Required Reading

Noemie Emery on the Smartest Man in Any Room:

That he is brilliant is something we already knew. “This is a guy whose IQ is off the charts,” Michael Beschloss said of Obama, who was the “smartest guy” to be president. Christopher Buckley said he was first class in temperament and intellectual prowess, boosting him two slots above Franklin D. Roosevelt in the gray matter arena. “You could see him as a New Republic writer,” said David Brooks, closing the argument.

But fact that this genius has become a disaster became clear in mid-June when the Middle East imploded, matching his health care debacle with its foreign equivalent. The non-connection of political wisdom to what intellectuals think makes for intelligence was never more painfully clear.

“Intelligence” is “proven” amongst the progressives by saying cleverly what everyone already agrees on, or at least saying it without looking at one’s notes too frequently.

If that’s too high a hurdle, a well-creased pant will do.