Thursday, February 14, 2008

Is America A Dumb Blonde?

Today's New York Times has a review of Susan Jacoby's The Age of American Unreason.

The article begins by talking about a YouTube clip featuring Kellie Pickler on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

Based on the Times review, it sounds like Jacoby is both rehashing long-standing criticism of America's anti-intellectualism and suggesting that there's a particularly venal convergence of it right now with the rise of religious anti-rationalism. And she's as critical of the left as of the right for their respective roles in exacerbating the situation.

America's archetypal dumb blonde, Marilyn Monroe, was really a lot smarter than her roles or image would suggest, but Kellie Pickler is no Marilyn Monroe.

Until next time...

Rick

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