"People confuse eloquence with intelligence. That's what this is."

[mwb970]

Debate day is game day for viewers
(Columbus Dispatch, October 8, 2008)

Hardly an Obama statement went by that wasn't challenged by one of the watchers (at a local debate-watching party). "That's not the question he asked," various folks would cry when Obama's answer dragged on. "The problem is people confuse eloquence with intelligence. That's what this is," remarked Gary Balser, a campaign volunteer from Hilliard.

When Obama asserted he would cut more than he would spend, Mindy Blackwell, attending with a daughter who is a first-time voter, couldn't hold back: "He's so lying! How can he stand up there and lie like that?" And when Obama said he's for nuclear power, there were shouts of "liar!" "He is a consummate liar," said Sheila Bello of the Catholic Coalition for McCain-Palin.

But when McCain started chewing on Obama for taking campaign contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, there was applause and exhortations to "hit him!" (Party hostess Marie) Adamo said she is backing McCain because "he's going to be a president that our allies trust and our enemies fear."

Obama, on the other hand "is hanging around with terrorists, avowed terrorists." "We will work our fingers to the bone to make sure America is educated about this," Adamo promised.

What struck me about this article, aside from the obvious parroting of Fox/Limbaugh falsehoods about Obama, was the strange remark by one Gary Balser that "people are confusing eloquence with intelligence."

Gary, Gary, Gary. Language is thought, expressed out loud. Eloquence does indicate intelligence. Or do you imagine that a stupid person, one lacking in intelligence, could somehow string together sentence after complex sentence into off-the-cuff paragraphs of persuasive rhetoric that sound like they are written down in a book? The very idea is patently absurd. How could an unintelligent person possibly do that?

I'll go further: a lack of eloquence reveals a lack of intelligence, too. Not convinced, Gare? I give you George W. Bush.

By the way, the article also contained this gem:

At the McCain debate-watching party in Upper Arlington, just as Tom Brokaw appeared, host Marie Adamo quickly turned down the sound on the flat-screen television in her family room, next to a poster on "The Mysteries of the Rosary," to offer a quick prayer for the Arizona senator: "I just pray that John McCain knocks it out of the ballpark and that he really, really gets the point across that he's the best candidate."

Sorry, Marie, McCain is well beyond the reach of prayer at this point.

[Lorien]

1. Ah, the "Columbus Disgrace"

I long for the days when Columbus still had the Citizen-Journal; it balanced out the right wing nuttiness of the Disgrace.

[mwb970]

2. It has its ups and downs.

It isn't quite as bad now as it has been, although there are still occasional "all-rightie" days on the Op-Ed page.

And three cheers to you for remembering the Citizen-Journal!