An interesting point.

David Cross made an interesting point in his Rolling Stone interview. He says, essentially, that people in America are rewarding mediocrity, with "vaguely American morals" and are anti-intellectual. I think he is right. I have very educated parents. It was never an option for me to not be educated. But the election of 2008 made something very clear to me: intellectualism is considered a bad trait. Barack Obama is slammed as "elitist" because he uses big words. The country has turned to Sarah Palin as a respite from all those Washington intellectuals. The woman is an idiot. But apparently, she is an "everywoman." Why? What is so wrong with being educated? I know that I want the most intelligent person I can find running the country. And not just intelligent, but informed. I don't care which side of the political spectrum you fall on as long as you know what you are talking about. Read the newspaper. It is shocking to me that "middle America" sees those who are college educated as snobs. It is further shocking to me that those who seek college educations are derided as liberals. Not everyone in college is a democrat. Not every professor is a democrat. There is a perceptible shift away from higher education--particularly liberal arts and social sciences--in this country, and it stems from a paranoia about "indoctrination" of children into an amoral communist thought pattern. That is frightening. A college education, even just a few years with no degree, can make a world of difference. College does not tell people what to think, it teaches them how to think. Watching cable news, or reading Glenn Beck or even Al Franken, those people are telling you what to think. An American, with access to the best education in the world, should be able to read both Franken and Beck and make an informed decision about which they prefer. Instead, people choose one or the other, and absently deride the opposing view, without really investigating it.