Occupy Democracy

The recent electoral results in Argentina, the reluctance of Greeks citizens to face financial responsibility, the survival of Silvio Berlusconi, the continued popular support for Hugo Chavez despite clear displays of incompetence and wasteful management of national resources, and the upcoming victory of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua are news alarming enough that it would be reasonable to begin questioning the wisdom of crowds and the common sense of the people.  What really gets me worried, however, is the current level of stupidity among Republican presidential candidates in the United States.  The current slate of Republicans includes people like Rick Perry, who does not believe in evolution nor global warming; Herman Cain, who is proud to be ignorant of the world outside of the United States and who is proposing an electrified fence between the USA and Mexico, and Michelle Bachman, who does not like science because it contradicts the Bible and who would build a double fence between the USA and Mexico.  All of them are proud to be anti-intellectual and proud to announce that the United States has the best health care and the best education systems in the world, despite ample evidence showing the steady decline of this country in the provision of these services  In recent memory only Hugo Chavez has come close to these idiots in terms of chutzpah and blissful ignorance. It makes you yearn for a dictator.