Everyone is an analyst

Judging from reporting world-wide, just about anyone can be an analyst — a flack, hack, lobbyist, politician, militant, hustler, con-man, BS-artist — anyone who opens his or her mouth. They used to be called observers, who, if they were not the reporters themselves, were regulars at the press club bar. But “analyst” sounds much more serious, a thoughtful guy whose views you should respect, a guy who analyzes stuff exactly as the dictionary defines analysis: “To separate into parts or basic principles so as to determine the nature of the whole; to examine methodically.” Lots of luck with that when you find an analyst like the New York Times dug up in Teheran, for a story Dec 7, 2016, about Iran’s president Hassan Rhouhani warning Trump about tampering with the nuclear pact. The Times reports: “Trump is far worse than his predecessor,” said Hamidreza Taraghi, a hard-line political analyst. “Rouhani has proven that trusting America is useless and a waste of time, energy and money. He should not be re-elected.” Right, a “hardline analyst” in Teheran. As if the Times could find a “soft-line analyst” who isn’t in jail. It’s healthier for the Times to describe the guy as an analyst rather than what he probably is: the Mullahs’ mouthpiece and Islamists’ megaphone.