The Collective Stupidity of Americans

Not only do many of us who actually try to stay informed have to put up with rampant racism of those less informed, exposed in all its hateful ignominy (first time I've ever used that word in a sentence), we also have to deal with their schizophrenia when it comes to the question of whom to trust as president.

Rosa Brooks comments in today's Los Angeles Times on McCain's frequent gaffes on the face about Iraq, Sunni vs. Shia, al Qaeda, and Iran are having no effect on his standing among Americans. Turns out that more of us believe he'd be better at handling the war despite his walking lock-step with Bush since day one, and despite the likelihood that he will simply continue the war effort in much the same way as his predecessor should he be elected.

Money quote:

Of course, maybe his success -- for the time being -- with the American public has convinced McCain that if you just repeat something long enough and confidently enough, people will start believing it. McCain keeps boasting of his own national security expertise and insisting that Barack Obama, his chief Democratic rival, is naive and "does not understand ... the fundamental elements of national security and warfare" -- even though Obama, unlike the "experienced" McCain, managed to get it right on Iraq from the very beginning.

If one is not truly astonished at how stupid Americans are, then he/she is too jaded to care enough to do something about it. Perhaps being an elitist in this case is a good thing: to tell your neighbor who puts a McCain sign on his front lawn this summer that, as an idiot, he wouldn't recognize a good candidate unless it was spoon-fed to him by Fox News or Rush Limbaugh, and that you'll pray for him to see the light (that always gets 'em, you know, saying you'll pray for them). Then you put a bigger sign on your front lawn for Obama which reads, "Literally, Figuratively, Intellectually and Spiritually Superior."