SMA

Brad Delong has a habit of nominating Don Luskin for the title of stupidest man alive, so it came as a bit of a shock to me when he declared the contest over and John Derbyshire the winner. Since I previously had a post declaring that "John Derbyshire is Not an Idiot," I thought I should say a bit about the discrepancy. Brad's post was prompted by the fact that Derbyshire, himself an illegal immigrant (status: since legalized) is happy to join the anti-immigrant hysteria. Derbyshire is unembarrassed at his own hyprocrisy.
A couple of readers to this effect: "Aren't you a bit embarrassed to be laying in to illegal immigrants, having confessed that you yourself were once an illegal immigrant?" No. I look on it as being sort of like the reformed drunk at a temperance meeting.

Brad, I think, got carried away, and many of his commenters agree. Derbyshire, they say, is "callous," "amoral," "loathsome," "hateful, selfish, and small," not to mention insufferable, and despicable, but those qualities don't equate to stupidity. In fact, it could be argued that Derbyshire is sort of an apotheosis the "Republican Man." Except for inarticulate stupidity of course. Fortunately his president has that covered.

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