Every once in a while, my brain seems to do a self-check and examine why it's thinking like it seems to be thinking.  A few days ago (NOT due to any specific event!) I started thinking about the reasons I'm supporting Barack and seem to want to believe. (cue theme from The X-Files)

This morning, Gail Collins may have something for me:

...if you look at the political fights he’s picked throughout his political career, the main theme is not any ideology. It’s that he hates stupidity. “I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war,” he said in 2002 in his big speech against the invasion of Iraq. He did not, you will notice, say he was against unilateral military action or pre-emptive attacks or nation-building. He was antidumb.

Most of the things Obama’s taken heat for saying this summer fall into these two familiar patterns — attempts to find a rational common ground on controversial issues and dumb-avoidance.

You've got to admit, having someone who knows what fights to engage in and being anti-dumb would be a refreshing change from the past 8 years...