Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Brains! Need Brains! [Obama versus Palin]
Wizbang ^ | September 6, 2010 | Jay Tea

Posted on 09/06/2010 12:26:07 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

OK, I think it's time to spell out just why so many people on the right come across as "anti-intellectual" or "anti-elite." And the reason is based on one of the most fundamental rules of science.

Supporters of President Obama like to tout his intellectual credentials. Columbia, Harvard Law, Harvard Law Review Constitutional Law scholar, and so on. (Just don't look too carefully for actual proof of his intellect -- don't ask for his grades, his writings, or stuff like that. Just take his success there at face value.)

They especially like comparing his resume' to that of Sarah Palin's -- four schools, five years, one degree.

Obviously, Obama is a genius and Palin is a moron. Especially if you listen to them speak -- one's a gifted orator (especially with TOTUS at hand), the other's a down-home country bumpkin hick.

Here's where that fundamental rules of science kicks in:

Experiment always trumps theory.

Where Palin absolutely demolishes Obama is in reality. He's got the fancy certificates; she's got a Ph.D. from the School Of Hard Knocks.

Yes, she went to four schools over five years for her degree. That's because she paid her own way through, worked various jobs to earn her tuition, and went where she could afford to.

Obama dabbled briefly in the private sector, a low-end drone at a trading house. Then he discovered the delight of the public payroll.

Palin, on the other hand, helped start a couple of businesses. She's had to make -- and live within -- budgets. She's had to make payroll.

Obama went into public service as a career. Palin went in because she saw things that needed fixing, kept finding more things that needed fixing, and walked away when her enemies found a way to threaten her family's security.

Obama needs to be in office. Palin doesn't.

The fundamental difference between a lifetime academician and theorist like Obama and a lifetime pragmatist like Palin is that Obama is fundamentally incapable of recognizing and admitting that his theories might be wrong. If they don't work, then obviously he didn't explain it well enough, he didn't spend enough money, or the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy sabotaged it.

Palin, on the other hand, understands The First Rule Of Holes and The Definition Of Insanity. When something doesn't work, she looks at it again and, if necessary, tosses it aside.

It's not that the right is anti-intellectual. The right reveres great intelligence. But, to reveal my Dungeons and Dragons background, it also understands that Intelligence is different from Wisdom. And in a crunch, we'll trust Wisdom over Intelligence -- because Intelligence unchecked by Wisdom leads to hubris.

And in the hands of the powerful, hubris often leads to catastrophe. In Obama's case, it's clear that his inability to conceive that he might be wrong tends to make him "double down on stupid" -- witness how his reaction to the overwhelming public disapproval of ObamaCare (to the point where Democrats who voted for it are refusing to acknowledge their support for it) means, to him, that he has to just keep on trying to "educate" us about how wonderful it is. He simply can't grasp that a lot of us already know the details, and still reject it.

It's not the intelligence that turns off conservatives. It's arrogant, all-knowing intelligence untempered by wisdom and experience that turns us off. And we're not that respectful of those who worship that strain of intelligence.

It's a pity that the left can't accept that there is a diversity of intelligence, and the best minds embrace more than one strain.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Education; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: 2010; 2012; democrats; elitists; obama; obamacare; palin; sarahpalin
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 last
To: onyx

Yes...slow down she should in her speeches and let people clap is good ..... but this “I don’t like her sound” is over the top...she is a woman for God sakes, women have higher pitch tones in large arenas or audiences, if you hear Sarah on a radio show or a normal size room, it’s fine.


41 posted on 09/06/2010 6:57:15 PM PDT by Bigtigermike
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: Bigtigermike

She doesn’t cackle and she doesn’t have cankles either.


42 posted on 09/06/2010 6:58:55 PM PDT by onyx (If you support Sarah and want on her Ping List, let me know!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: onyx
If Sarah decides to run, I'm think she will win. Hopefully she will run.

As for Obama, he not only looks like a dog, but he is pissing and crapping on a lot of people, lol.

43 posted on 09/06/2010 7:10:23 PM PDT by Victoria Delsoul
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: azishot
Who paid for BO’s education? Nevermind.

Looks like the Saudis did. Other than that, there really are no records that he was really educated at all. He may have spent time at those 'neighborhoods'. The records are mostly sealed by the Won's executive order. I can't stand to listen to the stupid, marxist SOB.

44 posted on 09/06/2010 7:16:16 PM PDT by RedMDer (Throw them all out in 2010... Forward with Confidence! Forward!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: DTogo
It would serve her VERY well to disappear and take a week or two of intense speech/speaking courses where she'd lose to nasal tones, properly adjust her inflections, and generally "get the balance right"

I think she speaks for most of the American people and does so very well. Get rid of the 'ruling class' is what I say.

Go Sarah! Great job!

45 posted on 09/06/2010 7:22:58 PM PDT by RedMDer (Throw them all out in 2010... Forward with Confidence! Forward!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: melsec
I love Sarah's sincere, thoughful, nail-on-the-head speaking cadence and delivery. There is no show, no guile, no caprice, just what-you-see-is-what-you-get real. Truth. Wisdom.

When the 2012 Presidential Debates arrive, Palin is going to clean O'Bozo's clock. You heard it first right here... bookmark it if you like. Know that I will.

;-/

46 posted on 09/06/2010 7:27:28 PM PDT by Gargantua (Palin-Bachman 2012... just call it "Pa-Bach" :-)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: gitmo

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” King quoted and gave credit to Parker but Obama thought it was a King quote and liked it so he credited it to King!It is clear Obama is a superficial student of King!


47 posted on 09/06/2010 7:35:01 PM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our Country)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Victoria Delsoul

LOL. Yep.


48 posted on 09/06/2010 7:39:30 PM PDT by onyx (If you support Sarah and want on her Ping List, let me know!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: onyx

This is such a non-issue. Most other people just show their diploma from the school they graduated from. Lots of people transfer around and it doesn’t matter to employers. They just want to know where you graduated.

Unless you’re Sarah Palin/Republican, of course.... LOL.


49 posted on 09/06/2010 10:54:02 PM PDT by Melian ("There is only one tragedy in the end, not to have been a saint." ~L. Bloy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Melian
Oh yeah, and it's just amazing that we've not been able to see his transcripts, but we've recently heard from a classmate that Obama wasn't a brilliant student at all...lol. I've never bought into the media hype that he's ‘smart’ - or well read, because he lacks intellectual curiosity and he can't pronounce the easiest of words, like corpsman, “coprseman.”

- - - - - - - - - - -
Where Palin absolutely demolishes Obama is in reality. He's got the fancy certificates; she's got a Ph.D. from the School Of Hard Knocks.

Obama dabbled briefly in the private sector, a low-end drone at a trading house. Then he discovered the delight of the public payroll.

Palin, on the other hand, helped start a couple of businesses. She's had to make — and live within — budgets. She's had to make payroll.

Obama went into public service as a career. Palin went in because she saw things that needed fixing, kept finding more things that needed fixing, and walked away when her enemies found a way to threaten her family's security.

- - - - - - - - - - -

It's a delightful article/column.

50 posted on 09/06/2010 11:03:51 PM PDT by onyx (If you support Sarah and want on her Ping List, let me know!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Bigtigermike

Personally I don’t give a rats a#se how she sounds but you are naive to the max if you don’t realize that this sort of thing can loose or gain votes based merely on the appearance or sound of a person. Sadly most voters go on their impression of a person not the actual policies. A bit of help in this area could be worth a wining margin if she stands for President - is that not worth considering. BTW most people would have seen her speaking outside and yelling at the microphone - a radical change can be made to this just by using good fold back and getting her to have the microphone higher - not much to ask!

Mel


51 posted on 09/07/2010 2:29:49 AM PDT by melsec
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Gargantua

Hope she does!

Cheers

Mel


52 posted on 09/07/2010 2:30:54 AM PDT by melsec
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: melsec
fold back

For Americans, that's "stage monitors"

53 posted on 09/07/2010 2:34:17 AM PDT by Chunga (I Have Supported J.D. Since The Day He Announced)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Excellent analysis


54 posted on 09/08/2010 9:45:55 AM PDT by hattend (Like a termite to wood, Obama only wants to destroy - Mark Levin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson