# 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:** 17
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/321 "2010-11-24T02:36:36Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I’d be more inclined to think that Mondale stole that line from Reagan, [cite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO_WM1uZyZo), 'cause [according to **luci**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13169359&postcount=43) it was Mark Twain who first came up with that line, and **luci** , his other shortcomings notwithstanding, usually knows his Mark Twain. 😃 Only Mark Twain probably nabbed it from _[Everybody’s Friend, or Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy](http://books.google.com/books?id=7rA8AAAAYAAJ&dq=Everybody's%20Friend%2C%20or%20Josh%20Billings%20Encyclopedia%20and%20Proverbial%20Philosophy&pg=PA286#v=onepage&q&f=false)_ (1874) > [@](#): > > I honestly beleave it iz better tew know nothing than two know what ain t so ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/322 "2010-11-24T02:50:34Z")
Palin is about as sharp as a sack full of hammers. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/323 "2010-11-24T02:52:44Z")
> [@IdahoMauleMan](#): > > We voted for a black man. And a Democrat. That felt really good. It was the feel-good moment of the millenium, perhaps. It absolved us of all of our sins. > > But we can’t really say that, because it’s cringe-worthy. Even though we know it’s true, deep down inside. Wow. I feel like Jim on The Office quietly observing a Michael Scott antic. Amazed, slightly horrified, but not really scared because he knows there’s a limit to how much damage he can actually do. In the end it turns to a sort of sad amusement. > [@IdahoMauleMan](#): > > So instead, to validate ourselves and our choice, we’ll just keep repeating that he’s “brilliant”… Well, **you** seem to be repeating that a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/324 "2010-11-24T03:56:56Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Only Mark Twain probably nabbed it from _[Everybody’s Friend, or Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy](http://books.google.com/books?id=7rA8AAAAYAAJ&dq=Everybody's%20Friend%2C%20or%20Josh%20Billings%20Encyclopedia%20and%20Proverbial%20Philosophy&pg=PA286#v=onepage&q&f=false)_ (1874) Dang, now I’m wondering who Billings stole it from? It’s starting to look like turtles all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/325 "2010-11-24T04:05:03Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > And well you should since that title arguably belongs to Woodrow Wilson, but the rest of your criticism is stupid. And Woodrow Wilson was a true friend of the “black man”. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/326 "2010-11-24T04:19:03Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > And Woodrow Wilson was a true friend of the “black man”. :mad: Wilson was a racist? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/327 "2010-11-24T04:29:34Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Only Mark Twain probably nabbed it from _[Everybody’s Friend, or Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy](http://books.google.com/books?id=7rA8AAAAYAAJ&dq=Everybody's%20Friend%2C%20or%20Josh%20Billings%20Encyclopedia%20and%20Proverbial%20Philosophy&pg=PA286#v=onepage&q&f=false)_ (1874) Talent borrows. Genius steals. (In all fairness, Mark Twain became the Yogi Berra of his age, there are any number of pithy quotes attributed to him simply because he was the most well known wit of his time. Twain was a tireless promoter of other humorists, most notably Petroleum V. Nasby. I have a vague recollection that Mr. Billings was not a favorite, and his opinions of other writers were subject to drastic revision. Indeed, what Mr Billing said was similar to the Twain quote, but, then again, many men made statues of David before Michaelangelo nailed it.) ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/328 "2010-11-24T04:45:40Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > This is getting complicated… how does this look: > > Reagan \> Palin \> **StarvingArtist** \> fencepost \> **onlysanepersonleftontheplanet** \> **Susanann** \> YouTube commenter > > I’m really having a hard time comparing **onlysane** with **Susanann** , but I decided that to give her(?) bonus points for the sheer quantity of stupid. YMMV. Can we get a placing for the bag of hammers? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/329 "2010-11-24T04:53:25Z")
Where’d she go? I have two daughters, Susan and Anne. No relation. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/330 "2010-11-24T04:53:27Z")
Darn, missed the D’oh Window. Damn sure wasn’t Ronald Reagan. Funniest thing he ever said was about the guy who bought orange juice with a food stamp and spent the cash change on vodka. That was pretty droll. That, and “the bombing begins in five minutes”. Knee slapper. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/331 "2010-11-24T05:23:37Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Also similar to Al Gore and his inventing the internet and similar such. :sigh: I don’t know why I bother anymore, but: Firstly, he never said that. Secondly, he was in fact responsible for spearheading the funding for the people who did invent the internet. While he did not invent it, he certainly had a hand in its creation. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/332 "2010-11-24T05:27:28Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Darn, missed the D’oh Window. Damn sure wasn’t Ronald Reagan. Funniest thing he ever said was about the guy who bought orange juice with a food stamp and spent the cash change on vodka. That was pretty droll. That, and “the bombing begins in five minutes”. Knee slapper. As I recall, “Honey, I forgot to duck” was generally seen as the pinnacle of wit during that particular Presidency. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/333 "2010-11-24T05:46:40Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > :sigh: > > I don’t know why I bother anymore, but: Firstly, he never said that. Secondly, he was in fact responsible for spearheading the funding for the people who did invent the internet. While he did not invent it, he certainly had a hand in its creation. I know many conservatives who still make the stupid claim that Gore said it. As I recall two persons “invented” the intenet, and both agree that Gore was instrumental in bringing it to fruition. He was one of the few to see it’s value early on. One more time, here’s the story on wikipedia; [for Fotheringay-Phipps et al](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore_and_information_technology) Thanks, Al. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/334 "2010-11-24T06:30:43Z")
I think if you guys will go back and read what **F-P** actually said, you’ll discover that he was lumping the “Al Gore created the internet” meme along with other erroneous memes such as “Palin/Gore is stupid” as examples of how hard it is to overcome false images once they’ve become sufficiently widespread and repeated often enough that they become accepted as fact. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/335 "2010-11-24T06:52:49Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Wilson was a racist? Yup. Quite the enthusiast for D. W. Griffin’s “Birth of a Nation.” He was a product of his time and growing up in Virginia as a Civil War broke out. But in fairness, most Americans at that time were not terribly fair-minded race-wise. He also allowed the segregation of Federal government to occur during his administration. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/336 "2010-11-24T07:37:14Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > It is true there are some people who using southern ,folksy mannerisms and will crush you if you cross them. Like LBJ they are really bright and have learned the craft of politician and can handle anybody. You could put LBJ up against a world leader in conference and feel secure. > Palin has not uttered one statement of brilliance or understanding. Not one insight has escaped her lips. Who would not have a huge fear if she represented America at a Chinese talk? Who would feel confident with her an international financial conference? > How well would her small town folksiness serve her in international treaties? I mean, Biden is a MORON-listen to some of the idiotic statements he has made..like the coal mines of Delaware, FDR appearing on TV (as president) in 1929..etc. Or Obama, who thinks that the language of Austria is “austrian”. ---
**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 24, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/337 "2010-11-24T11:59:05Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Or Obama, who thinks that the language of Austria is “austrian”. Go read [post #312](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13177014&postcount=312), idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/338 "2010-11-24T12:55:40Z")
My issue with Palin is not so much about how intelligent she is. I think she’s probably middle of the road as far as IQ’s go. My problem is that instead of fessing up to it she blames everyone else. She can’t think on the spot and can’t name a magazine she reads. This couldn’t be because she was unprepared or blanked out or something. It was because this was ‘gotcha journalism’. Anytime she does something stupid and gets called on it, she doesn’t own up to it, she instead blames the person/org that is calling her out on it. It’s pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/339 "2010-11-24T12:57:54Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I think if you guys will go back and read what **F-P** actually said, you’ll discover that he was lumping the “Al Gore created the internet” meme along with other erroneous memes such as “Palin/Gore is stupid” as examples of how hard it is to overcome false images once they’ve become sufficiently widespread and repeated often enough that they become accepted as fact. Is/Was the meme that Gore was stupid or that he simply took credit for everything? My memory is foggy on this issue, but I seem to recall that the criticism was that he simply claimed credit for everything (the internet, influenced a book with his relationship, etc). ---
**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 24, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/340 "2010-11-24T14:10:30Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I have two daughters, Susan and Anne. No relation. That’s odd, is one adopted? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453.md?page=18)