# Ed Klein Annointed Official Prognosticator by Rupert Murdoch **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 8, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602 "2014-07-08T02:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/1 "2014-07-08T02:23:15Z")
Dateline New York: Edward Klein, the noted author of the #1 New York Times bestseller [Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. the Obamas](http://www.buzzfeed.com/katherinemiller/bloooood-feuuuuuud#) has been named by Rupert Murdoch, owner of The _New York Post_ and the FOX News Channel, as his official prognosticator of the 2016 presidential election. Klein’s foreknowledge of the race is second to none. Last week, Klein presciently asked [Is Clinton about to drop out of 2016 race?](http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/06/29/hillary-down-in-dumps-is-clinton-about-to-drop-out-2016-race/) on the [Foxnews.com](http://Foxnews.com) website just before she did not do so, citing an actual conversation between the former Secretary of State and her husband. > [@](#): > > “The media have me in their cross-hairs,” Hillary complained, according to the friend. > > “Everything I say is twisted and used against me. I can’t get any traction. They are pouncing on everything I say.” > > Hillary hesitated for a moment, and then continued: “I’m seriously losing my appetite for combat. I never thought I’d say that. I’ve been a fighter all my life. You guys have never seen me back down, but right now I am punch drunk.” > > Bill bit his lip and said, “We all have a right to feel sorry for ourselves from time to time. But you’ve got history to make.” > > “Right now I’m feeling like they can all go f\*\*k themselves,” Hillary said, referring to the media. > > “I know the country needs us, but they aren’t acting like they deserve us. Just f\*\*k ‘me. His latest triumph is the lead story in the July 6 _New York Post_, [This means Warren: Obama backs challenger to Hillary](http://nypost.com/2014/07/06/this-means-warren-obama-backs-challenger-to-hillary/). Despite the inherent contradictions between this story and the previous one, it will be repeated across all Murdoch platforms, including [Foxnews.com](http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/07/06/ny-post-means-warren-obama-backs-challenger-hillary). “I am deeply moved by this recognition,” Klein said today. “I can prognosticate that Mr. Murdoch can rest assured that all of my prognostications will be as much to his liking as those I have already made.” Informed readers should continue to read Mr. Klein’s "News Before It Is Made"™ in all Murdoch publications. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/2 "2014-07-08T13:12:15Z")
What the hell? I was available. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/3 "2014-07-08T14:19:46Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > What the hell? I was available. If ever there was a person suited for a particular vacancy, you were surely suited for this one. I will be happy to provide a reference should you apply. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/4 "2014-07-08T14:20:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > What the hell? I was available. His strength is creating unfounded rumors-your strength is _repeating_ unfounded rumors. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/5 "2014-07-08T14:58:07Z")
Maybe it should be encouraging that the dumbest among us still buy books, but why is Klein’s fantasy novel listed as non-fiction? Also amusing is the stilted dialogue. The Clintons have been together for 40+ years and their conversations have no short hand? “You still have to make history, dear wife.” Great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/6 "2014-07-08T15:07:34Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > What the hell? I was available. Don’t give me any dark looks, mods. I was scrupulous in not even hinting that Klein could be posting here as adaher. Oops. 😉 Seriously, adaher, what is the point of articles like these masquerading as news? Whether you like Clinton or not, could anybody capable of reading a newspaper believe that dialog as real? Can they seriously believe that the Clintons have conversations telling the media to f\*\*k themselves in front of a person who would immediately retell the story with lengthy perfect quotes to Edward Klein of all the Clinton-haters in the world? And how did they pronounce the asterisks? This isn’t even Onion level satire. It’s on the level of The Daily Caller or The National Report or another one of those satire sites that are making Snopes’ life miserable. Even the gal who is posting about the backward Satanic messages in “Stairway to Heaven” wouldn’t fall for this. This is more on the level of the newspapers at the bottom shelf of the supermarket checkout that have been spouting headlines that the Obamas are divorcing for the six years. They don’t expect to be believed. The _New York Post_ is presumptively a major newspaper. People will notice if they are consistently wrong in the headlines. Edward Klein is not a journalist, not even an op-ed writer. He’s a fraudulent propagandist. Here’s a quote from the _Post_ about his previous book on Obama: > [@](#): > > This is one of the most sordid volumes I’ve ever waded through. Thirty pages into it, I wanted to take a shower. Sixty pages into it, I wanted to be decontaminated. And 200 pages into it, I wanted someone to drive stakes through my eyes so I wouldn’t have to suffer through another word. Headlining him seems counterproductive to me, no matter how many books he is selling. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/7 "2014-07-08T17:16:05Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The _New York Post_ is presumptively a major newspaper. Actually, for several decades it’s been a cheap tabloid best known for its ability to craft a sensational headline. (Most famously, “Headless Body in Topless Bar”) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/8 "2014-07-08T18:05:45Z")
Ah, yes, [Ed Klein.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Klein#Criticism) > [@](#): > > Klein has been criticized for his biography of Hillary Clinton, titled, The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She’ll Go to Become President, which was released on June 21, 2005. Politico criticized the book for “serious factual errors, truncated and distorted quotes and overall themes [that] don’t gibe with any other serious accounts of Clinton’s life.”[6] The book was attacked not only by liberals, but by conservatives as well. John Podhoretz wrote in the New York Post, “Thirty pages into it, I wanted to take a shower. Sixty pages into it, I wanted to be decontaminated. And 200 pages into it, I wanted someone to drive stakes through my eyes so I wouldn’t have to suffer through another word.”[7] In National Review James Geraghty wrote, “Folks, there are plenty of arguments against Hillary Clinton, her policies, her views, her proposals, and her philosophies. This stuff ain’t it. Nobody on the right, left, or center ought to stoop to this level.”[8] ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/9 "2014-07-08T20:34:00Z")
I don’t believe anything Klein writes. If I want reliable insider accounts, I read Woodward or memoirs of people who were actually there. Elizabeth Drew used to be awesome too, although for some reason she only wrote those types of books during the Clinton years. I’m not sure what makes Klein a prognosticator either. I don’t know of anyone who can prognosticate successfully in the political realm other than people who use models and statistics like Larry Sabato, Nate Silver, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/10 "2014-07-08T20:38:23Z")
Good to see you’ve learned your lesson about that. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/11 "2014-07-08T20:49:28Z")
Won’t stop me from doing it. I’ve been right before. I called McCain’s primary win when everyone thought he was done. No one credible is ever truly done in a GOP primary campaign, just temporarily down while the base flirts with the nuttier candidates. Giuliani wasn’t serious, Romney was too fake, and no one else was credible. That left McCain. Sure enough… ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/12 "2014-07-08T21:30:48Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Won’t stop me from doing it. I’ve been right before. I called McCain’s primary win when everyone thought he was done. No one credible is ever truly done in a GOP primary campaign, just temporarily down while the base flirts with the nuttier candidates. Giuliani wasn’t serious, Romney was too fake, and no one else was credible. That left McCain. Sure enough… You hear that, folks? “ **adaher** , wrong less than 100% of the time”. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/13 "2014-07-09T01:15:49Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] “I am deeply moved by this recognition,” Klein said today. “I can prognosticate that Mr. Murdoch can rest assured that all of my prognostications will be as much to his liking as those I have already made.” [/QUOTE] Translation: “I’ll be deeply compensated for telling Rupert Murdoch exactly what he wants to hear, in keeping with my past record of demonstrated integrity.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/14 "2014-07-13T01:42:14Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > Actually, for several decades it’s been a cheap tabloid best known for its ability to craft a sensational headline. (Most famously, “Headless Body in Topless Bar”) FTR, it was true, unlike too much of Ed Klein’s claptrap. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/15 "2014-07-14T14:47:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > FTR, it was true, unlike too much of Ed Klein’s claptrap. I wasn’t trying to imply that it wasn’t true. Just that when that’s your main claim to fame, you probably aren’t trying to compete with the New York Times and Washington Post as the nation’s ‘paper of record.’ ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-klein-annointed-official-prognosticator-by-rupert-murdoch/692602/16 "2014-07-14T20:43:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Elizabeth Drew used to be awesome too, although for some reason she only wrote those types of books during the Clinton years. She still contributes to the New York Review of Books. She’s almost 80 now, which may explain her lower output over the past 10 years.