"Credentialed ignorance is still ignorance"- Thomas Sowell
Today, Governor Huckabee was on Fox News Sunday, where he was asked about Governor Palin. My criticism today (though it was last weekend) is not necessarily with Governor Huckabee's response, but with Fox News' decision to ask this Governor Huckabee a specific question: " Does [Governor Palin] have the experience? Does she have the knowledge to be President" (see the 8:20 mark of this clip). This isn't the first time that a Fox News personality has asked that same question. Most notably, in Governor Palin's first time on Bill O'Reilly's show, O'Reilly asked Governor Palin if she herself was smart enough to be president?! Has O'Reilly ever asked other prominent politicians and potential presidential candidates if they,themselves, are smart enough or knowledgeable enough to be President? No, he hasn't. Why is this question asked of Governor Palin or about her?
The answer to that very question is one of sexism and elitism. The likes of Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and President Obama haven't been asked by "journalists" if they are smart enough or knowledgeable enough to be President. The one thing that these three individuals have in common, other than their view of Governor Palin as a political threat, is that they all possess a pair of XY chromosomes, something that Governor Palin lacks. The intelligence of male politicians are usually not questioned. Many people bases their perception of Governor Palin's intelligence on one interview more than a year a half ago and a caricature on late night TV. May I remind such individuals, including those producers, editors, and personality who work at Fox News, that true intelligence is not manifested in edited words or a satirical characterization. True intelligence is found in the application of knowledge and life's experiences. True intelligence is what a certain Alaskan governor may call common sense.
Governor Palin did not attend an Ivy League school as the likes of Obama, Romney, and even the Left's former favorite punching bag, President Bush. Governor Palin's education came from a state university in Idaho, but her intelligence came from soaking up life experiences and learning from the past. If anyone has read the Governor's book or watched her speeches, you see that Governor Palin's intelligence comes from recognizes the successes of others and learning from the failures of the past, hence her constant invoking of Reagan. Governor Palin is a sponge when it comes to her life experiences. She soaks up everything around her and applies it. If you take a look at how she has responded to questions regarding the Gulf oil spill, she has discussed what the state of Alaska has done to deal with relationships with oil companies and oil spills. She learns from experience.
Regarding the aspect of Governor Palin's experience, people tend to poo-poo the fact that Governor Palin stepped aside from the governor's office early. However, Governor Palin accomplished all of her goals as Governor of Alaska in just 2 and a half years, including moving forward on ethics reform, the transcontinental pipeline, and forward funding education among other things. This is only as governor, not to mention the experience she has had a major, city council woman, and oil and gas commissioner.
While I still view Fox News as the best source on television, I'm disappointed in the boys at Fox who want to question her intelligence and experience when she has overwhelming amounts of both. Experience is her teacher; common sense is her intelligence. Those are qualities that an Ivy League education cannot buy.
My apologies, Bill O'Reilly, for my lack of pithiness.
Crossposted here and here.
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