Opus 28, Is the President Smart or Dumb?

We have all heard references to the intelligence of different presidents.  Notice I did not mention any names in the title.  We used to hear a mantra about the cosmic intelligence of President Obama.  We still hear reference to how dumb President Bush is.  I guess my big question for these people would be, “Based on what?” 

I teach middle school.  We are always having parent conferences and one of the comments often made is, “He is really smart.”  Or, “She has a lot of ability.”  Some of us avoid those statements because we always want to know, “Based on what?”  When a student is failing all classes, always in trouble and dripping attitude, I wonder just what is it that makes people think they are so smart.  Whatever it is, it does not seem to make any difference in their lives.  I don’t care if my plumber can’t read Aristotle if he knows how to fix my backed up sewer pipes.

So, is the President smart or dumb.  Is it dumb to say we have 57 states?  Is it dumb to pronounce “corpsmen” as if they were dead bodies?  Don’t smart people know that Austrians speak German?  I have read other places the observation that when someone is really smart, like and Einstein, no one spends any time commenting on how smart they are.  It is obvious.  They don’t need advocates. 

“Smart” is one point in a matrix of qualities that make up a person.  It should not be the highest ranking quality.  It is not something that can be measured.  It all comes out in the performance.

It the president smart?  I keep hearing people claim it.  I see no evidence of it.  History will hopefully have a better way of judging than what school he went to and how many autobiographies and children’s books he has written.