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David Brinkley knew from funny.

Those of you born after, say, 1970, are either thinking of moving on here or are getting ready to take a Google break and find out who David Brinkley was.

No worries.

If you’re the former, thanks for stopping by.

If you’re the latter, the blog will still be here when you get back.

The rest of us, I think, share an enjoyed appreciation for the wit and wisdom of the guy who was a part of the television news scene for almost a half century.

An acclaimed reporter, anchor, journalist, author.

And a guy who was cutting through the bull with no bias long before Campbell was born.

Well, maybe not so much the no bias thing.

I recall that Brinkley had a pretty obvious bias.

He was blissfully biased against bullshit.

And he had a knack for recognizing it miles and miles before the corral was on the horizon.

In his later years, as the moderator of the Sunday morning roundtable on “This Week With David Brinkley”, Chet Huntley’s former running buddy not only gave the concept of “panel discussion” a marvelously twisted tweak, but also managed to make smirking credible, something that Dubya never came close to pulling off.

Sitting back and letting Sam and Cokie and George smack the Beltway birdie around, Brinkley flawlessly executed the job of goalie (to mix the metaphor), bemused but ever aware of the moment that inevitably arrived…the moment when analysis crossed the line to absurdity and, in that moment, with an economy of words not equaled to this day, kicked the conversation away from the ridiculous and back into the sublime.

David Brinkley…equal parts McLaughlin and Letterman.

And that was the beauty of it.

His bullshit barometer was tuned like a Stradivarius, but he never came off as condescending.

Because the expression on his face mirrored the expressions on our own.

That smile/smirk that naturally springs to life when profound is revealed to be preposterous.

And we all exchange the knowing look that confirms our mutual suspicions.

That trial balloon of conversation being raised is nothing more than an amusement filled with hot air.

My first reaction, when watching the above video, was the knee jerk flinching at the sound of the bottom of the barrel being scraped.

But, in a microflash, right behind that, came the smile/smirk pioneered by David Brinkley.

The acclaimed reporter, anchor, journalist and author.

Who knew from funny.