In this election, the Republicans have denounced basic knowledge as "elitism". It is as if they are proud to be ignorant. Furthermore, they back up their pride in their ignorance with righteous indignation when they are questioned.
Two days ago there was an excellent Doonesbury cartoon in which Zonker, seen as a college student, was responding to his professor:
"I will not answer these elitist questions! Where I come from, they don't ask questions like this!" (A paraphrase with apologies to Garry Trudeau.) The professor was not impressed, and it was clear that Zonker was not going to do well on the exam.
If you had to have surgery, wouldn't you want your surgeon to be a board-certified? You betcha! Being a board-certified surgeon means years and years and study and work and finally passing an exam chock-full of "elitist" questions. But when it comes right down to having surgery on your very own body, you want a surgeon who can answer those questions, someone who has an immense base of knowledge, someone who is skillful, someone who thinks fast on their feet.
In a very similar way, Obama has an immense fund of knowledge. He is a thoughtful speaker. He is skillful at legislation. He connects well with people and thinks fast on his feet. He passes the test in every way.
Yesterday morning I was driving in the car with my 17 year-old son. We were listening to Morning Edition on NPR. They had a clip from Obama speaking at a rally in Virginia. He started to talk about how there was not a "Red America" and a "Blue America"; there was only a United States of America. The crowd went wild! Then NPR played a clip of McCain speaking at a rally, which consisted basically of McCain engaging in name-calling and fear-mongering, but no call to a higher theme. It was an easy lesson in the difference between the two campaigns.
Something I learned when I was growing up: "Talking about ideas is the highest form of communication, and talking about other people is the lowest form of communication.".
We want a president who is intelligent, whose mind is quick, and who inspires us to be the best people that we can be. After this election, I hope the word "elitist" will be taken out back and shot. Or at least only used in its correct connotation, as in describing someone who spends $150,000 on clothes and make-up, or someone who owns eight houses and thirteen cars.