Classless or Clueless

Every now and again, I wonder if there's some kind of witless conspiracy going on - a nefarious confluence of stupidity that's so pervasive that the conspirators are not even aware of their participation in it.

I have a "personal punch-line" about myself that I like to believe is true (hey, it might not be, but I like to believe it anyway), and it is this: "I'm smart enough to realize that I'm not all that smart".

It is probably true that stupid people are not smart enough to realize their own lack of mental acumen.  But, is that (probable) fact sufficient explanation for the abundance of the willfully ignorant debating the intentionally obtuse?

A "Case-In-Point" just might be in order here.  First, let's meet the participants - three gentlemen who are generally accepted as "smarter than the average":

Wolf Blitzer - a well-established news anchor supposedly intelligent enough to stand on his own two feet and present situations to a viewing public.

James Carville - a prominent liberal pundit who is credited with being smart enough to help Bill Clinton become president.

Ben Stein - a speech writer for Presidents Nixon and Ford whose economic, political and social viewpoints have been published in many prominent newspapers and magazines.

And now - the situation:  WB plays an audio clip of something that BS said about JC - it seems that James had described some folks and their actions as classless, and Ben took exception to the words and noted that James had relegated these people to a "lower class" of people with his comments.  Wolf wants Ben and James to elaborate, to enlighten the Situation Room viewers.

I did not take exact notes of the original description that JC had uttered.  I did not write down the exact reply of BS to JC.  I don't recall the exact exchange that took place between the two of them in the Situation Room.  And so, it is possible that I missed the point.

But it is also possible that the conversation that ensued between James Carville and Ben Stein - the discussion that was encouraged by Wolf Blitzer, and broadcast to (millions?) of Situation Room viewers was indeed part of some witless conspiracy to "dumb down America".

The gist, as I understood it, was this: James called some people classless, Ben objected to the words on the basis of "class warfare is wrong" and Wolf exploited the situation, as if this was a legitimate debate worthy of consideration.

Now, please don't misunderstand me here.  The existence of classes of people (as in lower class, middle class, and upper class) in American society, and the consideration that there may indeed be a war going on between these classes is worthy of a legitimate debate.

But, someone calling a group of people classless (because of their actions) has NOTHING to do with that aspect of class.  Class has more than one meaning, and when someone acts in a classless manner (what might be called crass as opposed to class), ... well, let's just say that any class of people can act with class or with crass - it has nothing to do with their station in life.

And for three supposedly intelligent people to act as if an incident of nothing more than "petty name-calling" and the reaction to that name-calling qualifies as social commentary on class in American society ... well, my sensibilites are offended - what the h___ is going on here?