Republican Presidents have not been intelligent

[samsingh]

why are republican presidents generally underachievers, not very intelligent, and average or below average students?

Compare the President's in our recent history. Jimmy Carter to Reagan. Bill Clinton to Bush Senior. Obama to Bush the idiot.

in each case, from IQ, grades, knowledge, the Democratic President is smarter and more capable than the repug.

[YarnAddict]

1. There are different kinds of intelligence

And considering that Ronnie Raaaayyyyyyyyygun kicked Jimmy Carter's ass six ways to Sunday, he had some kind of intelligence.

[jwirr]

4. I was there and I don't think it was intelligence. It was dirty politics and the rw churhes.

[YarnAddict]

8. Yes--

and that takes a particular kind of intelligence, which in politics, business, and probably a whole lot of other fields, is much more successful than basic IQ points.

[Stellar]

6. There you go again...

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Oh Great!

Reagan cheerleading on DU. Really poor form.
GAC

[YarnAddict]

12. How is that cheerleading?

I was merely stating the obvious: There are different kinds of intelligence, and particularly when dealing with people, some forms are more effective than others.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Well We Disagree On Two Things

Wihtout strictly qualifying the "type" of intelligence, which you haven't done, then nearly anybody would infer mental acuity.

Secondly, i think you're confusing social SKILLS with intelligence by conveniently defining the word to suit only you.

Lastly, it is cheerleading to suggest that anything deeper than dirty tricks and playing on the fears and biases of part of the populace is somehow intelligent and worse yet, somehow admirable.

[YarnAddict]

23. Regardless of what you may think

the ability to play on fears and biases does take some intelligence. Call it "cunning," or EQ, or whatever. Playing people isn't something idiots can do.

I have a close relative who is probably one of the smartest people I know, in terms of raw intelligence. Unfortunately, he is a total ignoramus as far as dealing with people. Can't figure out why he is continually passed over for promotions, when he is sooooooo much smarter, and does his job sooooooo much better than his co-workers. Well, the answer is that he pisses people off. If he could trade in a few IQ points for some social skills, his life would be better.

That's all I meant.

[samsingh]

13. it was a deal with Iran i thought

[YarnAddict]

15. It was more than that

It was gas lines, and the Olympic boycott, and Carter reinstating draft registration.

Carter was a good, principled man, and the whole nuclear engineering thing definitely made him among the smartest men to ever hold the presidency.

But, Reagan connected with people in a way that few can; maybe it was the actor years that did it. Who knows? But, even my dad, who had been a Dem from way back in the FDR years, once remarked that Reagan was the best prez we had ever had. I was appalled.

It's the whole "emotional intelligence thing." Nearly everyone has had a boss or a coworker that makes you wonder how he/she remembers to breathe often enough to sustain life, but is so smooth they end up doing jobs that must be way beyond their abilities.

That's why we need to watch out for Scott Walker. He isn't even a college graduate, but his stock has skyrocketed since the Iowa thing. I heard he didn't even use a teleprompter for his speech. He may even end up turning his lack of education to an advantage, if he's their nominee.

[hunter]

18. No. Reagan was a meat puppet.

His mouth was directly connected to his penis. Wiggle it the right way and he'd say anything. By the time he was President they didn't even have to touch his dick. He'd read whatever was in the script, with great Hollywood B-List actor sincerity.

GWB was a meat puppet too, but I'm not sure what made his mouth move, probably some sort of stick up his ass. GWB is the sort of dude who can choke on a pretzel watching football, or fall off a Segway, yet still, he is protected.

I never, not ever, want to see an honest self-portrait of GWB stepping out of the shower, and I never, ever, want to be privy to his conversations with Dick Cheney. There is no goodness there, just a deep dark black pit of banal evil.

GWB's dad was an evil minion, a mini-me, blackmailed into the Presidency by greater powers. That damned old Reagan got shot but was too stupid and stubborn to die. One of my "Creative Speculation" theories. Fools, children, and old men suffering Alzheimer's.

Eisenhower was the last respectable Republican. Too bad we didn't pay any attention to his warnings about the Military-Industrial-Complex.

I think Nixon was a flaming paranoid fruits-and-nuts California freak, bless his heart, and a crook too, but nobody's tool. That's why they forced him to resign. He was uncontrollable.

The first President I campaigned and voted for was Jimmy Carter.

Unlike Obama, Carter wasn't prepared to deal with the right wing rat fucks.

[Agschmid]

2. Disagree.

[on point]

3. Recent repukes hail from con artist bully part of society

[world wide wally]

5. The only reason we get Republican presidents is because of evil genius campaign managers

[samsingh]

14. good point

[salin]

7. a Reagan forward phenomenon. Plus VPs - Quayle was before Palin.

Go back further and you have some smart men. Don't like Nixon - but he was smart, as was Eisenhower. Ford - don't know - but his rise to the Presidency was pretty unusual.

Reagan started an era of "in group" (the glorious old party) and "out group" (everyone else) - that pandered to those still alienated from the changes from the civil rights movement and the vietnam anti-war movement and the women's liberation movement. It doesn't take scholarliness to play from that political book.

[olddots]

9. America and the world likes stupid

Hopefully it can change .

[Wounded Bear]

10. They're easier for their handlers to manage...

Every Rep Pres since Reagan has been a figurehead, and it's been getting more and more obvious as it goes along. Pappy Bush might be an exception. Having been CIA Director, I suspect he's the smartest of the bunch, and he only lasted 1 term. His 'base' dumped him after he saw reality and approved a necessary tax increase.

[meow2u3]

16. Republican Presidents have been puppets for the MIC

As well as the Koch Bros. and the Wall Street puppetmasters. The GOP doesn't want it any other way.

Lower IQ makes them easier to manipulate so a repuke President can do the bidding of his handlers. This way, the President gets the blame and the real power brokers get off scot-free.

[Reter]

17. Bob Dole was probably the smartest and most qualified Republican to run in three decades+

I voted for him in 1996 when I was a young Republican. I regret a lot of things, but that vote isn't high on the list of things. Perhaps no 9/11 and no Iraq War had he won. Think about it. Gore may have beaten him in 2000.

[KamaAina]

19. Oh, come on. Abe Lincoln was smart as a whip.

Did you see the way he destroyed Douglas in the debates?

[samsingh]

20. i meant in the last 30 years

[KamaAina]

22. I know. I was just being silly.

[samsingh]

24. you succeeded