It has been a long time since I have kept some Maureen Dowd for myself. I just lost that loving feeling sometime ago. However, I was hooked this morning by the first half of her column, which is a poignant tribute to Marilyn Monroe, playing off the idea that for such a ‘dumb blonde’, she was actually pretty bright and was filled with intellectual aspirations.
Maureen goes on to contrast this observation with today’s Republican women juggernauts, our Tea Party wonders, following the Sarah Palin mould, who make ignorance a badge of honor, which perhaps sells better when it is coming from attractive, perky women. It is the worst face of populism, which is made possible by the super-rich who are funding this new political experience, helping to blur everything under the simple, grand ideal of American individualism, mixed in with a good bit of Christian fundamentalism. It helps when you are running against a liberal black Administration - good old traditional American values against something faintly foreign and socialist.
The dumbing down of America just seems to be going full speed, as we fall further down in the world. One wonders what is the point of no return, when we can no longer recover from this spiral. I doubt it is too late, though we have to start climbing out of this hole. Or is it too late? Maybe we will have a clearer idea of what is going on in 2012, assuming the world doesn’t end.
( Dowd )