"Of all the people you mentioned, Condi and Newt are undoubtedly the most intelligent and informed-proof that Ivy League status means zilch when it comes to actual ability."
I don't doubt their intelligence, but, by what objective proof do you have they are the most intelligent?
I am sorry you are an atheist. So you think all of these complex life systems, the interstellar perfection required for life, are all just chance events? I suggest you know little about how complex life really is. By comparison, manmade objects are before primitive.
Heck, nature in general...not just life...right?