Ross Douthat is Might Be an Lazy Idiot

Come on, this is among the laziest, things I've ever read:

In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard.

This ideal has had a tough 10 months. It’s been tarnished by Palin herself, obviously. With her missteps, scandals, dreadful interviews and self-pitying monologues, she’s botched an essential democratic role — the ordinary citizen who takes on the elites, the up-by-your-bootstraps role embodied by politicians from Andrew Jackson down to Harry Truman.

Dude, seriously, what is your point? You want stupid people to be President? You think that Joe the Plumber should head the Republican ticket in 2012? The guy who bags my groceries should be the next Senator from Massachusetts? What is the point of this drivel other than to try to be contrarian for contrarian's sake?

Barack Obama isn't exactly Patrick Kennedy. He grew up in Hawaii, raised by his grandparents and single mother. While he attended Columbia and Harvard Law School, he started at Occidental College and worked hard to transfer...you know, because he was intellectually curious, a quality you probably want in someone making decisions that affect the lives of billions of people. Maybe we didn't learn that lesson with GWB (a graduate of Yale and Harvard!)

Sarah Palin doesn't represent some democratic ideal of rising to the top despite meagre background and education (Richard Nixon is a better example if that's your real point). She represents the results of charm and relative good looks in an election in a welfare state with less than 750,000 people. All indications are that she used those qualities to milk the state for personal gain and leverage in personal vendettas. She has shown little to no interest in learning about the machinations of government, international relations or any economic or social policy. She quit the job of governor in a state that gets $1.83 from the US government for every $1 it sends in taxes, with more than a year left in HER FIRST TERM.

Stop with the media victimization crap. It's tired and no one wants believes it (except the true believers). You don't want to give our current president credit as a democratic ideal? Fine, I get it (he gets that a lot anyway). But spare me this crap about Sarah Palin. Find someone else. I think these people are all crazy, but they fit your bill and at least they did shit:

Mike Huckabee: Two term governor of AK and chairman of National Governors' Association

Kay Bailey Hutchison: Three term Senator from TX and likely next governor

Ron Paul: Fifteen term Congressman, doctor and leader of upstart political movement

I'm open to any more suggestions, but I'm willing to bet the list is much much longer.