One of the fascinating things about watching Sarah Palin is how her opponents, by assuming Palin is stupid, expose themselves as ignorant fools. We’ve seen this several times recently, on topics as varied as the date of the Boston Tea Party and the doctrine of fair use. Indeed it goes back to the presidential campaign, when the AP misunderstood the Air-Defense Identification Zone.
In the latest instance, MSNBC commentator Richard Wolffe mocked Palin for saying that she draws divine inspiration from the works of CS Lewis, who he says is merely the author of a series of children’s books.
As anyone even fractionally educated in Christian apologetics knows, CS Lewis wrote many books beyond The Chronicles of Narnia. I included three of them on my list of the ten books that influenced my thinking the most. The Screwtape Letters, in particular, is probably his most famous work.
I suppose assuming your opponents are stupid can save you time and effort, if you’re right. If you’re wrong, you look like an idiot.
UPDATE (12/21): Apparently Joy Behar made the same mistake. Ignorance from Behar isn’t so surprising though.
