Posted By: Stonecipher

August 7, 2008

I wish I had come up with that line, but actually it was Barack Obama's. And so far, it is my favorite quote of the campaign.

The Senator from Illinois used it (see clip below) to describe John McCain's response to the suggestion that inflating our tires would help reduce the amount of fuel we consume.

What makes this comment so perfect is that the Republicans really do seem to take pride in their ignorance and George W. Bush has led the way with his Homer Simpson-like approach to reading (No offense meant to Homer).

I have written extensively in the past about just why Republican ignorance happens to be a particularly frustrating brand of ignorance, but until now I've never come up with a line that sums it up so perfectly. So thanks Barack, I'm gonna use your line from here on out.

And now, to kill two birds with one stone: in a tribute to Obama's great line and in an effort to help Republican moral during a tough time for the GOP, I present you the Top Five ignorant moments of the past eight years that the Republicans can be Proud of:

Number Five: Bush doesn't know how the saying goes - Back in 2002 George W. Bush provided us with the gem below. Most of us will see a clip which clearly displays just how awkward ignorance can be, even when it pertains to a simple thing like an old saying. Republicans however...well...just enjoy this clip of your ignoramus-in-chief in action and may your hearts swell with pride:

Number Four: Dick Cheney, John McCain, Neocons, Republicans in Congress, claim we'll be greeted as liberators in Iraq - The list of ignorant pre-war moments from the Bush administration is a mile long and any one of them could have made the top five, like Shinseki was wrong about using more troops, there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Saddam was responsible for 9/11, oil money would allow the war to "pay for itself" or the war will only cost $60 billion. Again, any one of those could have made the list, but I didn't want to make this entire piece about the Iraq War.

Plus, the following video clip provides an excellent portrayal of a special brand of ignorance - persistent ignorance. In an effort that is sure to make Republicans everywhere proud, both Cheney and McCain show us that the facts don't have to get in the way of some good, old-fashioned, GOP ignorance:

via videosift.com

Number Three: Bush: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" - Four days after Hurricane Katrina hit and destroyed much of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, President Bush tried to cover up his administration's poor response to the disaster by claiming nobody could have seen this coming. Mr. Bush said "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Of course, just a week earlier Bush had discussed the possibility that the levees may not, in fact, hold up. So in this instance, G.W. was actually able to display an ignorance of his own thoughts, actions and comments from just a week prior.

What is more impressive is that Bush's commitment to staying ignorant was so strong that he was willing to disregard the fact that he was actually correct about something and move forward in blissful ignorance of his own words. Pretty impressive. The GOP must be proud.

Number Two: Mark Penn doesn't know how the Democratic Primaries work - Coming in as our runner up, Mark Penn is actually a Democrat, but a Democrat that Republicans can be proud of.

For those of you who don't know who he is, or for those of you who have successfully repressed any memories of him, he was Hillary Clinton's chief strategist until he was finally demoted in the lead up to the Pennsylvania Primary. Mr. Penn was paid at least $12.8 million by Clinton's campaign.

After shoring up all that cash, Penn went to work devising a broad campaign strategy for Hillary Clinton. The strategy included ignoring caucus states (except Iowa), ignoring small states and ignoring states which held primaries after Super Tuesday on February 5. Good thinking.

The reason for this strategy? Penn was under the impression that the Democratic primaries operated the same way the Electoral College and many of the Republican Primary contests do, as winner-take-all contests. So, in a stunning display of stupidity and ignorance, Mr. Penn built his plan counting all 370 of California's delegates in the Clinton column.

With California voting on Super Tuesday, along with 23 other states and territories, Penn figured that an expected victory in California, along with its 370 delegates would seal the deal for his candidate and the process would be over. So there was zero preparation for the states following Super Tuesday.

Of course almost any casual political junkie can tell you that none of the Democratic Primaries are winner-take-all. They're all based on some form of proportional representation. Since Clinton fell short of where she had to be in order to meet Penn's expectations, 100% of the California vote, she did not receive 370 delegates from California and the race went on.

And since Obama's campaign possessed a deep understanding of how the primaries worked (which turned out to be much more of an understanding than necessary) and were prepared for Feb. 6 and beyond. Sen. Obama went on to win an impressive 11-straight primaries over the next month.

Penn's ignorance probably cost Clinton the election, but hey...at least he got paid - and isn't that really the Republican way? Miserable failure is fine, just make sure there is an excessively large paycheck attached to it and everything is ok.

If I were a Republican, I would proudly make Mark Penn an honorary Republican for his Republican-style ignorance, and bonus points for the Republican-style money that ignorance earned him.

Number One: Mary Katherine Ham accuses Bob Herbert of being wracked by "White Guilt" - Not only is this the most recent moment Republicans can be proud of, but it is also my personal favorite. In an instance which highlights the proud Republican tradition of having no idea what is going on outside FOX News and Young Republican meetings, Ham asserts that the only reason Bob Herbert of the New York Times claimed the now famous Hilton-Spears-Obama ad was racist is because he is "wracked with white guilt." Sounds reasonable. Here's a picture of Bob Herbert, you can just see the white guilt oozing from his pores in this shot:

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.

Conclusion: Certainly there are plenty of instances over the past eight years that weren't included in this list, but the intent here was to write a blog post, not a book. So please feel free to leave your personal favorite moments of GOP Pride in the comments section and if you think you're sharp enough to write your own post on the issue send it to us at StoneTSR@gmail.com and if we like it we'll post it here on The Stonecipher Report.