Calling into question the brainpower of right-wingers is a longstanding practice. John Stuart Mill famously said that even though he didn’t believe conservatives were “generally stupid,” he did maintain that “stupid persons are generally Conservative.” Penn State professor Sophia McClennen followed that tradition in a Monday piece for Salon, and, yes, a certain former governor of Alaska was prominently featured. “It is time to take seriously the role that stupidity is playing in shaping GOP politics,” declared McClennen, “and there is no better figure to help us think about that problem than Sarah Palin.”
McClennen asked rhetorically, “Exactly how long is the stupid epidemic going to spread within the GOP?” and added, “It’s like stupidity is the Ebola of GOP politics…But so far, calling out the stupidity and laughing at it, isn’t hurting [Donald] Trump or Palin. It doesn’t hurt because over time we have watched the GOP become dominated by the idea that truth, reason, and critical thinking are a liberal agenda designed to destroy our nation’s core values.”
From McClennen’s article (bolding added):
From the Bundy gang to Donald Trump’s rallies, we are witnessing a rise in aggressive and divisive politics.
All of this was on display as Sarah Palin reemerged on the national stage…to endorse Donald Trump...Remember that she had Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a crosshairs on her website telling supporters to “reload” and defeat. After Giffords was shot, Palin still wouldn’t back down from her violent rhetoric.
But here’s the thing: Palin incites violence, but she is also incredibly dumb…
It is time to take seriously the role that stupidity is playing in shaping GOP politics. We have followed the rampant lying of candidates, and we have followed the rhetoric of anger and hostility. Maybe it is time to look more closely at the role of stupidity. And there is no better figure to help us think about that problem than Sarah Palin…
…Remember when she couldn’t answer Katie Couric’s questions about which magazines she reads or when she wrote on her hand to help her remember her talking points at a Tea Party Nation event? And yet, in comparison to the nonsense that came out of her mouth at her Trump endorsement speech, those moments seem relatively lucid…
…Palin is even less coherent than before and she’s back in [the] spotlight supporting a candidate who has been shown to speak to his audiences at a fourth grade level.
Exactly how long is the stupid epidemic going to spread within the GOP? It’s like stupidity is the Ebola of GOP politics—a metaphor you know Fox News would use if they weren’t so busy promoting the stupidity themselves…
Every time we get GOP nonsense, someone calls it out. But so far, calling out the stupidity and laughing at it, isn’t hurting Trump or Palin. It doesn’t hurt because over time we have watched the GOP become dominated by the idea that truth, reason, and critical thinking are a liberal agenda designed to destroy our nation’s core values.
