Jeffrey Toobin’s Arrogance Helps Further CNN’s Success
Watching CNN coverage of the Sotomayor hearings as I was doing cardio before and after my workout earlier today, I was treated to the amusing spectacle of David Gergen, trying very hard to look important as he attempted to offer the conventional liberal wisdom of the hour. He seemed to think that if he smiled, he would look less sage, less important, so he has developed this dour disposition, always having a very serious expression when he speaks on camera. Or perhaps this disposition was due to careful deliberation, wanting to appear wise while not saying anything which might attend those left-of-center people in the Beltway media establishment.
By contrast, his colleague, Jeffrey Toobin, whom I have dubbed “the obsequious legal court jester to the media elite,” smirked his way through his pontificating. He too was posturing, his smug expression a sign of the important he attaches to himself as he spouts the conventional wisdom, attacking Republicans and currying favor with those who host the cocktail parties he likes to attend and participate in the listservs to which he subscribes. His arrogance is at once irritating and amusing, irritating that he clearly considers himself to be so much smarter than the rest of us, capable (as he sees it) of offering unique perspectives on the events of the day, but annoying because while he preens as being uncommonly incisive due to that superior intellect, he’s saying absolutely nothing that’s original or anything that’s particularly insightful.
Toobin seems to believe that by dressing up conventional wisdom with his presence and supposed sagacity, he is as Zeus speaking down to us mere mortals from the lofty heights of Olympus.
Wonder if CNN keeps him on because they like how he and his counterparts in the commentariat help their ratings, with the network remaining in third place of three major cable news outlets.
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I’m always confrused. There’s a Toobin over on FBN. I can never remember his first name.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — July 14, 2009 @ 12:40 am - July 14, 2009
You don’t get to be a player in media or politics without a hugely exaggerated sense of self-importance; which is why our politics and media suck so badly.
Comment by V the K — July 14, 2009 @ 6:53 am - July 14, 2009
Don’t forget the converse V the K,
If you’re humble and successful, in giving thanks to the Divine for that success, you’re mocked for ‘believing you talk with God’.
Comment by The Livewire — July 14, 2009 @ 10:52 am - July 14, 2009
And I thought it was just me who saw Toobin as a pompus ass! In fact CNN leaves much to desire becaue their anchor people act like celebrities as they try to cute and funny.
Comment by Lois — July 28, 2009 @ 10:36 pm - July 28, 2009