“This is politicking, not predicting.”

— Michael Crichton

"Why Speculate?" https://web.archive.org/web/20050328084634/http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote03.html - speech at the International Leadership Forum, La Jolla, California (26 April 2002)
Context: I want to mention in passing that punditry has undergone a subtle change over the years. In the old days, commentators such as Eric Sevareid spent most of their time putting events in a context, giving a point of view about what had already happened. Telling what they thought was important or irrelevant in the events that had already taken place. This is of course a legitimate function of expertise in every area of human knowledge.
But over the years the punditic thrust has shifted away from discussing what has happened, to discussing what may happen. And here the pundits have no benefit of expertise at all. Worse, they may, like the Sunday politicians, attempt to advance one or another agenda by predicting its imminent arrival or demise. This is politicking, not predicting.

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Michael Crichton 121

American author, screenwriter, film producer 1942–2008

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