Does Dumb Matter?
By Robert Ringer
The bloggers (and media) are still saturating the planet with stories of Sarah Palin’s stupidity. So much so that she should start demanding royalties. So, are they right? Is Sarah Palin just plain stupid? Or is she smart but ignorant (uninformed)?
Here’s an interesting question: If Sarah Palin really is stupid or ignorant — or both — does that necessarily mean that she’s not a good, or even great, leader? Going back to the days of Henry Ford, we’ve heard tale after tale of people who lacked intelligence but were great leaders.
Now that the media has forced me to think about it, based on my own experience, I’m inclined to believe that leadership has little to do with either intelligence or knowledge. To be sure, both are assets, but not essential to the job of a leader.
When I think of great leaders, two essential characteristics come immediately to mind. One is the ability to pick employees or aides who are smarter than they are. The second is the self-assured confidence that motivates others to follow them. Their enthusiasm rubs off on those around them.
In the modern era, Ronald Reagan is perhaps the best example of this phenomenon. I never saw him as a genius, but just about everyone to the right of Rev. Wright saw him as a great leader.
So, if Sarah Palin really is dumb, it begs the question: Does it matter?
Why did her 1982 high school teammates elect a dumb person to be captain of the Wasilla Warriors’ state championship basketball team? Why was the same dumb person later elected mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? And why was this dummy elected governor of the state of Alaska in 2006? Finally, why, as late as November, 2008 (before the national media got its trash-Sarah machine rolling at full blast) did her Alaskan constituents still give her an 83 percent approval rating?
Of course, there’s another possibility: What if Sarah Palin is smart — and knowledgeable — but simply isn’t adept at expressing herself? In other words, maybe, due to a lack of verbal skills, she just comes across as Chauncey Gardiner or Forrest Gump but is really Laura Ingraham upstairs?
… a lot to think about if SP should decide to light the far-left’s hysteria fuse and run for president. I don’t now what the outcome would be, but it sure would be fun to watch the progressives choke on their collective apoplexy. And the Peggy Noonan Chapter of Fairleigh Dickinson University Alumni frantically raise money to buy airtime for their Sarah-is-a-dumb-hick ads.
Hmm … since the current system of electing a president doesn’t work (you did notice, didn’t you?), why don’t we just try something new and have everyone vote for the best-looking person in the field. That way, we’d be certain to get a chance to see if Sarah Palin is smart, stupid, ignorant, defective in expressing herself — or just a great leader.
Wouldn’t it be fascinating to find that all she has to offer is an incredible amount of common sense and the ability and courage to apply that common sense to all issues, large and small? What if the first thing she said as president was that she is going to fight to cut out every government program not called for in the Constitution?
If that’s what you call dumb, you can be certain that an awful lot of Americans would favor dumb leaders. I know, I know … probably a fantasy … but please don’t awaken me from my dream.
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Copyright © 2012 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. He has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, The Tonight Show, Today, The Dennis Miller Show, Good Morning America, The Lars Larson Show, ABC Nightline, and The Charlie Rose Show, and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.
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Dumb? Are you KIDDING me? I’m a professional comic and speaker, and for Mrs. Palin to lace coherent sentences together without pausing(and still make sense) is nothing short of brilliant. Even Reagan didn’t do that without his notes.
Her timing needs some work, but other than that, this woman is no idiot.
I bet you could make a list of about 100 people who are great leaders that don’t have college degrees or Ivy League credentials. In fact, I would bet that MOST great leaders don’t have degrees because they are too busy making things happen. Bill Gates comes to mind(Geez, he should have stayed in school! What an idiot).
Are you buying into this MSM dribble Mr. Ringer?
I think the question about Sarah that is more cogent is: Can the media EVER depict a non-liberal, non-left leaning, non-”progressive”, non-Pro-Choice WOMAN as anything other than “DUMB”? Of course not! To do so would fly in the face of their reality: ‘THOSE women are the minions of the male misogynous monogamous mis-informed maladjusted minority… yeah, I know, too many “M’s”.’ (Interestingly if you leave off the apostrophe in “M’s” what do you get?)
The media and, of course by extension, all “enlightened” women are, as previously stated, and I do like to repeat myself, liberal, left leaning, progressive, pro-choice, proponents. Far be it from them to positively acknowledge ANY woman who has been successful in life at ANY endeavor, other than looking frumpy, who fits not their mould… I thought ‘mold’ might offend some. Who was it that lambasted Condi Rice, and in God’s name, why, at her confirmation hearings? It was none other than a woman; Rep. Barbara Boxer, hermself… oops… from California! I would think that the enlightened women of the world would revel in the appointment of possibly the MOST INTELLIGENT person to be appointed by a president since Henry Kissinger?! Instead they hurled insults and epithets at her and General Powell… okay, I’m getting a little off of subject… not because of her abilities, but because of her alignment! That did not occur with the “wise hispanic woman”.
Let’s face it, if Americans are actually falling for this, maybe it’s not Sarah who’s looking so dumb. Maybe its us… uh, that is, them.
To quote a prominent person played by a progressive performer; “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Communication skills are of paramount importance if Sarah Palin is to make any positive impact on the political or cultural scene. When she is not giving a formal speech, such as her excellent speech at the Republican National Convention, she has a very perplexing habit of speaking in a “stream of consciousness” syle. She could be a powerhouse if she would hire a coach to assist her in presenting her ideas in a crisp and clear manner.
“Of course, there’s another possibility: What if Sarah Palin is smart — and knowledgeable — but simply isn’t adept at expressing herself?” Agreed. Attending to just one possible manifestation of intelligence can lead to radical misunderestimation. Plenty of glib fast-talkers don’t know the first thing about Economics 101, and at least some of Palin’s intuitions are far superior (though she also falls prey to radical inconsistencies). During the campaign, every Palin flub was pounced on by the whole media, even as most manifestations of Biden’s foot-in-mouth disease were discreetly overlooked.
First off…Just what is “dumb”? How do you define this label?
Second…I think that Ron Paul Ph.D. expressed “Constitutionalism” for his campaign theme. He…in my opinion…is a very smart man. Unfortunately Americans are not smart. Most, by definition, are average.
As I was lambasted on another blog for writing this truth, an axiom, by definition, I admonish you to read the following carefully. Roughly 85% of all Americans have average OR below average Intellegenge Quotients. To me the average is not all that impressive. They merely parrot what they are told.
Twitter is an thinly disquised insult to the American people. They limit one’s ability to formulate logical arguments. The responses are called “tweets”. The insult is that Americans are birdbrains.
With all of this stated in my UNPROFESSIONAL OPINION I believe that Sarah Palin is Mentally Ill. Her speeches were demonstrative of the disconnected thinking typical of schizophrenics. (George W. Bush was also somewhat Mentally Ill. His inability to order his thoughts was also demonstrative of an underlying psychosis.)
So I am astonished that John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. (I was prepared to vote against Obama until that happened.) John McCain was elected Senator in the same election cycle as Evan Mecham was elected Governor of Arizona.
Evan Mecham was Mentally Ill. He suffered from delusions of persecution and paranoia. He was the first Governor of the Great State of Arizona to be Impeached and Convicted. Arizona politics was in turmoil long after that election. John McCain did not learn from the lessons of the past. That is what prompted me to vote against him. It was a poor judgement call.
Mentally Ill people do not make good, effective leaders. What amazes me is that the average cannot discern the underlying psychosis. That is why the decisions that the average make in electing leaders is somewhat illogical. High approval ratings of Mentally Ill leaders are demonstrative that the population are easily swayed. Yet the result turns out poorly.
How did Evan get elected in Arizona? Were we fried out on drugs??? Was it, possibly, too much sun causing brain damage and inflicting a mass psychosis? Perhaps low voter turnout because of apathy? I DON’T KNOW. (I learned a valuable lesson…I did not vote in November, 1986 because I didn’t give him a chance of winning. I was wrong. So now I vote every election.)
Ron Paul was the logical choice and we failed to make it. Even with Obama we are still at costly wars and spending more than we take in. The word “prudence” is no longer in the politician’s dictionary. Now that is psychotic. May the Good Lord help us.
All we have to do is watch the movie “Idiocracy.” The answers are are all there.
Corrections for tall tom;
1) Ron Paul is an MD, not a Ph.D. He was a practicing gynecologist for over 30 years.
2) Diagnosing a person as mentally ill SHOULD be left to the professionals. Many perfectly sane individuals fit into your “category” of mentally ill. They are mostly criminals and politicians. Apparently anyone who doesn’t use your logic is mentally ill. See # 4, below.
3)If you want to view a disjointed individual, watch Mr. BHO speak live without a teleprompter. His “uh” meter goes from 1:20 uh:words to 1:10 depending on whether he is lying or not.
4) Thank you for voting for the most recent mentally ill person to hold office. Think: Dumb or Dumber? How about; Stupid is as stupid does?
5) I have known Ron Paul for about 25 years. He is a very nice person and has good fiscally conservative values. He is, however, an ostrich when it comes to international and national security issues. His greatest weakness, in my opinion as one of his constituents, is that he does not represent the interests of his district. He votes no on every bill that passes through the congress. This effectively wastes my vote on every issue. We agree on nearly every issue, with the notable exceptions I have mentioned. I do NOT want a president who has his head in the sand when he states that “If we leave them alone, they’ll leave us alone” when dealing with the 240 million Muslims who have declared war on not only our country, but our way of life! They have not left us alone and they will not leave us alone and we should take THEM at their word on this!
You obviously have a negative opinion of President Bush, but the Bush Doctrine is responsible for us not fighting a guerrilla war in this country! It is responsible for keeping Americans from acts of violence at the hands of Muslims WORLDWIDE for the longest period in over 35 years! Dr. Paul would have negated the positive effects of that policy overnight were he elected President! Unfortunately the Republican Party could not present a strong enough candidate to counter the Democrat media machine. Mr. Obama was not elected on substance but, rather by default, as you have clearly shown. Bad choice on your part.