrong category. if you want to know what not even wrong is, click on the link. even if you don't have the patience, here is the nub of not even wrong:

A correct argument or explanation is easy to spot; it may look like this: 2 + 2 = 4

A wrong argument has an incorrect conclusion, but is presented in such a way that we can evaluate it, like so: 2 + 2 = 6

The above two examples can be shown to be right and wrong; they at least make enough sense for us to spot where the error is. Something that is not even wrong is usually so far out of the ballpark or so far from reality that it is, quite simply, flabbergastingly irrelevant. For example: 2 + zebra ÷ glockenspiel = homeopathy works!

Anyway, I heard the guy has made 65 million dollars.

On the other hand, why is that in the Indian community, people put up with doctors who blather on topics on which they have no clue?

>>>>Err.. he is capitalizing on the gullibility of sections of the overall american society. The indian feedback is probably more a case of "our boy done good!", not that they don't have their own "gurus", but chopra wouldn't be high on their list as a saviour. You need orange robes and an ashram or two in india for that.

by truthbetold Sun Jan 06, 2013 4:08 pm

Thanks for all the information on deepak chopra. For a while i thought i was the lonely voice against this guy and was even called jealous.
a juicy tidbit about deepak is that he was one of the customers of that high class prostitute that elloit spitzer used to visit. Deepaks credit cards were on the list.

by Kris Sun Jan 06, 2013 4:11 pm

truthbetold wrote:Thanks for all the information on deepak chopra. For a while i thought i was the lonely voice against this guy and was even called jealous.
a juicy tidbit about deepak is that he was one of the customers of that high class prostitute that elloit spitzer used to visit. Deepaks credit cards were on the list.

>>>.Now, now, before we jump to conclusions- could have been he was outsourcing yoga instruction and who better than...

Smile

by truthbetold Sun Jan 06, 2013 4:31 pm

Kris,
once i take my gutter mind out of the gutter i can think of many alternate explanations. He could practicing one of those impossible gyrations of yoga that most normal weight indian women would find difficult to cope with such as.blow job and other door to heaven etc.
Sorry if i dragged you down to the gutter level.

by Rishi Sun Jan 06, 2013 4:52 pm

truthbetold wrote:Thanks for all the information on deepak chopra. For a while i thought i was the lonely voice against this guy and was even called jealous.
a juicy tidbit about deepak is that he was one of the customers of that high class prostitute that elloit spitzer used to visit. Deepaks credit cards were on the list.

Some prostitute in California claimed that Deepak was her customer. She produced a forged credit card receipt. Deepak was in India on the transaction date the bogus credit card receipt had on it.

I do agree that Deepak is a fraud.

But the prostitute thing is something his enemies came up with.

by truthbetold Sun Jan 06, 2013 5:09 pm

Rishi,
i do not have a problem correcting myself. Can you show some links and proof from ever reliable internets?

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Jan 06, 2013 6:45 pm

here's one exchange between mlodinow and chopra:

i think mlodinow is being too nice to chopra. i later found out that he unfortunately co-authored a book with chopra where they discuss their divergent viewpoints. this is too mild. i've seen people slam him much harder. i don't know where some of those videos disappeared. what a quack! i'd have thought no self respecting man of science would associate his name with chopra's on a book's cover.

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