If there’s one thing the election of Barack Obama has changed it’s our view of intelligence. Suddenly “smart” is cool again. To which I say, thank God. After eight years of a President who wore his academic mediocrity like a badge of honor we finally woke up and elected the smartest guy in the room instead of…
…the guy you’d rather have a beer with.
I shuddered as I typed those words. I also wonder how we dared criticize children who chose hipness over nerdy. Did we think they weren’t paying attention? Did we really believe we could mock intellect-chew-als and sneer at Harvard graduates and that a lot of kids wouldn’t absorb the message? Now, I’ll admit I’m over generalizing, but when an entire political party equates intelligence to elitism, embraces the fact that our President is academically unexceptional and offers up Sarah Palin with a straight face how far have we lowered the bar?
Fortunately, the American people have woken up. We are facing a crumbling economy, historic job losses and a healthcare system in tatters. We can no longer afford average. We need exceptional, and we don’t only need the exceptional in government. We need it in our classrooms, our homes… our country.
On November 4th smart beat stupid. Let the Intellectual Renaissance begin.
Now, go ahead and call me an elitist. I’ll just take it as a compliment!