Posted By: Stonecipher

Nov. 14, 2008

In August I wrote a piece titled "It's Like These Guys Take Pride in Being Ignorant". The title was a direct quote from Barack Obama, while discussing some absurd campaign tactics of the GOP.

I went on to outline the top five cases of Republican idiocy in the past eight years. If you click the above link, keep in mind that the list was written beforeSarah Palin was on the ticket, so her moronic bumblings were still under the radar somewhere up there in Alaska.

But back to the topic at hand, in that piece, the number one most idiotic moment was when conservative blogger and online editor for the Washington Examiner, Mary Catherine Ham, claimed that New York Times columnist, Bob Herbert, attacked McCain's now infamous Obama-Britney Spears-Paris Hilton ad as racist because he was "wracked with white guilt".

If you've ever read Herbert's column online or in the Times or seen him in his role as a cable news political pundit, you may have noticed that...well...he is not white. He is black. Ham's comment was extraordinarily stupid.

The fact that, earlier this week, that pinnacle of Republican ignorance has been topped, is astounding. What may be more amazing is that the comment that topped it did not pass through the lips of George W. Bush or Sarah Palin. Instead it came from a guy named John Hinderaker, who, according to the bio on his blog at powerlineblog.com, should be pretty smart.

But before I get to exactly what Hinderaker said, it is worth taking a look back at exactly what I wrote in regards to Mary Katherine Ham back in August. My reasoning for awarding her the top spot in the GOP idiocy countdown can be directly applied to why I can now call Hinderaker's comment the dumbest right-wing statement ever made. Here is the blurb describing why Ham got the honors:

The reason I'm awarding Ham the number one spot is because of her willingness to completely ignore clear, visible and indisputable facts in order to robotic-ly spit out the same Republican talking points she has been spitting out for years. What makes it even better is that the New York Times and "white guilt" are not new issues to Ham. She has been writing about the two issues for years and her ability to remain astoundingly ignorant about issues which she claims to be an expert on is truly a triumph of ignorance. It is hard to imagine anyone topping this type of ignorance, but have no fear, the Republicans are showing no signs of slowing down. We can rest assured that many of the ignorance all-stars like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck will continue striving to clear the very high bar that Mary Katherine Ham has set.

With that in mind, here is Hinderaker's quote:

Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. In this regard, President Bush is an excellent model; Obama should take a lesson from his example. Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn't raise his standards, he will exceed Bush's total before he is inaugurated.

Hilarious.

This moronic quote requires no further explanation or analysis, but I would like to point out my very favorite part - "In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed."

Wow, that's stupid.

In case you don't believe that someone really wrote this, then published it on the web - or if you just want to double check and make sure that the statement wasn't made as a joke, here's the original post at powerlineblog.com

The sad thing is that while I can dismiss Hinderaker's quote as stupid, the reality-challenged right-wing of the Republican Party is here to stay. Sure, we have seen some Republicans over the past week or so graciously accepting defeat and making an effort to come together, but a large chunk of the Party is choosing instead to follow the lead of Sarah Palin and Karl Rove.

The term being thrown around for this type of nonsense is intellectual violence. And that's exactly what it is, a downright assault on anything thoughtful.

Until sometime in 2006 or so, the United States of America had become the only place on the planet where it was a political liability to be smart. Intellectuals who ran for office had to keep their brain power in the closet like they were gay Republicans running for office in Alabama.

Fortunately for all of us, the anti-intellectual bullying trend is slowing down, however, it has not come to an end yet. As long as Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove continue to have a seat at the table for the day's argument, America will continue to leave it's ugly and embarrassing political scar exposed for all the world to see.

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