[PBzeer]

Having an alphabet of initials after one's name does not make one more intelligent about making the choices basic to life. It doesn't bestow wisdom, and often times, not even expertise in the field for which the initials are granted. All a degree, at any level, indicates is that one has passed the prerequisite examinations to demonstrate an arbitrary proficiency in the subject matter.

The use one makes of their intellect is far more telling than any award. Affirmation is granted by the test of time, not expediency. Every person on the planet, no matter how rich, how famous, how decorated, or lionized, puts their shoes on, one at a time.

There is no lack of people on this planet who in one way or another, are smarter than I am. Just as there is no lack of those who are less. What has always been the American Ideal though, is that my opinion counts as much as anyone elses. When I let that opinion though, be simply a mirror of someone else's thoughts and opinions, without arriving at that point through my own investigation and cognentive thinking, I have made my opinion valueless.

It's the thing that liberals just don't get about Limbaugh and why he is so popular. It isn't that he tells others what to think, but that he validates what they already think. He expresses thoughts and opinions that they don't hear from the MSM. He gives what they feel, a national voice, that the liberal media do not. Without those millions of listeners that feel they finally have someone who understands what they feel, what they see, Limbaugh would be just another talented radio guy with a niche audience.

There has been no lack of candidates who have extolled running the country like a successful business. Or a benevolent and caring aunt or uncle. Or those to whom we ascribe high intellect or analytical precision, or Olympian idealism. What we have a dearth of, a total lack of, is one's whose forte is plain old common sense and a basic grasp of life as the reality of living.

Do you really think that a Ted Kennedy or Ted Stevens would be anyone of importance, were they not US Senators for Life? That by merely winning election after election, they have somehow been granted a wisdom not available to anyone else?

To devalue one's own opinions, by subverting them to the "wisdom" of those who consider themselves "elite", by whatever factor, is the ultimate surrender of intellect, and one that inevitably leads to moral and ethical bankruptcy.