Subject: Re: AOC’s thoughts on Taiwan
I didn't say he was a shining light of intellect - especially since when people talk about "intellect," they usually refer to a very specific aspect of human mental acuity. But he wasn't (isn't) dumb, because genuinely dumb people aren't going to do well in politics.

You need to spend more time with politicians. They may have certain gifts: Trump has the ability to distract and keep himself the center of attention. George Bush had the ability to be relatable (you remember, the guy you’d have a beer with?). Reagan was affable and telegenic; he was a decent actor if you gave him a script that wasn’t too taxing.

But that is a far cry from “smart” or “intellectually curious” or anything on that side of the street. George Bush was a dummy. His brother, by contrast, had some smarts, but the roulette wheel only has one slot and Jr. got it. I’ve told the story before, but with Westinghouse we used to trek to Washington every year to “meet” our local Reps, Senators, and some regulators. (It was “soft power” lobbying, reminding them that Westinghouse had some of the most powerful media outlets in their home territories.) I met everyone representing Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, and more. I never er did meet Dan Quayle, but the people who did - all of them, every single one came back and said “That’s the dumbest guy I ever talked to.” And he was, if I’m not mistaken, “in politics”. There were others, plenty of them, who were dumb. Many were average. Occasionally you’d have an hour with someone who you could tell was wicked smart. But not most of them.

Sarah Palin?

Or for that matter, Donald Trump? He has certain talents, but geopolitics isn’t one of them, economics isn’t, military isn’t, and so on. He’s a seriously dumb guy, who happens to have been in the right place and time when the roulette ball fell into the slot.

Our system doesn’t guarantee that the very best will wind up in the important chairs, only that there’s a reasonable chance they will, given the history of passing power down by heredity or by billy club. There are also times when the system produces simply terrible people. Bush Jr. and Trump are among that select group. (So were Democrats like Andrew Johnson, Strom Thurmond and Richard Byrd. It isn’t one party or the other, it’s harder than just that.)