“For many parents of children with disabilities, the most valuable thing of all is information. Early identification of a cognitive or other disorder, especially autism, can make a life-changing difference.”

And then she says something like ….

“And sometimes these dollars [earmarks] go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good, things like … fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not!”

…. without, apparently, knowing that fruit fly research is the cornerstone of much of modern genetic research—and has been key in understanding autism.

Yeah, I get it: it sounds funny, and it’s fun to make fun of France too. But this is stuff you learn in biology class. It’s in the news. I don’t expect our politicians to understand all of modern science, but it shouldn’t be too much to ask for them to learn about it before they mock it. It’s not even like someone asked her what she thought about fruit fly research and she didn’t know the answer so she winged it—she brought it up.

I’m tired of this anti-knowledge, anti-intellectualism that’s going around. It’s the same thing that happens in the inner cities where kids who bother to learn are mocked, beaten up and accused of “acting white.” Yeah, that’s working out real well for them.

“Even as a developer, I don’t know a lot of the features available in the frameworks I use.”

Right. And I’m willing to wager you don’t present yourself as someone who knows enough about them to speak on them, and you probably don’t make fun of them. Mocking shit you don’t understand is just ignorant. Period.

“Hell, I don’t know everyone involved in NAFTA.”

I don’t expect you to—you’re not running for Vice President of the United States. If you were, I’d expect you know. It involves North America, so it’s the US, Canada and Mexico.

I agree though that she didn’t interview well. However, I attribute it to “Oh crap, what can I say that won’t piss of half the country that already hates my guts” more than ignorance.

But between you, me, and every last human on earth, I prefer my politicians to not understand the intricacies of fruit fly reproductive systems. I work in the computer programming business and there’s nothing more destructive to a working application than a VP who remembers a little code from ’74 and thinks that gives them all the know how to tell me how to write the system.

The US is too big for any one person to know every last bit about how it works. Even as a developer, I don’t know a lot of the features available in the frameworks I use. What I AM good at is figuring out things in short order and understanding how they all fit together. I want that from a politician more than I want them to be able to recall the names of the last 7 sultans of Shitcanistan.

Hell, I don’t know everyone involved in NAFTA.

Tom: the McCain campaign has said there was nothing wrong with the questions—they were all perfectly legitimate. If you want to see how a prepared candidate handles a tough interviewer, watch O’Reilly’s interview with Obama. O’Reilly was aggressive and combative—and that’s fine, because he should have been. But Palin has never faced an interview like that, and probably never will. Katie Couric is not exactly known for her toughness. “What news sources do you read” is not a “gotcha” question.

Of course she was targeted, the MSM hated her from the instant she was picked and many of the questions were “gotchas”. I do agree that she could have answered better, but the questions were not designed to gain information — they were to stump her.

And yet you claim Palin thinks Africa is a country?

Sebastian, knowledge matters to me in a candidate—I know most voters aren’t knowledgeable, but most voters are not trying to VP or POTUS.

And there’s a difference between being stupid and being ignorant or unknowledgeable. I don’t think she knows enough for the office for which she was running, but I don’t actually think she’s stupid. Yeah, she’s smart—but she’s also incurious and not knowledgeable enough.

Like you said, that can be fixed. When it is, I’ll reassess her.

Zeron, obviously Obama does not actually think there are 57 states—it’s misspeaking—just like I know Palin does not actually think that Afghanistan borders the United States. I can easily forgive gaffes like that on both sides, everyone makes those.