Is Obama Smart?

It depends on what your definition of "smart" is. If you think "smart" refers to someone who's gone to Harvard and whose self-regard is as big as the great outdoors, then, no argument, the man in question is mega-smart. If, on the other hand, you think being "smart" is a matter of having a clue or two, well then, writes Bret Stephens, the dude is as thick as a McDonald's milkshake:

Much of the media has spent the past decade obsessing about the malapropisms of George W. Bush, the ignorance of Sarah Palin, and perhaps soon the stupidity of Rick Perry. Nothing is so typical of middling minds than to harp on the intellectual deficiencies of the slightly less smart and considerably more successful.

But it takes actual smarts to understand that glibness and self-belief are not sufficient proof of genuine intelligence. Stupid is as stupid does, said the great philosopher Forrest Gump. The presidency of Barack Obama is a case study in stupid does.