David Corn: Palin a "Brainiac"? Then She's Really Dangerous

[babylonsister]

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/davidcorn/2008/10/palin-a-brainiac-then-shes-rea.html

Palin a "Brainiac"? Then She's Really Dangerous

By David Corn | October 29, 2008 11:11 AM


So Sarah Palin is a "brainiac." That's what Elaine Lafferty proclaims. And the reason her proclamation is the least bit interesting is that Lafferty is a Democrat and the former editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine, the feminist journal. In a piece she posted yesterday, she notes she has "worked as a consultant with the McCain campaign since shortly after Palin's nomination" and has traveled with Palin on her "cramped" campaign plane.

I have no idea how a onetime feminist activist, a former journalist, and a present Democrat came to be working for an antiabortion, media-blasting Republican vice presidential candidate. But Lafferty wants us to know that Palin possesses "a mind that is thoughtful, curious, with a discernible pattern of associative thinking and insight. Palin asks questions, and probes linkages and logic that bring to mind a quirky law professor I once had."

This is troubling. Why? Because I had assumed that some of the idiotic and false statements Palin had made on the campaign trail were due to a certain amount of ignorance on her part. If she is as smart as Lafferty says, then she would be more dangerous if elected. No intelligent person would say some of the following things, unless she was purposefully trying to fool people.

* To boost her foreign policy cred, Palin said "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska," and she maintained that she had experience dealing with trade delegations, presumably those from Russia. But according to her calendars, she never met with a Russian official and rarely met with any foreign officials to discuss trade or anything else.

* Palin repeatedly said she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere--even though many news organizations reported she had been a supporter of the project before Congress soured on the project. Why would an intelligent person keep repeating the same mistake?

* Palin said Barack Obama has been "palling around with terrorists"--using the present tense and the plural to hype Obama's past casual association with just one ex-radical. Her intelligence certainly did not motivate her to be precise.

* Palin equates Obama's tax plan--which calls for raising taxes on the rich and providing tax breaks to the middle class--as "socialism," even though progressive taxation has been law of the land for decades and the top rates Obama proposes would still be below the top rates of the Reagan era. Does this intelligent person not know these basic details? Plus, Palin presides over the most socialistic state in the country. Alaska assumes that its oil wealth is collectively owned by the citizens of the state. It allows big oil companies to exploit the resources, it taxes these companies, and then it distributes this money to its residents. Talk about sharing the wealth.

* After an independent investigation in Alaska declared that Palin had violated the state's ethics law, she claimed that she had been exonerated. It was as if she could not understand the straightforward language of the report.

There are other examples of non-brainiac statements Palin has made. So the question for Lafferty is, if Palin is so intelligent, why is she making all these misleading and false statements? Lafferty writes, "I saw a woman who knows exactly who she is. Well, she does seem to know exactly what she's doing. But there is this: if she's sooooo smart, why has her approval rating plummeted sooooo much? Please, no blaming the media.) Lafferty notes she does not know if Palin will triumph next week but that she is sure that Palin's "time will come." If it does, it will not be because of Palin's overwhelming intelligence, it will be due to her ability to play politics as usual--and as calculatingly--as any other pol.

[enki23]

1. ...says the "feminist" who would foist sarah fucking palin on the nation? spare me. spare us all.

.

[Overseas]

2. I'd just conclude Lafferty had lost her mind or been paid a handsome sum

and not bother writing the story, David.

It would be more interesting to look into what happened to Lafferty. Maybe she was tired of not getting much notice as a Democrat and so she's DESPERATE TO BE A BIG FISH IN A SMALL POND.

[On the Road]

3. Palin Certainly Has No Problems with Repeating False Information

It's hard to put down to ignorance. Would seem to be more related to indifference to the truthfulness of what she says.

Although, given the topic, I would have expected Corn to be more accurate about this:

Palin said Barack Obama has been "palling around with terrorists"--using the present tense and the plural ....

"Has been palling around with" is present perfect progressive tense. (Which, come to think of it, is an ideal tense for Obama to be using.)

[babylonsister]

4. Oh, my! I hope you

don't dissect my sentences like that. :hide:

But I do enjoy that tense!

[On the Road]

5. I Actually Had to Look It Up

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esltensverb.html

I just knew it wasn't present tense.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. She wants to digitize and destroy every inhabited planet in the Universe?

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. Obama made the Joke he is from Krypton so who knows?

I'm sure DC comixs can clear this up.

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. Lafferty sounds like a PUMAtroll

And if that's the case, she doesn't possess a functional brain herself, so she's certainly in no position to call anyone else a "brainiac"

[Shakespeare]

11. That's exactly what she is.

She's also a fucking idiot.

[EFerrari]

9. There is a grain of truth here. She may not be information smart

but she's a world class manipulator and you need smarts to do that.

She is dangerous for that reason alone, imo.

[Shallah Kali]

10. You don't need high IQ or common sense to be cunning

look at w. She can hire someone to do the heavy thinkin' for her while she racks up the damage.

[progressivebydesign]

12. OMG - and I thought the PUMAs were all republicans trolls. n/t