I missed this gem when I first read this article by Ron Suskind in the New York Times:

''I don't know why you're talking about Sweden,'' Bush said. ''They're the neutral one. They don't have an army.''

Lantos paused, a little shocked, and offered a gentlemanly reply: ''Mr. President, you may have thought that I said Switzerland. They're the ones that are historically neutral, without an army.'' Then Lantos mentioned, in a gracious aside, that the Swiss do have a tough national guard to protect the country in the event of invasion.

Bush held to his view. ''No, no, it's Sweden that has no army.''

The room went silent, until someone changed the subject.

Ouch. That hurts. Later he goes on to say,

"This is one key feature of the faith-based presidency: open dialogue, based on facts, is not seen as something of inherent value. It may, in fact, create doubt, which undercuts faith."

Of the many disturbing things going on in the U.S., this undercurrent of anti-intellectualism really troubles me. There is a pride in idiocy, an elevation of morons in our popular culture. When does it stop?

I'm hoping for some kind of backlash.