George,

"Egalitarianism" has always been a fundamental philosophy of mine, simply because I believe inequality in education, economic opportunities, treatment under the law and so on are the root causes of poverty, misery and the so many ills that plague our society. Obviously, there is self interest -- with"liberty and justice for all", I feel safer and more secure.

I must confess that my beliefs have lately been shaken by the voices and representatives of the Right -- , it seems that many of those that hold to that political mindset are the products of egalitarianism run amok, a "half baked" education, a fundamental lack of any historical perspective, a shallowness and superficiality that appears dominated by dark side issues and overt greed.

Nowhere is this more apparent or highly visible than in the personage of Sarah Palin -- after exposure to at least four "institutions of higher learning", it appears she did not manage to learn much -- for example, she can't discuss or recall any Supreme Court decision outside Roe v Wade -- -- thought Africa was a sovereign nation, had no idea the meaning of the "Bush Doctrine", can't name one newspaper she reads and thinks non-American planes flying over Alaska gave her foreign policy experience, enhanced by the fact she could see Russia from Alaska.

It might be more than "late night" humor, the fact she has written more books than read.

Maybe, in spite of this lack of basic knowledge, or, maybe because of it -- 50% of Republicans think Palin is qualified to be the president of the United States of America! Among the Tea Partiers she represents , the percentage is higher.

She seems to blend seamlessly with the angry mob-like gang known to be members of the Tea Party. . . whose followers show up at rallies with silly misspelled signs among which are those demanding "English only". Hold their government in contempt but, based on the appearance of the crowd, most are probably on Medicare and Social Security.

The result of this (I hate to use the cliche') "dumbing down of America" is a collective "know nothingness", a seeming pride in being stupid.

It seems that opposing everything and anything suffices for political discourse, Palin speaks of "Momma Grizzly", I see a picture in my mind of those Right Wing momma and papa congressional "grizzlies" trying to grab any legislative "salmon" that the Obama Administration tries to fight upstream through Congress, those that just might benefit the many over the few! When Boehner or McConnell grab and help stop these efforts in their tracks, then moving on to the next obstruction, it appears that it has nothing to do with the benefit of the nation and everything to do with power, control and right wing domination.

From Christine O'Donnell in Delaware to Sharon Angle in Nevada and many more of their ilk, I see candidates financed by lobbyists and special interests, defined by admen and in the case of our right wing candidate in the Fifth District an unwillingness to debate, answer random questions and a desire to run away and hide, hoping to run out the clock before the voters finally get wise.

If what we are witnessing with so many on the Right, mostly with those who operate under the banner of the GOP and a few Blue Dogs in the Democratic Party, can be called the results of an "education" -- maybe we should tighten the definition of egalitarianism

Harry Tenney (Electronic mail, September 24, 2010)