[clue-talk] Wow, Card's a little political...

[Jed S. Baer]

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 02:05:17 -0800 (PST)
Brian Gibson wrote:

> Bush went to Yale and Harvard and no one's going to say he's smart.

I'll say that he's smart.

Really, I just don't get how it is that when people disagree with
someone's policies, they seem to inevitably fall back to "stupid" as an
ad-hominen. No, I'm sure that Bush doesn't rank up there with Euler, or
William F. Buckley, or Richard Stallman. But he certainly isn't stupid.

Hey, I vehemently dislike Nancy Pelosi. I won't call her stupid, because
I don't know how intelligent she is. Much as I dislike her policies and
actions, I recognize that it takes some brains to perform the
machinations she does. I can think of one particular photo of Chuck
Shumer that makes me think, "What a freakin' idiot!", but when I stop and
think for a minute, I realize that that's shorthand for wondering what
sort of thought processes produce such a result. And then I have to
remember that he's a politician.

I'll even allow that Obama is an intelligent man. In my book, he's in the
same class as Pelosi, and others of that political persuasion.

Personally, I find it mind-boggling that anyone could read the U.S.
Constitution, Bill of Rights, and writings of people such as Madison, and
think that as President, they'll get to DO all this stuff that's the
province of the legislature. Nevermind that, how about all this stuff
that just plain not within the enumerated powers of the federal
government. And that criticism applies to McCain to very nearly the same
as Obama. But of course, as Nate has pointed out, politicians promise the
world during campaign seaason, because people want to believe that some
elected "leader" will deliver them from the wilderness, or whatever.

I put "leader" in quotes, because these people are actually public
servants. But we all know what Heinlein had to say about that.

Among other things, Bush qualified to fly a combat jet aircraft. Care to
make any wagers about how many people with an IQ between 95 and 105 could
do that? Yeah, he's just dumb as a post, isn't he? Oh, I forgot, he's a
chimpanzee.

And I know from personal experience that extremely smart people still do
really dumb things. And hey, we elect some of these people to office,
because -- you know -- what other choice do we have? It ain't like
there's this other race of beings who magically always make the right
decisions. (Though it sure seems that some of Obama's adoring masses seem
to think he's in that class, and that sickens me.) Yes, I know that this
is just once anecdotal point, but it's why I fear for the future of this
country: http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=2308 -- and I know from my own
personal interactions with various people I encounter somewhat regularly,
that that sort of magical thinking, and similar sorts of cognitive
dissonance, aren't confined to just this one incredibly misguided woman.

jed