Reply #1: Good Question

[LoneStarLiberal]

The answer is, unfortunately, relative to who you are asking.

Contemporary Republicans and a sadly growing number of contemporary conservatives in general are anti-intellectual. This is a historical trend in America that runs somewhat on the following script: Intellect is admired as long as you are smart enough but not too smart for your own good. Being too smart for your own good is a broad script that, in contemporary times, includes anyone who has an intelligent criticism of the Bush administration's domestic or foreign policies. I would highly recommend Richard Hofstadter's "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" to you. It's dated but still very relevant.

I'm a researcher and a PhD student who works at my university's computing center. I consider my field to be an intellectual one and I consider myself to be an intellectual. I feel this administration and the people who support it have declared war on me and all other intellectuals. And I have no qualms whatsoever about fighting back.

So if you are asking me, there are just a whole lot of selfish, narrow-minded, drooling morons in this world. If that makes me elitist, so be it. I'm elitist. But at least I'm not a mewling sheep seeking the safety of the herd and the strong hand of authority to live my life.