Libby Copeland writes in the Washington Post today with the news that "ditzy" Monica Lewinsky received an advanced degree at the London School of Economics, and officially inducts her into the "dumb but smart" Hall of Fame.
A revelation on this order suggests Lewinsky belongs to a fascinating subspecies, dumb-but-smart. Dumb-but-smart folks defy our low expectations. They appear dull or ditzy but possess unpredictable pockets of intelligence.
For example, dumb-but-smart: Ashton Kutcher! Majored in biochemical engineering in college. (Huh?) And: Jessica Simpson, who famously didn't know the difference between tuna and chicken, and posited that buffalo wings are made from buffalo. Simpson's mother once told Vanity Fair that her daughter has "this, like, 160 IQ And, you know, that's, like, a genius level."
Like, no way.
As for the object of Ms. Lewinsky's affections, Ms. Copeland writes:
President Clinton, meanwhile, seems more like a smart guy who does stupid things than a stupid guy who does smart things. We'll call this category smart-but-dumb. American history is replete with examples of people like him, bright people prone to idiotic behavior. The invasion of the Bay of Pigs is an example of what happens when smart people make dumb decisions. Also, "Ishtar."
Ms. Lewinsky may have been "dumb" in pursuing a married man who was also the leader of the free world. Mr. Clinton, however, falls into the "dumber" category for pursuing a flirtatious 21 year old intern who worked for him while both married and the leader of the free world. However, I'd also point out that evidence of Mr. Clinton's "smarts" may be overrated. After all, this is a man who ignored the threat of radical Islam and Al Qaeda despite numerous attacks during his presidency when the problem might have been a much simpler to deal with. This is a man who put his wife in charge of reforming American health care, a task for which she was ill-equipped and which she attempted to do in secret. He's also a man who famously claimed not to know the meaning of the word 'is'.
12/25/06 1200: Captain Ed thinks of all the other women and wonders
In this world, Monica is a bubbleheaded stalker, Paula Jones was trailer trash, Gennifer Flowers was a whore, and so on. Somehow the likes of Libby Copeland never ask about the one figure that links all of these together -- Bill himself -- and ask whether the criticism should be directed more towards him than the women around him.
