Manly Morons
by digby
I mentioned this before, but with the cable new networks all breathlessly reporting that Sarah W. Palin is a moron --- and people like Chris Matthews now opining that anyone who isn't smart can't possible be president, I feel it's necessary to point out that being a moron is something the Republicans and the media have shown a rather remarkable tolerance for up until now:
Q: What do you think of tribal sovereignty means in the 21st century, and how can we resolve conflicts between tribes and federal and state governments?
Bush: Yeah... yeah, tribal sovereignty means that, sovereign. You're a... you're a... you've been given sovereignty and you're... viewed as a sovereign entity. (laughter) And therefore, the relationship between the federal government and the tribes is one between sovereign entities.
That man had been president for nearly four years at that point and was about to be reelected. I don't recall anyone but a bunch of scruffy bloggers having a problem with the fact that he clearly didn't have fucking clue what sovereignty even meant --- and was nation building in Iraq at that very moment.
Or how about this:
Q: You talk about the general threat toward Americans. You know, the Internet is crowded with all sorts of rumor and gossip and, kind of, urban myths. And people ask, what is it they're supposed to be on the lookout for? Other than the 22 most wanted terrorists, what are Americans supposed to look for and report to the police or to the FBI?
A: Well, Ann, you know, if you find a person that you've never seen before getting in a crop duster that doesn't belong to you -- report it.
Seriously. Entire books have been written devoted to the stupid things that this man has said as president. He's an idiot.
So is Sarah Palin, (which is why I've always called her Sarah W. Palin) but please, these gasbags helped create the myth that to be president all you need was a "gut" and an attitude and the real Americans didn't want some smarty pants, egghead for a leader. To act as though they believe that being intelligent is some sort of requirement for high officeis just bullshit.
Not so long ago:
MATTHEWS: We're proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who's physical, who's not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who's president. Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple. We're not like the Brits. We don't want an indoor prime minister type, or the Danes or the Dutch or the Italians, or a Putin. Can you imagine Putin getting elected here? We want a guy as president.
I guess it's ok to be a moron if Tweety gets all hot and bothered by your manly swagger.
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