# Is Sarah Palin dumber than Ronald Reagan? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453 "2010-11-21T17:10:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/241 "2010-11-23T15:26:48Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > You have to follow the rightard logic here. “Regular Average American Sarah” makes millions of dollars a year speaking. If you don’t get paid at least as much for speaking, you should clearly shut the fuck up. > > The woman can do no wrong, which we be hilarious (were the likes of our resident teabaggers not immune to hypocrisy and irony) of they were to recognize that’s what they used to accuse Obama supporters of doing. > > -Joe > [@joebuck20](#): > > Yo, grammar’s for chumps, bro. Since I botched the quote so badly, the source (and the inherent sarcasm of it) prolly failed to register. [The actual quote](http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v326/snowboarderbo/?action=view¤t=GetFuzzygrammaram.jpg) is: > [@](#): > > Pssh. Lemme tell ya something, Webster. Grammar am for people who can’t think for _myself_. Understanded me? And another quote seems to always apply when talking about Tea Party types (and conservatives in general, IMO): > [@](#): > > I think you think other people think like you think. You’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/242 "2010-11-23T15:29:11Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > Pigasus 2012 > > Vote early and vote often. [Pigasus](http://www.myspace.com/thepigasus) is a band here in Las Vegas, and AFAIK they aren’t going to run for office in 2012. They’d have told me. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/243 "2010-11-23T15:34:59Z")
Her latest gem in a Hannity interview: > [@](#): > > I want to help clean up the state that is so sorry today of journalism. And I have a communications degree. I studied journalism – who, what, where, when, and why of reporting. I will speak to reporters who still understand that cornerstone of our democracy, that expectation that the public has for truth to be reported. Me have communications degree: me so happy! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/244 "2010-11-23T15:40:50Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > In all seriousness, can a Palin supporter tell me what was unfair in the Couric interview? I admit I have not seen the whole thing, only excerpts. No Palin supporter is going to have the Chutzpah to reply to your plea. Couric was actually quite easy on Palin. She had opportunity to rub Palin’s nose in her idiocy, but passed. I think maybe her maternal kicked in, I dunno. Maybe she simply let Palin do herself in, which Palin made a good job of. Excerpts don’t do the interview justice. You gotta watch the whole thing. Why SP would bring the thing up on her own I don’t understand. Did Hannity draw it out of her? ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/245 "2010-11-23T15:41:26Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Pigasus](http://www.myspace.com/thepigasus) is a band here in Las Vegas, and AFAIK they aren’t going to run for office in 2012. They’d have told me. Hey cool! I was thinking of [this guy](http://pigofknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/01/pigasus-and-yippies.html). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/246 "2010-11-23T15:44:40Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > Hey cool! > I was thinking of [this guy](http://pigofknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/01/pigasus-and-yippies.html). Yeah, but he was bacon 4 decades ago. Unless maybe you mean \ _Zombie_ Pigasus! ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/247 "2010-11-23T15:49:17Z")
_Better_ band name. Besides, the Yippies’ pig was “the **Immortal** Pigasus.” May his porky goodness sizzle eternally. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/248 "2010-11-23T15:52:03Z")
To be fair, it’s not like Curic’s interview was really that good, but it was far from ‘gotcha ya’ journalism. ‘Which newspapers and magazines do you read?’ It’s kind of a bush-league question. However, an intelligent responder would have said something like, “I keep abreast of all the financial periodicals, and I try to read a cross-section of national papers when I can,” … or one might have gone hard-ass with, “I don’t really think that’s relevant as I engender my opinions through consul with my advisors,” or some bullshit like that. But … “oh, you now, all of them …” Palin has only herself to blame as coming off like a rube, and I’m sure Curic’s most oft floated thought on the whole matter is something like, “What? What the fuck did I do?” ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/249 "2010-11-23T16:09:52Z")
Why is the Republican Party doing this to Sarah Palin? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/250 "2010-11-23T16:26:57Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Why is the Republican Party doing this to Sarah Palin? What are they doing to her? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/251 "2010-11-23T16:27:38Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Why is the Republican Party doing this to Sarah Palin? They’re still bitter about the failure of _The Half-Hour News Hour_ and trying to find the right mix of easy-on-the-eyes political commentary and comedic criticism. Much of the laughs Palin generates from her loyal audiences follow rather vapid jokes about liberals along the lines of “they’re talking crazy talk, it don’t make no sense to normal folk like us.” Trouble is, that kind of humour is self-defeating, along the lines of endlessly talking about how hard it is to program a VCR. After a while, the target of the ridicule isn’t the VCR manufacturer for making the process difficult, but on the comedian himself who’s too dumb to figure it out. If the comedian’s bit is self-deprecation it can work very well but even then, not forever. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/252 "2010-11-23T16:31:11Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, even if we only count non-incumbents, Adlai Stevenson in 1956 and Thomas Dewey in 1948 were well-known to voters, simply by virtue of having been their party’s _previous_ candidate. It’s not like the 22 million Americans who voted for Dewey in 1944 (representing 46% of the popular vote) forgot who he was when he ran again (to similar popular-vote totals, though he picked up more Electoral votes) in 1948. Stevenson picked up over 25 million votes in each of his unsuccessful bids, so one can hardly say he was an unknown during his second run in 1956. > > Susanann has the political memory and knowledge of a goldfish, and a particularly clueless goldfish at that. Adlai was governor of Illinois. His grandfather ran for VP. His family was well known in political circles. He was a well spoken and esteemed intellectual. He was not unknown at all. His campaign was the first one I ever worked on. I was a kid and carried canisters around the neighborhood . People would put coins in the slot and I would give them a collar pin. Even as a kid I was sure people would vote for the smart person over the grinning war hero. i have always overestimated the voters. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/253 "2010-11-23T16:33:01Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > To be fair, it’s not like Curic’s interview was really that good, but it was far from ‘gotcha ya’ journalism. Exactly. One thing that sort of annoys me about the whole thing is that, in some circles, it seemed to get Katie Couric a reputation as a hard-hitting political interviewer. Give me a break! She lobbed a bunch of softballs in, and Palin whiffed on just about every one. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/254 "2010-11-23T16:52:15Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > One thing that sort of annoys me about the whole thing is that, in some circles, it seemed to get Katie Couric a reputation as a hard-hitting political interviewer. Give me a break! She lobbed a bunch of softballs in, and Palin whiffed on just about every one. Indeed. If Palin can’t handle Katie Couric, how will she deal with Vladimir Putin? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/255 "2010-11-23T16:53:06Z")
Well, she’s got her eye on him _right now_. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/256 "2010-11-23T16:55:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, she’s got her eye on him _right now_. [The pieces are falling together…](http://news.icanhascheezburger.com/2010/11/06/political-pictures-putin-2-2/) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/257 "2010-11-23T16:59:46Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Exactly. > > One thing that sort of annoys me about the whole thing is that, in some circles, it seemed to get Katie Couric a reputation as a hard-hitting political interviewer. Give me a break! She lobbed a bunch of softballs in, and Palin whiffed on just about every one. I know you said “in some circles,” but the sense I had at the time was, especially after the Charles Gibson interview, Palin and gang were already running away from the press and because Couric was seen as being especially nice to McCain and was said to like him, her handlers thought she’d get softball questions (which she did) and naturally knock 'em out of the park. I thought everybody knew from the beginning Couric’s interview as going to be as close to T-Ball for Adults as you could get. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/258 "2010-11-23T17:00:09Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > What are they doing to her? Encouraging her. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/259 "2010-11-23T17:00:34Z")
I want to state, categorically and for the record, that I am firmly opposed to any rumor-mongering about Trigger Palin being Vladimir Putin’s love child. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/260 "2010-11-23T17:07:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I want to state, categorically and for the record, that I am firmly opposed to any rumor-mongering about Trigger Palin being Vladimir Putin’s love child. He does look pretty fit, doesn’t he. I mean, considering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453.md?page=14)