Gov. Perry Makes Light of Poor Grades in College, WaPo Tags Him 'Anti-Intellectual'
Covering Gov. Rick Perry's Wednesday morning speech to Liberty University students, Washington Post's Philip Rucker painted the Texas Republican as "anti-intellectual" for what amounts to a self-deprecating jokes about his grades in college:
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry offered himself here Wednesday as a decidedly anti-intellectual candidate, making light of flunking out of some of his classes at Texas A&M University, and instead casting his life and presidential aspirations in deeply spiritual terms.
[...]
Perry spoke of growing up with modest means in Paint Creek, Tex., of struggling academically in school and, in his late 20s, after he returned home from the Air Force, finding God.
[...]
As a student at Texas A&M, Perry said, it was “my heart’s content” to be a veterinarian. He worked for a vet every summer and took advanced science classes. But the dean of the veterinary school dashed his dreams.
“He said, ‘Son, I’m looking at your transcript. You want to be an animal science major,’” Perry joked. (Indeed, Perry’s transcript shows he received an “F” in organic chemistry, a “D” in veterinary anatomy and a “C" in animal breeding.”)
“Four semesters of organic chemistry made a pilot out of me,” Perry joked.
As he prepared for Wednesday’s visit, Perry said, “I got my Webster’s out and I just looked up the word ‘convocation’ to make sure I knew what I was walking into here.”
The title of the online article is "Perry casts himself as anti-intellectual, says his life shaped by faith." It remains to be seen if the Post's print edition softens the headline tomorrow to one that's much less loaded.
UPDATE (10:36 EDT, Sept. 15): Rucker's article made the front page of today's Post with the headline, "Perry says faith shapes his life." "GOP presidential hopeful casts himself as spiritual," added the subhead.
UPDATE/Clarification (11:49 EDT, Sept. 15): Today's front-page article by Rucker is not the same as yesterday's online story. Rucker shifted his focus today from Perry joking about his poor grades to a focus on Perry's discussion of his evangelical Christian faith in yesterday's address to Liberty students.
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Comments
Where's the army?
Submitted by CarlosS on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 5:51pm.
We have a candidate for president of the United States who hasn't hired an army of lawyers to hide his college transcripts..., hmm, what a refreshing idea
Obama had a 'D' average at ......
Submitted by jmigyanka@msn.com on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:12pm.
.....Columbia and was thrown out at Harvard because he was doing dope. GWB's GPA was twice as high as Obama's. And GWB did not receive tuition money from moooslems. Prove me wrong!.
I believe if he had been thrown out of Harvard
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:33pm.
for doing dope, he would not have received a degree from Harvard Law School. Which he did. So, on that count at least, you are wrong.
Jer
Well..
Submitted by retrocon on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:06pm.
With affirmative action rules the way they are at Ivy League colleges, being removed for doing dope is not a given.
Heck, with affirmative action rules the way they are at most liberal institutions, especially Harvard, getting kicked out probably does not preclude graduating, if you are part of a protected group.
retrocon...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 10:38pm.
What evidence do you have that affirmative action played any role in Gore's admission to Harvard?
Jer
update. retrocon...I hurriedly posted the foregoing as I was leaving to go to the grocery. On the way, I realized you were referring to Obama, not Gore. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
The evidence is as clear as
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:50am.
The evidence is as clear as Obama is.
Ah hah!
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 6:08am.
Well, checking the records, I see that after Obama was kicked out, he was rehabilitated by the Rev Wright and reinstated.
Perry's candor and humor is
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:15pm.
Perry's candor and humor is really appealing.
Jer
Yea, I agree especially when he tries to explain away his past
Submitted by lrgon on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:34pm.
*Gardacil man forces teen girls to take injections 'cause he hates the "Big C." That's the way to explain away the conservative principle that you don't use the force of the government to give them teenage girls an injection just so that a drug company can make more millions.
* "I only took five grand" from Merck. It's intersting that The Merck lobby man set up a PAC for Perry so there goes that "I can't be bought off cheap" retort!
*Those nasty rumors of crony capitalism that keep popping up over Perry's special account that he set up to lure big bucks to Texas. And then those bribed companies have the nerve to go the way of Solyndra!
* The Algore for president gig he got when he was a Democrat. He never got an endrosement from Reagan like Ron Paul did so he's going to claim that if Reagan did it so can he bit. well, Reagan really articulated the conservative position whereas Perry is just a bug on the windshield on the Gipper's jeep or Ron Paul's Ford pickup.
My comment is in response to this particular article
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:36pm.
and nothing else.
Jer
I don't bame you
Submitted by lrgon on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:47pm.
when Perry has such a handicap in the conservative principles department.
irgon there was an opt out
Submitted by Samshile on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:44pm.
or do you write for the NY Times? Opt out Opt out Opt out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that help?
The Legislature ultimately overturned Perry's order. As Perry mentioned in the debate, his executive order "allowed for an opt-out."
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/08/2396063/fact-checking-rick-perry-a...
Michele responded to that "opt out" feature
Submitted by lrgon on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:53pm.
by telling Perry to his collectivist face that there should have been an "opt in." Meaning that no executive nowhere in this land should be forcing kids to take a friggin shot of something that may harm them.
The Tex legislature overturned the Perry illegal executive order. And since when is a conservative suppose to use his executive pen to make law? The law making branch is in the legislatiive branch. If Perry wants to make or write laws he should be a state legislator not a Governor. The guv carries out the Legislature's laws. It ain't the other way around no matter how much you may admire Perry.
Samshile, on that Fact check link at the Miami Herald
Submitted by lrgon on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:08pm.
Quote: " As PolitiFact Texas reported in 2010, however, some private schools in Texas do not accept those forms, meaning that for some Texas girls, the executive order could have effectively served as a mandate."
The word "mandate" doesn't sound like an opt out. Bachmann said that parents would have to jump through hoops to "opt out' their kids. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/08/2396063/fact-checking-rick-perry-a...
Even a benevolent dictator would not do that to innocent children. A ruthless dictator would. But an ambitious politician would confound the "opt out " paper work process in order to grab as many kids as possible in the vaccination scam. In the process lining the pockets of the ruthless drug company that would pay off in spades later as a politcal PAC.
I realize you hate Perry, but...
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 7:15am.
A ruthless dictator would not have dropped it after hearing about how the population thought it was a bad idea.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
We Have Proven Conservatives Running
Submitted by SimJim on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 11:02am.
Why would I support a supposed conservative who thinks for one second the government should be mandating Gardisil for children? We have Bachmann, Cain, and Santorum who all seem to live and breath conservatism. Why take a chance on George Bush II when we have proven conservatives in the race?
Think about it
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 1:27pm.
Bachmann - a Representative with scant little executive experience.
Cain - Great, he is a successful businessman. Leadership in government is a TEENSY bit different.
Santorum - An ex-Senator. The ONLY Senator who was worth a damn in the Presidency out of the three we have had over the past 100 years was Kennedy. The other two that came out of the Senate and into the White House have proven to be the worst possible alternatives - one is considered by historians to be among the two worst presidents we have ever had, PERIOD.
Again, people can say what they want about Perry - I haven't decided myself on who to support in the primaries - but the one thing good that came of the Gardasil thing was this: the people said NO, Perry said "OK, I'll drop it". I'd rather have a politician who will actually LISTEN to people rather than shove things down people's throats that they don't want.
Curious, when a school district mandates vaccinations for children when going to school - do you show you local school district the same level of outrage?
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
and..
Submitted by kata on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:46pm.
your choice for candidate would be...?
George Washington
Submitted by lrgon on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:56pm.
would be my choice if God would bring him back from the grave. He could straighten out this country. But looking around at my conservative friends they probably would not vote for him for being too conservative.
since our honored First President isn't in the running...
Submitted by kata on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:06pm.
did you have a second choice?
I really don't think you're interested in my choice for prez.
Submitted by lrgon on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:17pm.
However , I think that if we elected another 50 to 75 more conservatives to congress and these conservatives possessed a darn good grasp of the Constitution, and would honor it, that would make me happy. In the long run, a congress that sticks to its oath to obey and defend the Constitution would serve the country better.
Thanks for asking. Whom may I ask is your choice for congressman in your district?
Actually I am
Submitted by kata on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:30pm.
curious. Not sure why you'd think otherwise?
My current congressman is Dave Reichert. I am not a huge fan. He's a glossy moderate Republican DC politician that's been in that position since we moved here. Being the very liberal state that Wa. is, I consider myself lucky that my rep is even a tiny bit conservative. I am a small red dot in big blue sea. My vote doesn't even register on the radar.
Keep the Faith Kat...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:02pm.
...I live in NE Tacoma and am still trying to figure out Dino Rossi can increase his appeal with the block of liberal voters that reside in cemetaries and win an election in the "Everblue State".
ah!
Submitted by kata on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 2:09pm.
greetings fellow red dot. Are your children enjoying their extended summer vacation? :/
Reactionary
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 7:17am.
Unfortunately for you George Washington would be a GREAT choice IF this country was EXACTLY as it was in the 1790s. It simply isn't that way anymore. Time to join us in 2011 and stop being a reactionary.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
We know who his choice is, Kata.
Submitted by UpNorth on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:45pm.
"He never got an endrosement from Reagan like Ron Paul did".
well I'd suspected
Submitted by kata on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 2:08pm.
I was just wanting to draw out some conversation on it.
Irgon: Palin's "PopTech"
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 7:13am.
Not a single human being is good enough for Irgon, but he is attacking Perry the way Poppie attacked Palin. And it's idiotic.
1) Perry did NOT go forward with the requirement after the outcry from the public. Which is good: that shows me he listens to people.
2) THERE WAS AN OPT-OUT.
By the way, Ron Paul is not remotely a conservative. Rather, he is a reactionary.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Yeah, Ronpaul has so many admirable endorsements,
Submitted by UpNorth on Sat, 09/17/2011 - 12:24pm.
from the likes of Adam Kokesh and IVAW, Code Pink, and Stormfront. And, well, there is Barry Manilow.
Our brillant president...
Submitted by USMC8411 on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:17pm.
Hasn't produced a transcript, keeps getting foiled by the stupid, and racist TEA Party, hasn't put a pan on paper to save this Country, didn't take advantage of his 2 year head start owning the WH and both houses of congress, sets up a thin skinned "Start Snitchin'" site, tells the conservatives to tone down the rhetoric as he doubles down on hate speech, blames Bush for everything while extending every Bush policy he berated, abandons Israel, starts an illegal war in Libya where we now have troops after he swore none would go...
Not to mention the 57 to 59 states and the rest of his stupid gaffes listed right here on this site...
http://newsbusters.org/forum/topic-discussion/handy-reference-guide-obam...
A "D" student from Texas A &
Submitted by Rousse on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:17pm.
A "D" student from Texas A & M is a hundred times better than someone who has buried (he hopes) all of his academic records.
Organic Chemistry
Submitted by Rover on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:22pm.
ONE semester of Organic Chemisty turned a lot of my hair grey. I can't imagine four semesters, and having a hard time with it doesn't mean someone's anti-intellectual.
I'd challenge this "journalist" to pass ONE semester of O-chem. I'd bet he, as a journalism major, never had a course half as hard in his life.
I count myself *lucky* O-Chem didn't turn my hair grey.
Submitted by ghidorah15 on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:06pm.
It was arguably the most difficult course I've ever taken - I just could *not* get it. I don't blame the teacher, either - he was very enthusiastic and energetic on the subject, which was a welcome change from some teachers I'd had before. It was simply impossible, or near enough - and that was just one semester.
Honestly, courses like that make me glad I'm no longer in college. I just wish I hadn't taken out those student loans - I'm still trying to pay them back. Ah, well...as they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty.
Gov Perry vs Zero
Submitted by ricklail on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:22pm.
Let's see Obama's records. Only fair. Perry he had to be pretty sharp to fly a jet. All Obama ever flew was that Magic Carpet Ride when he was high.
http://thinkfree.freedomblogging.com/2011/08/30/obama-vs-perry-boys-will...
Al Gore - Nobel Prize winner,
Submitted by felizagain on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:23pm.
Al Gore - Nobel Prize winner, Academy Award Winner, Vice President of the U.S.A., Senator, Author, and the man who
lost the presidency because voters & chad counters did not cheat quite well enough, long enough.................................
Flunked out of divinity school.
Flunked out of law school.
Yale.
Harvard.
Yet, found time to invent the internet, and a ponzi scheme known as global warming, er', climate change.
Governor Perry is not my choice for the GOP nod.
But, I find his energy great fuel for the GOP party. Livened an otherwise lukewarm
campaign season. He has the job record of Texas as his #1 tool. Good.
His academic record is probably no better or worse than Al Gore or Dick Cheney or Jesse Jackson or
Joe Biden (who lied on the record about his formal grades & scholarship).
It's not an issue: we have the smartest man ever born in the White House, and he's managed to screw up
pretty much everything all by himself in 2 1/2 years.
Not exactly...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:12pm.
Gore enrolled in Vanderbilt Divinity School while working full time as a reporter for the Nashville Tennessean. He didn't complete several courses so the grades eventually were changed to "F's". He enrolled in Vanderbilt Law School but later dropped out when the 6th district Congressional seat opened up to which he was elected. Previously, he had attended and graduated from Harvard. As far as I know, he was never a student at Yale.
Gore is very intelligent, but was mostly an indifferent and underachieving student.
Jer
Albert Gore, Jr., is a damned---
Submitted by matthewdean on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:31pm.
liar, a damned fool, a liberal idiot, and a Democratic politician.
Wonder why he didn't complete the Divinity School classes?
Wonder if Al Jr. dropped out of Vandy Law School cuz Al Sr. had greased some wheels to get his son headed for his daddy's desired goal for Junior - the Oval Office.
"Gore is very intelligent, ---."
Sez you.
Al Gore, Jr. was raised breathing the stinking miasmic vapors of Washington, D.C., by his father; another in the very long list of career politicians who put their own personal well being light years ahead of the people who continually voted them into office.
Owl Gore was, is, and always will be, a rotten apple from a rotten tree; one that was rooted in, and thrived because of, the manure inherent in high level politics.
MD
Yeah and daddy probably kept
Submitted by ricklail on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:48pm.
Yeah and daddy probably kept him out of the infantry, armor, engineers or artillery where he had a chance of getting his butt shot. Let's not forget daddy was a racist. Tipper saw the light now when are all the gorebull warblers going to see the light?
Hate to disappoint you, rick...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 9:15pm.
but his daddy was not a racist.
Jer
Gore Sr. certainly wasn't a racist!
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:09pm.
Gore Sr. voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Mr. Gore probably knew better than "those people" what was good for them.
He lovingly engaged in a fillibuster against Civil Rights legislation. Again, doubtless because he was trying to protect "those people" from, I don't know, themselves, I guess.
In our next episode, we'll hear beautiful eulogies to Klansman Byrd from Presidents Obama and Clinton. Listen closely as Klansman Byrd is praised for recruiting murderers for the greater good.
Gosh, Cool...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:18pm.
What took you so long to post that historical tidbit once again? Why don't you fill in the massive holes in your narrative and then get back to us. Gore Sr was no racist.
Jer
But Jer
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:28pm.
My post specifically states Al Sr. was not a racist.
I have no idea what you're talking about. All I did was throw in a few facts (pesky things, those facts).
I think you may be reading more into my post than you are literally licensed.
I've just never read anything more than a self-serving explanation as to the reason for his vote against racial equality.
Gore Sr. did vote against racial equality, didn't he, Jer?
Is there some revisionist history to which we are suddenly privy?
But I'm still willing to agree with you he was no racist.
Besides, Jer
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:33pm.
Seems every time I log on lately, you're in a donnybrook with somebody over racism.
You need to get out of that "one trick pony" mode.
I was hoping you'd make a comment about Obama's plea today
"If you love me, you will help me pass this bill".
Talk like that doesn't turn your stomach just a little bit?
Seems like every time I log on lately, Cool...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:56pm.
Someone is flinging the race card:
*********************************
Yeah and daddy probably kept
Submitted by ricklail on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:48pm.
Yeah and daddy probably kept him out of the infantry, armor, engineers or artillery where he had a chance of getting his butt shot.
LET'S NOT FORGET DADDY WAS A RACIST...[My Caps]
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2011/09/14/gov-perry-makes-lig...
*********************************
I'm sorry if it bothers you that I respond to false accusations.
Jer
Jer
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:06am.
Don't you think that . . . MAYBE . . . there is a body of deeds, words, and votes recorded somewhere from which people can form their own opinions of Al Sr.?
Yes, it's accepted lore that all Southern Democrats were lockstep to a dying ideology and afraid to be the first to break ranks.
Mind if I reiterate the closing lines to "Stanzas on Freedom"? Or do you remember them?
Watch it, Cool---
Submitted by matthewdean on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:03am.
Jer's parents KNEW the Gores.
You have no idea who you're messing with, SON.
MD
Matthew, go harrass someone else.
Submitted by Jer on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:10am.
It's who you are. It's what you do.
But, I'm outta here for the night.
Jer
Indeed, Jer---
Submitted by matthewdean on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:54am.
but at least I own up to it.
What, again, is your liberal raison d'etre, on a conservative site?
Wouldn't be to look down your nose at conservatives who neither think, act, nor vote like you, would it?
Wouldn't be to act snide, snarky, or insulted all out of proportion when someone here disagrees with you about Owl Gore, now, would it?
Ol' Albert, Jr. Family man; husband (oops); respecter of womanhood, generally speaking; politician famous for the line "No controlling legal authority" reference money donations through Buddhist Temples; recipient of the Nobel Prize along with such highly deserving luminaries as Obama and Arafat; Eco Super Hero. Intelligence out the wazoo. And on and on and on.
Everyone needs someone to look up to, Jer, even if they have to get down in a hole to look upward at their chosen one.
Of course, looking up at Owl Gore from down below does allow you direct line of sight at his most prominent feature; both anatomically and character wise.
MD
Look Matthew....
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 9:13pm.
My parents knew the Gores. They didn't agree with their politics, but none of them are liars, damned fools, or liberal idiots. Nor is Al Jr a rotten apple from a rotten tree. I know your hatred of Democrats and liberals is boundless, but why don't you confine your slander and smears to the ones you can speak about with at least a trace of accuracy.
And, yes, Al Jr is very intelligent, as were his mother and father.
Jer
Look, Jer---
Submitted by matthewdean on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 9:31pm.
I don't give a shit if your parents knew the Gores, Tommy Lee Jones gave you the inside skinny on his college roommate, and Obama is your cousin.
You are a FULL-FLEDGED liberal apologist for all things Liberal or that involve sleazy Democratic politicians.
My "hatred" of Democrats and liberals is no more boundless than is your unlimited ability to suck up to and make excuses for them.
Because your parents "knew the Gores", your slavering slobbering over all things Gore is not only supposed to impress me - but it cancels out any possibility that my take on Owl Gore is in the realm of the possible?
You are a HOOT !!!
MD
Please point out my
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 9:52pm.
slavering slobbering over all things Gore. You can't and you won't because you've never sourced one single assertion in the two years you've been here. You simply imagine what you want to be true and then put it down in print without caring one whit whether it is even remotely factual.
Jer
Go back and read your own posts, Jer---
Submitted by matthewdean on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:29pm.
just north of here, reference slavering slobbering over Gore.
As a liberal, you would have all and sundry believe you are being a voice of reason and calm in all things Gore.
I see it as either trying to kiss his butt or trying to hide the dismal truth about the nimrod.
If you think that I am merely imagining what I say about Owl Gore because I "want it to be true", are you admitting that you either have not read the voluminous accounts - on these very threads - about this jerkwad's two-faced existence; or are you just being a good little liberal Democrat by repelling any and all conservative attempts at lobbing truth bombs at Gore's good ship Lollypop?
This burr you have up your ass about me sourcing my statements seems to be growing exponentially.
You might want to have your physician check that out.
MD
I've read them.
Submitted by Jer on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:05am.
You mean the part about his being very intelligent but an underachiever and indifferent student? THAT'S "slavering slobbering"?
Matthew, you're doing just fine here armed only with a keyboard, a thesaurus, an infinite supply of vitriol, and a callous disregard for facts.
Jer
Jer, was ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 1:05am.
"slavering slobbering" not sufficient to describe your devotion to Al, Jr., or are you saying that I overdid the description of your feelings for an old family acquaintance?
Help me out here, Jer.
All I have to work with is a keyboard, a thesaurus, an infinite supply of vitriol, and a callous disregard for liberals; be they phony assed politicians or merely the tools who love, worship, and adore them.
MD
none of them are liars
Submitted by Boudin on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 10:08pm.
From where I sit, GW is a scam, making Jr a liar. Being a warmer, I guess you wouldnt understand that?
Boudin..
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 10:35pm.
Get your facts straight, son. I've NEVER said I was a confirmed believer in AGW. More accusations based on presumptions rather than fact. Pretty sloppy posting technique.
Jer
Boudin---
Submitted by matthewdean on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:35pm.
Contrary to Jer's denials, it is obvious that he swears by AGW.
Al Gore -- Whatever or Whenever.
Know what I mean, SON? :o)
MD
Tell me...
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 7:21am.
They why do you slavishly back a man that believes with all his heart in AGW, and a political party which, for the most part, does the same?
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Unsane...
Submitted by Jer on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 3:26pm.
Wouldn't it make sense if I were "slavishly" backing a man who believes with all his heart in AGW, I too would be a staunch advocate for the theory with which that man is most prominently identified?
Jer
You have a point, BUT...
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 5:53pm.
Indeed, but why do you back the man? I'd 100% agree with you but you back the guy who has every imaginable thing invested in AGW.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
What do you mean by backing him?
Submitted by Jer on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 9:35pm.
If you mean by voting for him in 2000 and for Clinton and Gore in the 90's, then, yes, I backed him. But, since then I haven't exactly been going around beating the drum for Al Gore. I honestly haven't thought that much about him. Basically, I'm an agnostic when it comes to global warming--unconvinced one way or the other. I certainly don't revere him as a prescient genius and flawless Boy Scout, but I don't consider him to be a contemptible ogre either. [Just noticed what reversing the "o" and the "g" in "ogre" spells.]
Jer
Ergo, Gore = ogre---
Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 09/16/2011 - 1:41am.
Ok, Jer - I apologize for that one. :o)
I just couldn't stop myself.
MD
No apology necessary, md...
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 09/16/2011 - 4:53pm.
good one.
Jer
You claimed he wasnt a liar
Submitted by Boudin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 7:40am.
That makes you a warmer. He cant be honest, and peddle it can he?
So, Boudin...
Submitted by Jer on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 3:19pm.
Is it your position that every single person--scientist, professional, expert, or layperson--who believes in AGW is automatically, and for that reason alone, a liar? Is that really what you are suggesting?
How about those who believe Obama was born in Kenya? Are they all liars? Have you ever considered the possibility of an honest misinterpretation of evidence? A good faith but mistaken belief in a proposition?
Jer
btw...I apologize for addressing you as "son". I've just gotten very frustrated with people making assumptions about my beliefs based on what they 'think' my positions must be by putting me in some sort of liberal "box". Many of those stereotypical preconceptions are erroneous, and if you haven't noticed where I put something on the record in the past, simply ask me the question first before posting suppositions.
No,
Submitted by Boudin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 7:09pm.
Many were duped by Gore, and his lies. Gore is making profits, and is aware of the fraud associated with AGW, there for, he is a liar.
Obama hiding his BC, his own Grandmother saying he was born in Kenya, naturally had folk adding 1+1.
I've had my fill of "intellectuals".
Submitted by kata on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:43pm.
-
Anti Christian Bigotry
Submitted by Samshile on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 6:47pm.
This is rooted in: Anti Christian Bigotry. Intellectual: know-it-all
Not Anti-Intellectual
Submitted by Junk Science Skeptic on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:03pm.
Perry, and most of the rest of us, are not anti-intellectual, but anti-elitist.
All too often, people on both sides misuse the term "elite" when they are actually referring to something that is, or somebody who is, elitist. Similarly, I've never seen a person who could accurately be described as an actual intellectual use the term "anti-intellectual," so anybody using the term is attempting to flatter themselves at the expense of others.
To borrow a line from a Kansas song, "If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know."
Have to agree.
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:48pm.
I'm much more likely to use terms like "nihilist" or "relativist"--or "sophist" for that matter. The left strikes me as disingenuous quite often, glib or duplicitous, dogmatic . And none of those are good.
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't decide whether somebody is "fer" or "agin'" using brains, but analyze how well they use them in a particular case. And the case at hand where they are involving me to adopt their claims.
I'm fer intellect, myself.
A point can be made against so-called intellectual types,
Submitted by Clericus on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:13pm.
especially those with power. Academics and intellectuals have caused far more harm in this world than the average people they look down upon. As George Orwell explained, "Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them." The best leaders tend to be humble people of average intelligence who respect the Constitution and traditional values of this country.
I liked Perry's Ponzi scheme charcterization of social security
Submitted by lrgon on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 7:33pm.
in his book Fed Up and the other night during the debate. He should have kept it up and not backed down one iota from his very apt description of the failed government program.
Perry should quote Paul Krugman the famed Keynesian that essentially said Social Security was a Ponzi game. Using liberal Krugman would have deflected some of the flac he has gotten from both the Dems and Republicans.
Too bad Perry backed off the Ponzi Scheme description and moved back into the GOP/ Dem establishment line of "reforming " SS.
I agree. He shouldn't back down.
Submitted by BoilerFan on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:16pm.
Perry most definitely shouldn't back down on this issue. It's time to treat the American people like adults (as opposed to treating them like a bunch of thumb-sucking children) and have some honest conversations/debates about entitlement programs.
Advice from a genius.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 9:59am.
"All you need to succeed in life is a good sex drive and a sense of humor. Brains don't mean shit."
Capt. Tony Tarracino (a great American!)
All things considered, I think I've seen what "intelligent elitists" can do. I'll go with the Air Force pilot.
One thing about not being soooooo smart, and realizing it, is that you seek the advice and counsel of others who are very smart in their respective areas.
I think it was Will Rogers who said,"Everybody is ignorant; just about different things." I don't think that Bambi feels that applies to him.
Degrees from Ivy League
Submitted by BoilerFan on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:14pm.
Degrees from Ivy League schools don't mean squat if you learn the wrong lessons or lack a proper balance between academic knowledge and real world knowledge.
Including our present POTUS, our last four presidents earned at least one degree (undergraduate, graduate or law degree) from one or more Ivy League institutions of "higher learning" over the course of their academic careers. And look at where we are today. Are we supposed to go even further in that direction and go for yet another pseudo-egghead for POTUS? Seriously? Of the current GOP candidates, I believe only Mitt Romney (Harvard) and Jon Hunstman (Penn) have any Ivy League degrees.
Me? I'm ready to go for somebody who doesn't have any Ivy League diplomas hanging on their wall. I'm ready for somone with the right mixture of private sector and public sector experience and a boatload of common sense.
FINALLY!
Submitted by stage9 on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:33pm.
"...Wednesday as a decidedly anti-intellectual candidate..."
Finally we have someone who's "anti-intellectual"! What this really means is that he's not a liberal marxist sympathizer!
How has so-called "intellectualism" been working out for us? Our economy is in the tank, our military is stretched thin, the moral condition of our nation is in trouble thanks to radical policies, our foreign policy is non-existent, our borders are more porous than a screen door on a battleship, and ALL of this done by so-called "intellectuals".
Give us a leader and not some bonehead HA-vud mouth!
"If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner." — Malcolm Muggeridge
stage9
Submitted by hydrodynDM on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:28pm.
Enjoying your time on the internet, are you?
Don't think too hard about where that technology came from.
Actually any thinking person is.
Submitted by wizardjr on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:35pm.
You must be an intellectual. Only an intellectual could say something so stupid. -- George Orwell
"Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals could believe them." - George Orwell
'nuf said
You can't be "anti-intellectual" and a pilot
Submitted by Marcus Porcius on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:59pm.
This reminds me of the constant "Bush is dumb" nonsense. Anyone who's been an Air Force pilot cannot, by definition, be dumb or anti-intellectual.
It takes a ridiculous amount of studying and retention of copious amounts of data, procedures and regulations, not to mention the ability to calculate on the fly, to be a PRIVATE pilot, much less a military one.
Only fools think anyone who's ever earned a pilot's position in any of our armed forces can be stupid. It's right up there with all the doctors on the Republican side that also get accused of being backward hicks.
One can assume that most of these reporters could not do either job, and certainly have not or they'd know better.
"Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions." G.K. Chesterton
www.theconservativereview.com
Wow Perry produced his academic records, what a concept!
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 10:39pm.
At least his GPA isn't "PRESENT".
Knowledge is not intelligence
Submitted by CrazyHungarian on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 10:57pm.
Some of the dumbest people I have worked with in my 36 year engineering career were PhD's. I interviewed many but never hired one myself because they were all knew too much to listen to or comprehend common sense.
I would much rather hire an ex USAF fighter pilot than a minor ex college professor. At least one knew how to live at the edge of the envelope.
CrazyHungarian
Submitted by hydrodynDM on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:37pm.
Some of the dumbest people I have worked with in my 20 years as a physicist have been engineers who have been too stupid to understand that their phenomenological theories about how things supposedly work gloss over actual details which might provide new approaches to problems.
Common - as in stupid - sense got in their way.
I would rather hire a kid out of high school who hasn't been brain washed by your typical engineering program than some 36 year old, set in his ways, engineer. At least they would know how to actually think outside the box.
Engineers also make the box
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:55am.
Engineers also make the box they think outside of.
Dan The Man 2
Submitted by hydrodynDM on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 7:38am.
To borrow from an old joke about the difference between mathematicians, physicists and engineers...
A physicist would use calculus to put together a max/min problem to determine the exact size of the box he can just think outside of and would then build it, an engineer would make a thousand different sized boxes and then sort through them until he found the one he can think outside of and a mathematician would come up with an existence theorem to prove that a box he can think outside of exists - and would leave it at that.
Hay,
Submitted by Boudin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 7:53am.
Some of the dumbest people I have worked with in my 20 years as a engineers have been physicist who have been too stupid to understand that their phenomenological theories about how things supposedly work gloss over actual details which might provide new approaches to problems.
There, fixed it for you. There is nothing worst then trying to explaining a physical impossibility to a Physicist. I seem to get to experience this little treat about once a week.
Truth be told, I enjoy my time with some very fine Physicist
Boudin
Submitted by hydrodynDM on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 4:30pm.
Your last comment suggests that you understand that I was being flippant in my response to CrazyHungarian.
I've seen comments like his on this site before - assertions that "in my years of experience, some of the dumbest people I've met have been PhDs/lawyer/whatever". They're childish.
I've met a lot of physicists and engineers and mathematicians over the years and gotten to know some of them and the fact is some of them are a hell of a lot smarter than I'll ever be and with some I've wondered how they actually got their job and most were good at their area of work and basically average Joes otherwise.
I think it's safe to say that most people who work a job where they come into contact with members of some profession on a regular basis will admit that these people run the gamut of personalities and proficiencies. Some professional and knowledgeable and hard working and others not so much. Some generally smart and others just barely able to do their jobs.
But of course, acknowledging that simple fact doesn't lend itself to condescending assertions about the smarts of some group of people (which, of course, they aren't a part of) in order to make themselves seem smart or so they can feel better about themselves.
In my opinion, comments like those from CrazyHungarian's say more about the person making those comments than it does about all these supposed dumb-asses they run into.
Been there, Crazy.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 10:13am.
I used to hire lots of software consultants, and they all had impressive degrees.
I had one basic test that I used toward the end of the conversation with them. I had a set of salt and pepper shakers with little fish painted on them, that were identical. They were empty and contained no salt or pepper.
I would tell the person that I wanted to use them, and ask them how I could tell which one was salt and which one was pepper when they were on the table since the shakers were identical.
If they even picked up the shakers to inspect them, they were toast. They were made of clear glass which would mean that the salt and pepper would be obvious to the most casual observer at a glance.
You would not believe some of the "brilliant" reasoning some of the more "intellectual" people came up with!
Maybe we can look at the
Submitted by Thoreau on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:05pm.
Maybe we can look at the Communist in Chief's transcripts so we can see how it's supposed to be done.
Ohh... really? You can't find them?
Drop-outs
Submitted by BTW Biological ... on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 11:51pm.
What are people who drop out of college and/or high school called then? There are many high school drop outs that are successful, yet they aren't called anti-intellectual.
I think we've had enough
Submitted by Maestroh on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 12:00am.
I think we've had enough lately of book smart guys without a lick of sense. Besides, at least Perey knows how many states are in the country he's hoping to lead. Meanwhile, Obama can write his third book, "Audacity of A Dope."
A few relevant points.
Submitted by big.league.slider on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 1:34am.
1) Perry recognizes a Ponzi scheme when he sees one. Unlike Obama who was "unwittingly" sucked into Solyndra's 1/2 billion dollar scam.
2) At the age of 23, Perry was capable of flying a supersonic fighter jet. While Obama did not even qualify for a driver's license.
long presumptuous post
Submitted by commenta on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 6:57am.
Al Gore might as well check himself for a fork. He and his media handlers thought we'd not think twice about their attempt to steal that 2000 election. I can only imagine their fright at being exposed. I remember how completely unhinged your desperate poodle got as it became more clear, coincidentally that there was some coordination.
From what I remember, they had actually found a problem with the vote count, and called a halt to the process, and just prior the national broadcasting media already had darn sure announced Gore had already won. Then someone said something about possible voter fraud. You could almost "see" a furtive movement.
Gore practically had a heart attack when his pet districts had problems. I wondered why a major party candidate could be so ignorant of public process. I think he misdirected the attention and legal process to avoid being caught at these tricks. His campaign team dashed home to Chicago and avoided inquiring minds. The media was just as earnest at covering up their own complicity. Then these morons wanted the rest of the country to hold up seriously, and let these handpicked counties determine the fate of the election. All the while the media dashed around adding a lot of hype to obscure the finer point.
I bet you can count a few dozen reporters who've managed to get through more than a class of real organic, and not baby organic chemistry. It truly sickens me when we must take what they offer as authority or valid reasoning. They are too proud to admit they know nothing about science, and that in fact science can be learned at almost any kind of school. They can't live without authority. Science is very much geared toward anti authority and it takes one piece of contrary evidence normally. That is unless the journalists get involved. Gore was a journalist once, knows the tricks, and I'll bet he thinks he's a historian next as well.
However, the spectacle of that election always comes to mind whenever certain hacks start whipping up Bush hatred. The poodle is such a dark character. He's exactly what Carl Sagan warned about. Sorry for the long presumptuous post. But I can't stand nor tolerate too much poodle love any longer.
They should compare Perry's
Submitted by jessieH on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 9:49am.
They should compare Perry's grades with Obama's. Oh, wait. They can't. Obama's records are sealed! Maybe his records will tell us why his social security number can't pass E-Verify.