Sunday Morning Comin' Down

For the highly paid Journalistic Walking Dead of the Mouse Circus, there is never a Season Finale.

They have been dead and rotting for years, and yet every week, without fail, there they are, dressing in their network celebrity winding cloth,


shambling unstoppably across the political landscape.

Which is why, as a dirty Liberal, one of the things I ask myself when I am offered a big ol' plate of steaming conventional wisdom from some Sunday Morning "expert" is "Hey, does this guy have a long record of lying about important stuff?  Especially in the area in which he is now being touted as an expert?"

For example, this Sunday when one of America's Most Respected Sunday Zombie Gasbags programs put on Avik Roy -- "...contributor to National Review Online, where he was described as a member of Mitt Romney's Health Care Policy Advisory Group" -- to talk about health care (right after having Rudy Ghouliana on to personally attest to the honor and integrity of Chris Christie) this first question I asked myself was whether or not he has, say, a record of Gish Galloping wingnut healthcare bullshit every time he gets is front of a camera.

Turns out, yeah, he does:

Premium Bullshit.

Forbes Tells The Truth, Then Lies About Obamacare.

Avik Roy has facts wrong on Arkansas "private option".

Avik Roy and the wonk gap

06/03/13 04:31 PM—UPDATED 10/31/13 02:54 PM

...note that Roy was on “All In with Chris Hayes” last week, and as Kevin Drum noted, Roy “offered up a criticism of Social Security’s disability program that was so misleading that Michael Astrue, a former commissioner of the Social Security Administration appointed by George Bush, nearly had a heart attack on the air.”

Shortly thereafter, Roy weighed in on the latest report on California’s exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. While most of us saw the news from the Golden State as excellent news and proof that “Obamacare” implementation is proceeding apace, Roy published a remarkably dishonest piece arguing the opposite, deliberately omitting relevant details.

The always-mild-mannered Jonathan Cohn explained in detail why Roy is plainly, demonstrably wrong, but added an important point about the larger issue.

If you want to know why we can’t have an honest debate about Obamacare, all you have to do is pay attention to some recent news from California – and the way a highly distorted version of it, by one irresponsible writer, has rippled through the conservative press.

Right. Jon, Krugman, and Ezra, among others, have detailed reports explaining why Avik Roy’s analysis simply doesn’t make sense – I won’t recreate the wheel here – and I hope folks will follow the links to understand the underlying policy dispute. It’s not just of a gray area; Roy is simply wrong.

But it’s the point about “why we can’t have an honest debate” that resonates with me.

Indeed, it reinforces the “wonk gap” thesis I’ve been kicking around for a while.

Remember, Avik Roy isn’t just some guy who shows up on Fox to rant and rave about “death panels”; Roy is one of the conservatives who hopes to prove that serious policy scholarship still exists on the right. He publishes content with a credible tone; he doesn’t fly off the rhetorical rails; and he genuinely understands the policy details.

But when it comes to advancing a partisan/ideological agenda, Roy is nevertheless willing to publish “Obamacare” criticisms that are transparently ridiculous.

I believe this is yet another data point that highlights the wonk gap. As Republicans become a post-policy party, even their wonks – their sharpest and most knowledgeable minds – are producing shoddy work that crumbles quickly under mild scrutiny.

...

Run Everybody! Avik Roy is Coming!

ObamaCare in California – Reuters Rehashes Avik Roy’s Lie

They Can't Stop Lying About Obamacare

Avik Roy has a habit of dropping patently false narratives then when called on it is like,"Whatever, my real point is" #Fail #Nerdland
— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) February 23, 2014

So when I saw that Emergency Backup Gregory Chuck Todd



put Mr. Roy on the teevee, I eased slowly away, and navigated my way over to the ABC network, where I found this guy...



...getting paid to give America his opinions about foreign policy.

Yikes.

So, just for goofs, back I went to Emergency Backup Gregory Chuck Todd , who had moved on to talking to this guy about stuff:

Click.