Juan Williams – a liberal for whom I have some mild regard, if for no other reason than because he managed to get fired by NPR – stated that Sarah Palin “can’t stand on the same intellectual stage” with President Obama.
Really, Juan? Now, you’re a fairly reasonable guy, so I’ll put it to you reasonably; isn’t it time we sweep the myth of Barack Obama’s intellectual superiority into the dust-bin of history? Stacy McCain cited a few quotes in this post, which, although they weren’t in the context of your statement about Palin, are marvelously relevant to a discussion of the subject of Obama’s alleged smarts. Particularly pertinent is this quote from Bill Buckley:
“In the hands of a skillful indoctrinator, the average student not only thinks what the indoctrinator wants him to think . . . but is altogether positive that he has arrived at his position by independent intellectual exertion. This man is outraged by the suggestion that he is the flesh-and-blood tribute to the success of his indoctrinators.”Obama is nothing more than a product of that noisy leftist aviary where all the inmates learn to parrot “progressive” slogans unthinkingly, where empiricism and logic form no part of their training, where the loudest squawks and gaudiest plumage are occasionally rewarded with the nut of public fame by fools who believe that the voice box is the seat of wisdom. Where is the evidence that this president possesses a genuine appreciation for the life of the mind, a real understanding of the impact of the ideas he peddles, an abiding knowledge of, and respect for, the tried and true traditions that have made America free and prosperous and strong?
I would be delighted to see Obama and Palin on the same stage in a debate over the future of our country. Frankly, I think she would make hash of him. She may lack his formal academic pedigree, and couch her opinions in a folksy accent, but she strikes me as someone who has actually thought things through and sees clearly that Obama’s world view is nothing but watered-down socialism, as unworkable as the full-strength variety. From Palin, we would get well-considered ideas; from Obama, the regurgitation of standard liberal propaganda, politics reduced to the level of a verbal fashion statement. Bring it on, I say.
The ultimate debate between Obama and Palin: he would get softball questions which he'd wrap in vague generalities that sound good, and she would have bombs lobbed at her... which she would defuse, dismantle, and lob back. That's why it will never happen, because they've realized they can't keep people from noticing these things.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind any moderator and audience the networks would pick would by in the tank for Obie like a Jersey referee...
ReplyDeleteReferees for Obama. I like it!
ReplyDeleteRemember Michael Beschloss saying that Obama was the smartest president in our history?
Does he really think that guy could hold his own with Jefferson, Madison,Adams or Lincoln?. Heck, Wilson would eat his lunch, and they are peas in a pod.
YoJ: When it comes right down to it, I'm pretty sure Millard Fillmore could have beat him at chess.
ReplyDeleteI've seen grad students just like Obama: superficially glib, saying things that sound like they were generated from a program filled with mixable 'thoughts' and they think they're brilliant. So do some others.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see his SAT, ACT, or LSAT scores. Hard to snow those.
JXM: Unfortunately, Obama refuses to release that information - along with his grades.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking his grades were very good. He was probably sheltered all the way through college until Law School. Channeled into the classrooms of all those revolutionary truth type profs and probably only read material he wanted to read for four years. "Papers are things other people do for me."
ReplyDeleteWe are assuming that he actually took all those entrance exams and wasn't on the Ted Kennedy express.
"..WAS the smartest...". Sorry! The Yojimbo sometimes lets wishful thinking be the enemy of the proper, a family character flaw.