Hoping Palin has the smarts not to run

This paragraph from a New York Times opinion piece is one of the better descriptions of Sarah Palin (and George W. Bush) that I have read. It refers to the possibility of Palin running for president and offers some hope for the future.

I think she’s too smart to even try — she is very smart, in an uncurious, intellectually lazy way. Sort of what George Bush would be like if he’d been sent to Wasilla High instead of prep school. In fact, let’s give Sarah some credit here. If George W. had her background, he’d be serving fast food and cursing the day he got fired from the overnight shift at the canning factory.

While there is some humor in this, I find very little to laugh about concerning Palin. Regardless of one's political leanings, can anyone deny Palin has significant intellectual shortcomings? Whenever I hear her speak, I am reminded of kids in seventh or eighth grade who didn't do their reading assignments and were trying to fake their way through oral exams. I find her as manipulative as a beauty pageant contestant and as hypocritical as a preacher who speaks out of both sides of his mouth.

Palin is a one-trick pony. And that trick is rather shallow. I haven't heard a new or interesting idea from her since she came onto the scene during her vice-presidential run. Her opinions are so thin that they aren't worth debating most of the time. There is just nothing to grab onto, unless you're debating her approval of acts like shooting wolves from helicopters.

I am not impressed by her parenting skills or governing abilities. She quit on the people of Alaska in order to cash in on FOX News and various speaking appearances. Where is that family while she is constantly parading around the lower 48?

We can't afford anymore dumb presidents. This is a complex world we live in. Issues aren't as black and white as Palin portrays them. America is at the crossroads, but not for the reasons Palin states.

We're going to need a lot more intellectual fire power in the White House and in all branches of government in the future. We need well-rounded leaders who are interested in things like math, science, philosophy and literature.

While book smarts alone shouldn't determine who leads, we can't turn the keys over to greedy pretenders who happen to look good on camera. We need more authenticity and less reality TV-type personalities -- leaders with open and fertile minds and introspective abilities, not just blind ambition and whitened teeth.