I believe in nerds.
I believe in the power of nerd-dom, the glory of geeks basking in their knowledge of the arcane.
And one of the most important places for nerds to show their stuff is politics. Politics should not be run by the cheerleader, the jock, the emo band kid. Politics should go to the smartest know-it-all in the room, the one who has the capacity to retain the information crucial to making a decision and the ability to stand behind that decision. Politics should not be a popularity contest, who seems to be the candidate most like your average American because your average American is a moronic jackass who can't tell you where New York City is on a map and doesn't know how many Representatives there are in Congress. Your average American has no business stepping up to bat with the leaders of the world.
Maybe I'm crazy and elitist but the person running my country shouldn't be someone I completely understand. They have to make decisions that effect the entire world; millions of peoples lives are in their hands. I don't really want that person to be someone I can relate to, I want them to be someone so much more intelligent and informed and calm than me that I probably wouldn't know what to talk to them about.
Which is precisely why I thought the VP debate last night was a joke. It was like watching LaBron James play a 10-year old in tether ball. Biden was hitting point after point around Palin's head and she was waiving her arms madly, pretending like she hit it. But she winked and was cute and used phrases like "Joe Six-Pack" and "Doggone it" and ergo she's an average American and she'll get votes. How in the world is she being taken seriously? She sounds like Bobby's mom from "Bobby's World". It's like Lois from "Family Guy" in a battle of wits against the brains of Kit, the Knight Rider car. This is ridiculous.
(I woke up this morning thinking about Sarah Vowell's 2002 essay "The Nerd Voice" from her book The Partly Cloudy Patriot and had to reread it later in the day. The book itself is highly recommended during an election year. Her new release, The Wordy Shipmates comes out on Tuesday)
1 comment:
Maybe the republican party is trying to convince us that they don't take themselves as seriously as everyone thinks. I mean really, they're putting this woman up for VP nomination? They can't be *that* serious about things. LOL! OK, it's sad.
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