I don’t like the hockey mom.
I realize that what some people like about Sarah Palin is that she seems like an average American.
What I don’t get is why that’s a good thing.
Don’t get me wrong. America is a great country and the Americans sometimes amaze me with their strength. But the average American isn’t wowing me with average intelligence. Can I say that? The average person is just that – average.
I don’t want the country being run by someone with average intelligence. (I know she’s a VP candidate but let’s face it…with a 1 in 3 chance of McCain dying in his first term, I have to consider the possibility of her being President…and anyway, I want someone smart for VP, too.) And I don’t get these McCain comments in which he says that Palin won’t impress anyone with her Harvard degree because she doesn’t have one. Okay, so, when did having a degree from Harvard become some badge that indicated the recipient was no longer human and down to Earth? Did I miss something? And you know what, John McCain? I’m not so stupid that I’d vote for someone purely because they had a Harvard degree so don’t insult my conscious choice of who I want to be President by reducing it to where someone went to school. That’s ridiculous. You don’t have to go to Harvard to be smart but it helps to be smart to go to Harvard. Which brings me to my next point:
I want someone smart running the country. I want someone infinitely smarter than me. I don’t want Joe six-pack running the country. Is that wrong of me? I don’t even want an average dentist working on my teeth or an average contractor working in my home. We don’t trust average Americans to run our companies and just become CEO – why the hell would we want an average person running the freakin’ country? I don’t get it.
I wonder if people in other countries are looking at this campaign saying, “Look at those Americans. They don’t even care if someone is smart…they are going to elect this woman because they think she is pretty. Quick, hand me something that glitters…they will make it Secretary of State.”
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Just a random attorney writing about daily life with Little Filthy, my rotten dog.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Amen, Random. I wrote much the same thing in a recent post. I’m pretty damn smart, but I, like you, want someone even smarter than me running the country. I want an overachiever in the Oval Office. I don’t want to feel like I’m smarter than the person running the country. Or waiting in the wings to take over.
We tried the “folksy, one-of-us” route with Bush. What a freakin’ disaster that turned out to be.
And dammit, I want a president that can pronounce the word “nuclear.”
October 9th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Awesome post. You can *totally* say that. I read someone’s blog today about a kid on a schoolbus who told her kid that if Obama was elected, all girls would be forced to walk around fully covered except for their eyes. Yep, that average American is really well-educated and informed on the issues…
October 9th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I agree wholeheartedly.
If this culture of “averageness” and “joe sixpacks” continues, pretty soon we’re going to end up like characters in Mike Judge’s “Idiocracy” and we’ll all sit around watching this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hj_7U40z5I
October 9th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I have been saying this for weeks.
I don’t think I could be President. I think the president should be someone who is smarter than me.
I am confident that I am smarter than George W. and Palin. Put together.
What are we, a bunch of magpies?
October 9th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
That’s exactly what people I’ve talked to in Europe think about Americans. They’re very interested in this election, and can’t understand 1) How we could have voted Bush into office in the first place, and 2) How McCain even have a chance of winning.
Of course, I also saw an American dude today who had a little silver gun as an earring (http://www.flickr.com/photos/avitania/2927891372/). Oy, vey.
October 9th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Bev: BRAWNDO: It’s got electrolytes!
October 10th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Well said! Can you imagine any position where being average would be a selling point you’d use? Crazy. If I was a McCain supporter, I’d be very pissed off by his choice to run with her.
October 12th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Tina Fey for President!
October 13th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Beth – That folksy thing is annoying as hell to me. BOO!
PT-LawMom – thenkew. Good God, I’d ask where the hell kids hear this crap but I’m afraid of the answer.
Bev – You and Chris find the craziest stuff on Youtube. That just reminded me…I’m going to go look for that “paper go down da hooooooole” video right now.
KT – I’d crap my pants if I was elected VP because I’d know damn well I wasn’t qualified. The magpie comment made me grin.
Avitania – YES. When I was in Europe, people did ask why we voted in Bush. Hell if I know.
Krystie Lee – I would be, too. It was, in the long run, a rather insulting choice meant to pander to women and the everyday-man as if both are too stupid to realize that she’s too stupid.
Begijn – YES. But what would happen to 30 Rock??
October 14th, 2008 at 3:57 am
I’m not even American, but it concerns me that someone like her could one day run the free world.
At least she gives Tina Fey good material. I have a girl crush on Fey.
October 18th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I admit that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, I went to community college followed by a modest sized, AVERAGE university. All in all I think that I would do a better job as VP than Palin would. I find her to be very simple minded, and she doesn’t think quickly on her feet.
At least I can say the word Nuclear, and I could honestly answer that I read a newspaper on a regular basis.
I’m confused… how did this happen? If we’re not careful in four years we’ll have our choice between Paris Hilton and Britney Spears for President because they’re like pretty, and rich, and like know lots of cool stuff about important things.
Maybe I’ll just leave the country…
October 20th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
You’re my first blog i’m catching up on since my vacation!! And I see Sarah Palin as a last ditch grasp for firm ground as the McCain campaign sinks into quicksand. You said it, we need someone Smarter, Stronger & Faster (bionic) than the average American. Shoot, if we’re gonna elect someone on her cuteness factor, Tina Fey is cuter and younger…