Richard Clark wrote:

As a girlfriend of mine once offered:
"They've had the common sense educated out of them."


That's a quintessentially American point of view. I highly recommend
_Anti-Intellectualism in American Life_ by Richard Hostadter. It helps
explain why ignorance is such an asset to American politicians (and
schoolchildren, for that matter), while intellectual accomplishments and
ability generally have to be hidden. It won a Pulitzer prize, which of
course proves that the author can't possibly have any common sense.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL