# American's are too dumb for an Obama presidency. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295 "2008-12-08T20:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/1 "2008-12-08T20:02:15Z")
In the [WorldNutDaily pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495989) I posted a link to this article [Academic Elites Fill Obama’s Roster](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28092935/) and I was going to leave it at that. But the more I thought about this article, the angrier I became. > [@](#): > > While Obama’s picks have been lauded for their ethnic and ideological mix, they lack diversity in one regard: They are almost exclusively products of the nation’s elite institutions and generally share a more intellectual outlook than is often the norm in government. Because the norm in government for the last eight years have been graduates from barely accredited Bible colleges. Don’t believe me? From the article: > [@](#): > > Dozens of administration members hail from Regent University, founded by Pat Robertson. And Bush’s model worked out so well for this country. > [@](#): > > The Ivy-laced network taking hold in Washington is drawing scorn from many conservatives, who have in recent decades decried the leftward drift of academia and cast themselves as defenders of regular Americans against highbrow snobbery. Because ‘regular Americans’ are a bunch of dumb fucks with no education and a good education is nothing but “highbrow snobbery”. How about we try this. We wait until Obama is President and when he fucks up (and he will. He’s only human) we can jump all over his shit. Until then, lets stop making up shit to attack. Obama’s cabinet is _too smart for America_? What the fucking fuck? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/2 "2008-12-08T20:09:23Z")
[gentle suggestion]You might want to get a mod to take out that apostrophe. It’s a tad embarrassing considering the Subject line. [/gentle suggestion] Otherwise, right on! The last thing conservatives want is an educated and intelligent populace. ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/3 "2008-12-08T20:09:26Z")
Is your thread title a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/4 "2008-12-08T20:10:18Z")
They’re desperate and deluded over at WeirdNutDeadly. Desperate because the will of the people has been shoved in their face and smushed around good. Deluded because they’ve held on so long and so tightly to the gospel that Education is Elitism that it’s now a death grip. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/5 "2008-12-08T20:14:44Z")
i 4 1 welcum moore smart people in office. Teh reprisant poeple lik me witch is wg=hat we needed foer quit some tim. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/6 "2008-12-08T20:19:54Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > i 4 1 welcum moore smart people in office. Teh reprisant poeple lik me witch is wg=hat we needed foer quit some tim. U mispelld "smarterer’. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/7 "2008-12-08T20:20:06Z")
I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University. **William F. Buckley, Jr.** Anyone who doesn’t understand that academic myopia can lead to being out of touch with common people’s issues, is also too stupid for an Obama Presidency. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/8 "2008-12-08T20:40:29Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University. > **William F. Buckley, Jr.** > > Anyone who doesn’t understand that academic myopia can lead to being out of touch with common people’s issues, is also too stupid for an Obama Presidency. 😉 Has he been appointing sitting faculty to top positions, or just people who went to Ivy league colleges? The latter, I’m okay with. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/9 "2008-12-08T20:54:53Z")
I like this bit: > [@Richard Epstein](#): > > They are really smart people, but they will never take an obvious solution if they can think of an ingenious one. They’re all too clever by half. These degrees confer knowledge but not judgment. Their heads are on grander themes . . . and they’ll trip on obstacles on the ground. I’ll take “knowledge but not judgment” over the lack of both that the current administration has been working with. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/10 "2008-12-08T21:01:20Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University. > **William F. Buckley, Jr.** Smug Alphabeticist Elitist Bastard. Those people get to be first in everything, just because they won the birth lottery and got the names beginning with ‘A’. When I take over the world, I’m going to create a new alphabet based on phoenetics, where no two characters make the same damned sound, but likewise one character won’t make 10 different sounds. Then we’ll finally be able to spell everything properly and those goddamned A people will be relegated to the end of the list, where we’ll put the vowels. Chimera (whose real name is much much further down the alphabet) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/11 "2008-12-08T21:24:15Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Smug Alphabeticist Elitist Bastard. Those people get to be first in everything, just because they won the birth lottery and got the names beginning with ‘A’. [aside] Y’know, my wife used to claim that half the reason she married me was to improve her alphabetical standing; she moved up from one of the last letters to top 1/3. Of course, she also said that the other half of the reason was the turkey stuffing I make. At least she’s got her priorities straight! 😃 [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/12 "2008-12-08T21:40:57Z")
My son just informed me that i r dum. This is why I can’t get into Obama’s cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/13 "2008-12-08T21:47:14Z")
You know, it isn’t just the nuts at WorldNetDaily wondering about the Obama picks - the article quoted didn’t come from them, and that same article ran in the Washington Post. Similar articles pointing out this potential issue have run in the [Salt Lake Tribune](http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11162227), the [Chronicle of Higher Education](http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/index.php?id=1031) and even the [Harvard Crimson.](http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=525787) Personally, I have nothing against Ivy Leaguers - I’m even related to a couple. But I got a pretty good education at the University of Pittsburgh. I’m sure posters here attended college all over, including (like my brother) the proverbial College of Hard Knocks. It’s a shame that such people as us won’t likely be considered for high picks in an Obama administration. And frankly, that seems strange - Democrats _seem_ to look out for the little guy and did so much in the past to build up these land grant and other public colleges, not to mention small private schools. There was some sneering during the campaign about Sarah Palin and the fact that she graduated from the University of Idaho after several transfers and about an extra year of study. It was just about the worst kind of snobbery from people whose own academic career was often hardly more distinguished, and sent an awful message. These picks send another in the aggregate, and Democrats ought to consider how they look. Right now the Democratic Party is strong among the working class and among the professional class - and the priorities of the one don’t coincide with the other right down the line. This is one example of this, and one area where the Republicans will easily have an opening if the Democrats aren’t careful. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/14 "2008-12-08T21:54:34Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University. > **William F. Buckley, Jr.** I don’t suppose this could have anything to do with the fact that Buckley went to Yale? (of course, unlike our beloved GWB, he probably actually learned something there) Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/15 "2008-12-08T21:59:24Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > There was some sneering during the campaign about Sarah Palin and the fact that she graduated from the University of Idaho after several transfers and about an extra year of study. It was just about the worst kind of snobbery from people whose own academic career was often hardly more distinguished, and sent an awful message. These picks send another in the aggregate, and Democrats ought to consider how they look. Meh. I went to Mediocre Regional State U, _by choice_, and there were plenty of brilliant people there - but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t rather have gone to Yale or Princeton, all things being equal. Personally, I’d prefer that my world leaders go to Oxford, MIT, the Sorbonne, etc. than Good Football Okay Academics College. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/16 "2008-12-08T21:59:41Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > It’s a shame that such people as us won’t likely be considered for high picks in an Obama administration. Oh what fucking tripe. I want the best goddamn people in this nation to be in charge of running it, not “people like us”. And I don’t give a crap where they got their education, nor, I’m sure, does Barack Obama. This is the most ridiculously stupid thing I have heard in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/17 "2008-12-08T22:10:41Z")
I, for one, welcome our new misapostrophised overlord’s. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/18 "2008-12-08T22:12:28Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Oh what fucking tripe. I want the best goddamn people in this nation to be in charge of running it, not “people like us”. And I don’t give a crap where they got their education, nor, I’m sure, does Barack Obama. > > This is the most ridiculously stupid thing I have heard in a long time. Well, sure, but it’s another example of Why Democrats Are Unfit To Lead. Isn’t that what really matters? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/19 "2008-12-08T22:12:41Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > I, for one, welcome our new misapostrophised overlord’s. Quoted for brilyuns. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/20 "2008-12-08T22:19:53Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > It’s a shame that such people as us won’t likely be considered for high picks in an Obama administration. No, it really isn’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295.md?page=2)