Posted
5:00 PM
by Gene
CHRIS is making the KNEE-JERKS MAAAAAAAAAD, but he speaks with authority where the DNC FLACKS at Kinsley.com do not. Though overstating Reagan's "stupidity" -- we were, after all, on history's lucky side in those years, much as through the unforgettable time of SLICK -- he underlines the fact that it's been a long time since we had a truly cosmopolitan president, one who could think and write and orate for himself, without the aid of a million spinmeisters and two million flacks, one who could speak with authority on the arts and the sciences and literature without a TelePrompTer. In that, Chris is right to be scornful. But a second Jefferson at this stage seems unlikely, not least because it probably wouldn't play well on TELEVISION. Besides, America has had chances to elect erudite presidents, most famously with Adlai Stevenson, an egghead who'd have scrambled all our eggs. (Not that Ike was that great, and Ike set the template for Reagan by being a caretaker.)