I'M NOT ARROGANT, IT'S JUST THAT I'M SMARTER THAN YOU.

Via Andrew Sullivan.

What a remarkable thing to say:

"We try to hire the best, smartest people available," Brandon said of his philosophy hires. "If, as John Stuart Mill said, stupid people are generally conservative, then there are lots of conservatives we will never hire.

"Mill's analysis may go some way towards explaining the power of the Republican party in our society and the relative scarcity of Republicans in academia. Players in the NBA tend to be taller than average. There is a good reason for this. Members of academia tend to be a bit smarter than average. There is a good reason for this too."

Presumably a liberal (how many people describe themselves or their own political beliefs as "stupid"?), Brandon manages in a single paragraph to encapsulate many attitudes that liberals say they utterly reject. Arrogance. Elitism. Bigotry. Yes bigotry, since he characterizes roughly half the country as dumb. That puts him in the same class as people who characterize blacks as stupid (or Hispanics, or Catholics, or the Irish, or Poles, or ...well, just take your pick). They're bigots. And so is anyone else who baselessly characterizes large, diverse groups of people as stupid. I wonder if Brandon's statement can be said to be evidence of a hostile work environment for purposes of an employment discrimination claim. [UPDATE: What about a hostile academic environment?]

And, oh yeah: If reporters tend to be liberal, what does this NY Times correction say about liberals:

"An article on Friday about Consolidated Edison's repair of electrified service-box lids, manhole covers and lampposts misstated the way shoes protect people from shocks. They insulate; they do not act as a ground. (A grounded object conducts electricity.) A picture caption misstated a finding by The Times at a lamppost in Sunnyside, Queens. The post was conducting an electrical current, not emitting electricity."

(I couldn't find the Note article after a quick search, so I linked it through InstantManManManMan. The Times correction is via Powerline.)

If Duke really does try to hire the best, smartest people available, then, in Brandon's case, it appears to have failed to achieve its objective.

If I was paying The Daughter's tuition to Duke, I'd be seriously pissed.