Why Republicans Love Dumb Presidents

[DonViejo]

January 10, 2018 at 9:10 am EST By Taegan Goddard

Jonathan Chait: “Faced with the accusation that he is a half-wit, the president and his defenders have formed two rebuttals. The first is that the mere fact Trump won the presidency and has approved conservative policies proves his wisdom… The second defense holds that the questioning of Trump’s mental capacity is no more than liberal snobbery.”

“Both defenses have something in common. Rather than segregate questions about Trump’s brain away from the broader partisan debate, they dissolve the former into the latter. They believe that Trump’s being called dumb by the intellectual elite is intimately connected to his political identity. This belief is largely correct. As it has moved farther and farther right, the Republican Party has grown increasingly anti-intellectual. Trump’s base adores him, not despite his obvious mental limitations, but because of them.”

“Two caveats are in order. First, many intelligent people have conservative values, and rationally support the Republican Party. Second, while Trump’s lack of mental aptitude may be similar to that of previous Republican leaders in kind, it is very different in degree. That said, Trump’s flamboyant ignorance and disdain for intellectual standards are very much in keeping with modern conservative politics.”

###

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/10/republicans-love-dumb-presidents/

[Doodley]

1. They see Trump or Bush and think: "That person is like me. Even somebody like me can be president."

[JI7]

2. It's all about the gut . That's all they need

None of that fancy schools and learning.

[Aristus]

3. But they never think: "I don't have a family fortune to help me rise to my level of incompetence.

So my ass is stayin' here in East Cornhole."

[JI7]

4. This is why they went with trump over cruz

Even though cruz actually has a consistent record of being conservative.

And why W Bush for more support than Jeb.

[frazzled]

5. Left out an important factor: because they are easier to manipulate

Uninformed and incurious presidents (I could add lazy), with little interest in policy detail and few abilities to rationally analyze big-picture issues, are far more able to be easily swayed by advisers, special interest groups, and other players with an agenda.

The "elites"--big pharma, some sectors of the military, conservative think tanks--like to hide behind dumb presidents so they can pull the chains, and at the same time sell the candidate to the public as "the guy you'd like to have a beer with" or "the guy who speaks what he (and you) think."

Democrats, in general, are looking for intelligent, experienced candidates—more intelligent and experienced than themselves—whom they can trust to wade through the vast details of governing and make independent, thoughtful decisions based on advisory input. Republicans, of late, have been looking for guys (and I mean guys) who validate their own inadequacies. They don't think about the dangers of who is pulling the strings of these incompetent puppets behind the scenes.

[Gothmog]

6. Trump supporters are racist ignorant deplorables

[Corgigal]

7. Great

If we're all involved in a mass casualty event, they can get the stupid surgeons.

When they leave the airport, I want the flight with the smarter pilots.

On and on. The only reason they think stupid people can be president is because they don't understand government.

[smirkymonkey]

8. John Stuart Mill had this to say about Conservatives:

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."

I find that to be generally true.