The heart of the matter - black or white
The New York Times > Opinion > Guest Columnist: Breaking the Silence
Great column - but the best part of it is a quote that I somehow missed from Obama's speech at the DNC:
"Americans suffer from anti-intellectualism, starting in the White House," Mr. Obama went on. "Our people can least afford to be anti-intellectual."
That is the real sin of the Bush presidency - that he has played to that sentiment and that he is the embodiment of that anti-intellectualism. George Bush is not stupid - he is willfully ignorant - in fact he takes pride in his ignorance, telling us what he hasn't read and bragging about following his gut - or worse, HIS god. I can't imagine anyone saying they wanted a brain surgeon who was ignorant, but the American public seems to love a president who is ignorant.
We underestimate George Bush when we say he's stupid - but never underestimate his ignorance. A lot's been made of him reading a children's book while the country was under attack. I doubt he was reading it at all. Reading books is something George Bush thinks children should do - not adults.
Posted by Greg Stone at August 1, 2004 05:24 AM