President Egghead
Tom Waseleski
I think the letter of the month came from Jael Greenleaf of Squirrel Hill. We ran it Saturday in the Post-Gazette and, in case you missed it, I've appended it below.
The writer makes an important point about the refreshing change coming to the White House in the form of Barack Obama's brain power. Supporters of George W. Bush may have liked him for a lot of reasons, but demonstrable intelligence was not one of them. As most of us can agree, this did not accrue to the benefit of the United States over eight years.
See what you think ....
Americans welcome the return of the egghead
I have heard one pundit after another wonder about the "college-educated white vote." On CNN, it was opined that those voters are the "investor class"; others assumed that they were less bigoted than other whites. A few even thought that these voters were "pro-black."
I offer a different and, I think, ignored explanation: It's the stupidity, Stupid. After eight years of the most incurious, anti-intellectual, discourse-challenged president in history, we college-educated folks are desperate for an egghead policy wonk in the White House.
What a thrill to know that our country will soon be governed by a genuine intellectual, who clearly cherishes engagement, debate and discovery. Imagine a president who reads and whose command of English is exhilarating! Imagine intellectual discussion being elevated rather than being despised and ridiculed! Imagine one's being articulate and thoughtful garnering respect rather than suspicion!
We will no longer have to cringe as we watch our bumbling, frat-boy president misspeak, mangle the English language and display a smug, self-satisfied ignorance around the world, to our national embarrassment. College graduates of all colors and religions overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama because he is a thoughtful, intellectual, articulate person, not because we are in some nonsensically characterized "class."
Goodbye, Cowboy; hello, Egghead!
JAEL GREENLEAF
Squirrel Hill