Sarah Palin’s Intelligence
Over at Volokh Conspiracy, Todd attempts to explain why many on the left think Sarah in not very intelligent.
My sense is that Hoven is on the right track. Some thoughtful people simply have a tendency to confuse intelligence with the ability to be glib, or more precisely, to bs. And I think that is much of what it comes down to–if Palin doesn’t know the answer to a question, she just isn’t that good at making something up.
People on the left have a tendency to confuse bullshit with intelligence. They call it nuance. The problem is that nuance makes you look like a weak leader which is why conservatives have dominated presidential elections.
The flip side is that often times an important detail is in the nuance. Conservatives oftentimes make miss it.
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I agree with you in principle that ability to make stuff up and sound confident about it is not intelligence. I don’t think a vulnerability to that is specific to the left though. Actually, I think the Democratic ticket is better qualified than the republican ticket for a completely different set of reasons. I’ll give one example…
Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a
Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in
Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor
(J.D.)
vs.
John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in
Journalism
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:17 am
Wow…. How many straws are you grasping for here? Do you really write off her inability to answer simple political questions as a failure to be able to make up bullshit? Is it not important to have some perspective on the comings and goings of the supreme court? Is it hard to answer which newspapers, blogs, or other news sources you are fond of for information? Should you not know the voting record of financial oversight of your running mate during a significant time in our nation’s economy?
The answer to these questions is nuance? Really?
October 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
The argument that she isn’t necessarily unintelligent is a pretty weak one. Show me an example of where she has done something intelligent.