In the middle of a Boston Globe review of Tony Blair's book comes this sentence: "Blair, who expresses great admiration for Bush's intellect (that's not a typo) and willingness to stick to his principle, doesn't seem bitter about the political difficulties his positions caused him."
With a recent poll from the bellwether state of Ohio showing voters there would, by a 50-42 margin, rather have George W. Bush back in the White House than President Obama, such cracks about President Bush's intellect ("not a typo") are the sort of thing that rub a lot of readers the wrong way. Two points are worth making in response. First, President Bush is nowhere near as dumb as the geniuses at the Boston Globe think he is. And second, intellect in a politician is a highly overrated quality. They used to make these cracks about Reagan, too.
