Rubbish, TB. Not even psychologists can claim a rigorous definition of intelligence, much less come up with an objective test for it. But like love, we all know it when we see it. Face it, if GWB was a Democrat you'd have no trouble at all seeing he was a shade on the slow side, not an idiot, mind you, just not of the intellectual calibre you'd expect from a world leader, certainly not as smart as either Cheney or Rumsfeld, who I concede credit in the brains department although they are much sleazier than their boss. Since I don't know any of these men personally, I have to judge by the way they speak, the logic they use to craft their arguments, and the way they handle themselves in a news conference and defend themselves from hostile questions. GWB can't even come close to the people he's surrounded himself with. Clinton and Kennedy did, so did Nixon. I certainly don't get that impression from Newt Gingrich, for example, or even Pat Buchanan, who are both as sharp as a whip, even if they're as crazy as bedbugs. This last observation convinces me my intuitions are not shaped by ideological considerations, either. If they were I'd think all conservatives are stupid and all democrats are geniuses. I won't tell you which Democrats I think are stupid, because I suspect you think they're all dildoes and that suits me just fine.

As far as Dan Quayle was concerned, he never struck me as stupid, just as timid, shy, hesitant, unsure of himself and kinda dorky. Dorky, that's another perceptive technical term that is difficult to quantify but clear and obvious when you see it.