Brief TMTMQR: Gregg Easterbrook is Smarter Than You, But he Sure Doesn't Know Diddley About History

I don't have much time so a full TMQR it will have to wait. But considering how self-righteously intelligent Gregg is (or appears to be), I thought it was definitely worth mentioning.

In national news, Tuesday is the inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th president of the United States. We've been so wrapped up in various forms of financial panic, real or imagined, that some may have lost sight of what a great day this is for America. Regardless of whether Obama ultimately proves to be an outstanding president or an average chief executive or a dud, only in America could this happen. A country whose eternal shame is that it once held slaves elects a black man as its leader, and a black man who came from nothing, entirely self-made. Obama is so appealing because he is the embodiment of the American story -- and that story is still in the early chapters.

I haven't taken a history class since 11th grade- that was seven years ago. A history expert I am not. But about two seconds after reading this, I said to myself: Hasn't this, you know, happened somewhere besides America? Pretty recently? I mean, it's not an exact parallel. But it's pretty close. Apartheid is not slavery but it still sucks a pretty gigantic pair of balls. Definitely a close enough comparison to make Gregg sound stupid for using that italicized phrase up there. Only in a TMQ column could this kind of oversight happen.

I guess tomorrow I will do a post that's actually about sports.