# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/41 "2008-12-09T00:27:34Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > And the remarks about JFK’s Camelot are equivocal at best. > > > [@](#): > > > > . . . President John F. Kennedy’s “best and brightest” led the country into the Vietnam War. > > And botched that miserably. Eisenhower, not Kennedy. [QUOTE=Wikipedia] [# 1 November 1955](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_United_States_and_the_Vietnam_War#Timeline:_Dwight_D._Eisenhower_and_the_Vietnam_War_.281953.E2.80.931961.29)— Eisenhower deploys the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the ARVN (South Vietnamese Army). This marks the official beginning of American involvement in the war as recognized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. [/QUOTE] Admittedly, the first large scale deployment of troops happened under Kennedy, but Eisenhower was the guy who put us there in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Dosipede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dosipede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dosipede)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/42 "2008-12-09T00:44:18Z")
Folks were hoping for the [Secretary of Education](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3037/2696341173_be5899c3e7.jpg?v=1216851957), perhaps? Speaking of which, I thought the cabinet members’ heads would be bigger. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/43 "2008-12-09T00:57:26Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Eisenhower, not Kennedy. > > Admittedly, the first large scale deployment of troops happened under Kennedy, but Eisenhower was the guy who put us there in the first place. And Johnson’s the one who REALLY screwed the pooch. (Gulf of Tonkin, anyone?) ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/44 "2008-12-09T01:11:35Z")
There have been a few comparisons made between Obama’s choices and JFK’s cabinet. Salient points being that turning your cabinet into a think tank can have problematic results. Then again, the other extreme is just as bad. The promising bit is that the Obamaniacs are pissed at not utterly dominating the cabinet. It’s shaping up in ways that neither party imagined. ---
**Author:** ![Skylark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Skylark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skylark)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/45 "2008-12-09T01:41:11Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Well, what about the Naval Academy? Or **Southwest Texas State Teachers’ College**? Or Kansas City Law School? Now Texas State University-San Marcos, home of the Fighting Bobcats. Check out the LBJ Library while you’re there, and try the funnel cake. ---
**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 9, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/46 "2008-12-09T01:42:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Quite true. Nevertheless, _ceteris paribus,_ the POTUS is **much** likelier to get good advice from Ivy League grads than from grads of the Naval Academy, Southwest Texas State Teachers College, or Kansas City Law School. Uh huh. You do realize, of course, that I chose those schools because Presidents Carter, Johnson and Truman attended them. Or maybe you didn’t realize that. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/47 "2008-12-09T02:34:53Z")
As a Republican I am impressed with his choices so far. Yes, even Hillary for Secretary of State. A good leader knows their limitations. Obama knows he lacks Military or foreign experience so he chose some competent people to serve for a while. Sometimes it is all about leadership. Reagan knew this and surrounded himself with people who were intelligent. Obama is perfect right now just like Reagan was after the Carter years. So far, I like him. I’ll be ducking Republican lightning bolts after this post. I hope you are happy. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/48 "2008-12-09T02:37:28Z")
Is there any reason to believe that Obama is ignoring the best people and choosing people from the right schools instead? If not, what’s the issue? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/49 "2008-12-09T02:45:30Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > The promising bit is that the Obamaniacs are pissed at not utterly dominating the cabinet. Cite? The people at Daily Kos seem fine with many of his choices, if not overly happy with a few. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/50 "2008-12-09T03:00:45Z")
School-tier diversity is about the last thing I care about in a presidential cabinet. It’d be odd if we got to the point where politicians felt obliged to pick someone from Bellevue Community College as their token non-elite-school guy. I think we can start worrying about that after we get our token (openly) gay, token Athiest, and token Muslim at around the SecDef/SecState level. Thankfully we’ve already filled our Token Black (shout out to Stan & Kyle) for this administration. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/51 "2008-12-09T03:01:35Z")
[Multitudes of Cites](http://www.google.com/search?q=obama+cabinet+liberal+complaints&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/52 "2008-12-09T04:09:19Z")
I read a few blogs from Iraq and Iran. They were pretty much saying when Obama got elected they expected business as usual. “A Family in Iraq” has an intelligent woman and her family who are involved in the business of trying to save Iraqis. She said before the election that she expected no difference, but when she heard Obama speak she began to change her mind. She did not hear blustering and threats. She heard an intelligent man careful about his words and doing his best not to be a threatening, blustering small thinking man like our last president. That gave her hope where there was none . I am less convinced but I am hopeful. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/53 "2008-12-09T04:15:17Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Is there any reason to believe that Obama is ignoring the best people and choosing people from the right schools instead? If not, what’s the issue? There is no issue. This is a tiny minority of people who are grasping for something, anything, with which to put Obama down. OMG, he’s picking elitist snoberies for his cabinet posts!!!1111 Why don’t he pick someone who went to muh high school? Thinks he’s too good for us. That uppity… guy. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/54 "2008-12-09T04:39:05Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > The last thing conservatives want is an educated and intelligent populace. Considering that Obama’s nominee for Secretary of State has said similarly anti-intellectual bullshit, I wouldn’t say it’s just a problem with conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/55 "2008-12-09T05:10:23Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Obama’s cabinet is _too smart for America_? What the fucking fuck? This could be true. I told my wife I would never vote for a black man for president, but then I thought John McCain was the black man and so voted for Obama by mistake. D’oh! :smack: I’ll bet this happened to a lot of voters. ---
**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 9, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/56 "2008-12-09T05:15:00Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > OMG, he’s picking elitist snoberies for his cabinet posts!!!1111 Why don’t he pick someone who went to muh high school? Thinks he’s too good for us. That uppity… guy. Perhaps we could hold a Cabinet Draft, and have the [del]Commissioner[/del] Speaker of the House stand on stage and announce each appointee’s alma mater, position, and legislative statistics. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/57 "2008-12-09T06:26:27Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Considering that Obama’s nominee for Secretary of State has said similarly anti-intellectual bullshit, I wouldn’t say it’s just a problem with conservatives. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/58 "2008-12-09T06:33:52Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Cite? I’m referring to her attacks on “elite opinion” and economists when she was proposing a gas tax holiday. [Take your pick of cite.](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Clinton+%22elite+opinion%22&btnG=Search) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/59 "2008-12-09T06:58:08Z")
Are people actually complaining that Obama is choosing people who are too intelligent? Does intelligent and well-educated automatically mean “out of touch with the common man”? > [@](#): > > **Mr. Moto** : And while too much can be made of this, there might be a problem here both in perception and in the quality of advice President Obama might get from this crowd. As opposed to _that_ crowd of human rights abusers? Comb-lickers? Warmongers? Non-critical thinkers? Uncredentialled FEMA directors? Vindictive cover blowers? Mis-intelligence gatherers? I will take my chances with change. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295/60 "2008-12-09T09:21:22Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Are people actually complaining that Obama is choosing people who are too intelligent? Does intelligent and well-educated automatically mean “out of touch with the common man”? [Shifty eyes] This one asks _smart_ questions [/Shift Eyes] When your opponent suggest that you should dumb down you choices you must assume that they don’t have the best of intentions towards you. Either because you’ll make them look bad by contrasting the stupidity of their own ways or they’d rather see you flounder in a sea of ineptitude. Or both. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-too-dumb-for-an-obama-presidency/476295.md?page=4)