STUPIDITY

Forrest Gump is famous for saying, "Stupid is as stupid does." Basically what he was saying is that what you do defines your level of stupidity. Examples are numerous and seem to be on the increase. In fact, they have exceeded my tolerance level. "My cup runneth over," seems apropos. I'm told that this expression is from the Hebrew bible. This brings up a whole new area of stupidity regarding religious beliefs from around the world, but I will refrain for now and limit this to non-religious stupidity.

First, let me clarify what I mean by stupid. There are a lot of synonyms for it: moron, idiot, fool, etc., but basically they all refer to the absence, or lack of, mental capacity, or at least a shocking inability to use it.

The latest example of this, and the one that has pushed me over the edge (causing my cup to runneth over), was a recent Gallup poll, which reported that 65% of Republicans would consider voting for Sara Palin for president, but only 58% of them think she is qualified. That means, if one can believe an April 2009 Washington Post poll about the number of Republican voters in the country, approximately 4,776,000 voters (+ or – a 6% margin of error) are willing to vote for someone they believe to be unqualified.

Of course my Republican friends would say that voting for the most qualified person for president doesn't mean that the person is qualified. It just means that the person is less unqualified than their opponent (in their opinion). Okay, so if Hitler and Stalin were running for president, which one would you vote for?

An "Ah ha" moment came to me the other night at Taco Bell. I was sitting there eating my super burrito and small diet coke, and watching the customers coming and going. A very large (obese) man got his order to go and went over to the condiments bar, where he proceeded to stuff three large, hand-full's of catsup packets into his takeout bag. Later, after an employee refilled the container, I went over and estimated how many he took. I came up with approximately 80, but his hands, like the rest of him, were probably bigger.

I'm not implying that this guy was a Republican. He probably doesn't even vote. (We can only hope.) But he is representative of a large percentage of people in this world who are out to get whatever they can, and as much as they can, and the hell with logic, common sense, ethics (hello Wall Street), or even a second thought. Way too many people either lack the ability to analyze a situation or don't even consider doing so.

An intelligent person doing stupid things is no better than a stupid person doing stupid things. In fact, it is almost impossible to tell the difference. "Stupid is as stupid does."