What's Wrong with Being Intellectual?

Or, in other words, is "average" something worth aspiring to? I ask this because it seems as though the McCain-Palin camp - and many of their vocal spinsters - seem to be suggesting that Sarah Palin is best suited to be vice-president because she is average, or as Palin herself put it "Joe Six-Pack American." And beyond that, they suggest that those who question Palin's qualifications are "intellectuals" or "elitists" who do not represent the common person.

The first issue, of course, is whether someone really wants Joe Six-Pack American in the White House (or a heartbeat away from it). When I think of Joe Six-Pack American, I think about characters like Homer Simpson or Raymond from "Everybody Loves Raymond." Great characters, certainly your average Joes, but not really the person I want leading this country. This country is a complex thing - so many issues to deal with, so many intricacies to follow. I'd like to think of myself as an intelligent person, but I sure as hell don't have the intellect (or stamina) to run it - I'll admit that right now. So when I look at Sarah Palin, a woman who took 6 years to get a degree in journalism, an individual who couldn't give one example of a newspaper of magazine that she reads regularly, and a person who did not have a passport until last year, I don't see the intellectual qualifications necessary for becoming the leader of our country.

Second, I really worry about the spin doctors, commentators, and campaign officials who downplay the criticisms of others as the opinions of "intellectuals." I worry when they joke about the educated being "elite" and out-of-touch, if only for one reason: what message does that send to the public and to our children? It sends the message that intelligence, education, and facts are something to scoff at, something to put down and belittle. It sends the message that listening to those who are educated - those who are experts - is silly and unnecessary. But most significant, it sends the message that education is a bad thing. It's something for nerds who are out-of-touch with society and it has no redeeming value. How can a candidate, on the one hand, claim that education is the necessary key to our country's future success, but on the other hand, denigrate the same educated people simply because they are educated and happen to disagree? It looks like they are taking a page from high school, casting themselves and the McCain-Palin supporters as the bullies or jocks and the naysayers as paper-pushing geeks. Why on Earth would a child want to aspire to be the outsider in that kind of world? And what does it say about how much the McCain-Palin ticket (and their colleagues) really and truly support education if they are, in effect, knocking it down at every turn?

Guys, you can't have it both ways. You can't give speeches about the importance of education and then mock someone simply for being educated. Either we want an educated community and country so that we can lead the world, or we want to put the less educated up on a pedestal and into power because they are the common people. Choose one.