Proud ignorance

Jennifer Rubin writes that Republicans have fallen into the trap of confusing anti-elitism with anti-intellectualism, in continuing to celebrate ignorance over reason and thought. She cites two examples: Michele Bachmann's recent comments on HPV vaccination and Rick Perry's recent speech at Liberty University, in which he joked about, among other things, his low grades in high school. Rubin writes of Perry's antics:

It was, at least in part, a celebration of ignorance. The Post’s reporter at the scene Phil Rucker tweeted some of the remarks. Jon Ward at Huffington Post likewise recorded some comments. Things started off on a poor note with Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr. praising Perry’s seccessionist remarks as “gutsy.” Are we to believe now that Perry was serious about secession? Then Perry, apparently deciding to make ads for the Obama campaign, came out with a series of “See how dumb I am?” one-liners. He observed that he needed to pull out a dictionary to see what “convocation” meant. The next knee-slapper: He didn’t have the grades to be a vet, so he became a pilot. And then the real howler: He was in the top 10 in a high school class of 13.

Yes, he was trying to be self-deprecating, but it’s disturbing to see that he thinks being a rotten student and a know-nothing gives one street cred in the GOP. Is it so important to defy the MSM by flaunting affection for anti-intellectualism? Just imagine if Sarah Palin had said all that — the conservative cheerleaders who gave up on her (but are still rooting for Perry) would roll their eyes in disgust.

Rubin's correct. It is exactly this kind of attitude which has continued to erode the image of an intelligent right wing in the United States. What a shame: the era of respectability brought about by the likes of William F. Buckley has weathered further than we can imagine – to the likes of Palin and Perry. That's quite a change, you must admit.