My stupidity problem

Watch out, folks; here comes the news of the day!

Yeah, I know: “Brad, the problem you have with stupidity is that you are burdened with far too much of it!”

Thanks, but no, that’s not it.

It has occurred to me that I’ve typed “stupid” a lot lately. Such as here and here and here and here and here.

For some reason, that stuff bothers me more than it used to. It’s why I can hardly bear to read most “news” these days, as I’ve mentioned. It’s just too stupid — what’s discussed, how it’s discussed, the deeply disturbing enthusiasm that so many people bring to the discussion. I’d give you examples, but I don’t like dwelling on these things long enough to type even brief descriptions.

So I push through those things in the various newspapers and magazines to which I subscribe, and try to keep my eyes and ears open, and look for the things I can stand to discuss. Like you, know, Scrooge McDuck and Richie Rich. Or weird artworks of the Renaissance. Computers generating art. Views of the Earth from across the universe. The funeral of King Edward VII in 1910. And no, I’m not trying to give the impression that my topics are more elevated than most “news.” That’s why I started with Scrooge and Richie.

Of course, sometimes I break down and say something about the stupid stuff. I couldn’t help myself here. That one was directly and obviously about stupidity as most folks would define it — and how we live in a time when it is considered smart, in politics, to embrace that stupidity. A postscript on that post: A while ago, I saw a notification that Walker and Warnock were having a debate tonight (I’m writing this on Friday, 10/14), and it could decide the race with early voting about to begin.

You realize what that means, don’t you? The New York Times is saying that there are people in Georgia who would actually consider — who are actually considering — voting for Walker over Warnock. And not just a few people. There are enough of them that the outcome is uncertain — so uncertain that the twitch on someone’s face during one of these spectacles we absurdly call “debates” could decide the whole thing.

Now that’s either stupid in the sense that the editors of The New York Times have lost their minds, or they’re right and this is true. These people who would vote for Walker are not patients under sedation in the most disturbed areas of an insane asylum. They are people to whom we actually grant the awesome power of deciding who will run this country.

What does that say about the rest of us? I’ve stood up for this democracy thing my whole life — proudly proclaimed it, defended it fiercely. And this is what it comes to?

OK, I got sidetracked there. I wasn’t even going to say anything about this kind of stupidity. (After all, as I moaned, “I don’t like dwelling on these things…”.) I was just going to use it as a departure point for what I really wanted to talk about, which is a different kind of stupidity altogether. I was going to go on about it at some length. But not now. I’ve already written more than 500 words. I’ll come back to my actual point in a separate post.

This, by the way, is my kind of stupidity — the kind that actually does overburden me. I let this stuff get to me. I let my mind get boggled, and go off on these digressions. I don’t know of any remedy for it, except to just stop myself when it happens. See you later…

18 thoughts on “My stupidity problem”

  1. Doug Ross

    If Joe Biden took an IQ test today, what do you think he would score? Could he even get through it? He won’t take a 5 minute cognitive test to dispel the idea that he’s in the early stages of dementia.

    There are plenty of “smart” people with dumb ideas. Elizabeth Warren tops my list. Her ideas related to taxation are beyond stupid.

    Joe Wilson… Sarah Palin… AOC… Kamala Harris… plenty of stupidity across both parties.

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Well, I take that test annually, but just because Medicare requires it. I figure if that’s all I’ve gotta do to have Medicare, good deal.

      I don’t put a great deal of stock in it.

      And before long, they’re going to have to change that test. Part of it entails being told to draw a clock face that’s showing a certain time.

      In a few years, people who have never used analog clocks will be over 65, and taking that test….

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        There’s almost nothing to the test.

        The nurse I see before the doctor at my annual physical runs through the list of my drugs, checks my vision and weight and blood pressure, and then either before or right after the EKG, she hands me the paper and pen and tells me to draw the clock while she goes to fetch something, and just before leaving the room she tells me to remember three unrelated words, in order.

        She comes back, I hand her the clock picture, she asks me to recite the words, I do, and we’re done…

        1. Doug Ross

          So he could pass that test pretty quickly on national TV and could put the talk of mental decline to rest. If he can’t draw a clock face and remember three words for a minute, he shouldn’t be president.

          I’d put the chances of him completing the test successfully at 50% based on his recent miscues.

          1. Brad Warthen Post author

            One thing I definitely DON’T want in a president is someone who would participate in a stunt like that.

            The only thing that could make it worse would be for him to go around afterward talking about what a “very stable genius” he is because he remembered five words…

            1. Barry

              come on Brad, you know that Biden participating in a ludicrously silly stunt on tv always puts a complete end to all questions from people that hate him anyway.

              speaking of silly stunts, I see MAGA’s favorite right winger, Tulsi Gabbard, is flying around the country campaigning for election deniers and extreme right wingers. LOL. what a worthless buffoon.

              1. Brad Warthen Post author

                Well, now… she was arguably the best-looking candidate running in 2020.

                Unless you prefer Kamala Harris. No doubt about it, Kamala would have won such a contest hands-down when she was as young as Tulsi.

                President Obama was right about her…

                Some will object to this comment. But I was trying to think of something positive to say about Tulsi, and this was all I had…

                I’m trying to be NICE here, people!

              2. Doug Ross

                Here’s a test for you… if you can pull yourself away for 30 minutes from your favorite Sirius unknown radio host.. listen to Tulsi’s new podcast where she explains in detail why she is leaving the Democratic party. I know that would require actual thought and consideration…. It’s a whole lot easier to get your opinions spoonfed to you….

                1. Brad Warthen Post author

                  That’s an edited comment from Doug. I cut out the personal insults, except for the relatively mild one at the end. That way, I preserved some of the style…

                2. Barry

                  Tulsi is buffoon. It’s no wonder her own district wasn’t interested in supporting her anymore.

                  I’d more likely listen to a podcast of two raisins arguing about refrigerator brands than listen to anything Gabbard says.

                  I could not care less if anyone stays or leaves the Democratic party. Talk about irrelevant.

                  Flying around the country showing up to campaign for the most extreme right wingers on the ballot – that’s Tulsi.

                  Earlier this week she showed up in Arizona to campaign for Kari Lake. Lake denies the results of the 2020 election and stated this week that she will only “accept the results if she wins.”

                  Anyone campaigning for someone like Lake is a fool and a personal disaster of a human being.

                  Thanks for mentioning my favorite host- a very nice write up in the Washington Post about Michael Smerconish yesterday.

                  CNN host dreams of a ‘whole network’ for ‘independent thinkers’
                  By Erik Wemple

                  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/20/smerconish-centrist-network-zucker-cnn/

  2. Doug Ross

    The reason dumb politicians are elected is because the general electorate is at best of average intelligence, unwilling to spend any time researching the positions of the candidates, and skews toward the elderly who are out of touch, incurious, and set in their ways. And we have morons who think Tucket Carlson and Rachel Maddow have opinions that are worth listening to.

    At least with term limits we could get a new set of idiots instead of idiots who have the added detriment of gaining power thru their idiocy.

    1. Bill

      Idiot wind; blowing every time you move your jaw
      From the Grand Cooley Dam to the Mardi Gras
      Idiot wind; blowing every time you move your teeth
      You’re an idiot babe. It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        I haven’t listened to that album in a long time. It was a good one.

        I think I’ll go over to Spotify and play it. That, and maybe Planet Waves. I get those mixed up, on account of their coming out so closely together.

        It was about the time I saw him and The Band back together! An awesome show…

        As soon as you brought it up, I thought, “Mozambique!” But no, that was Planet Waves… no it wasn’t! It was Desire, which was a year later — with such other faves as “One More Cup of Coffee” and “Sara”…

        I get all those mid-70s albums mixed up…

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