Word: stupidity
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...masterpiece of verbal tight-rope walking. Criticism of the New Deal from conservative newspapers has been, for the most part, stupid and banal, taking the line that "traditional American ideals" are in danger. The doctor professed to take this as a legitimate danger; he indicated that he abhorred it, too, only--the danger was the other way around. That is to say, the real American ideals antedate the ideals of those who find their ideals endangered by the New Deal. It is confusing, of course. It can be made more delightfully confusing by saying that the democracy that Roosevelt democracy...
...tears were not for the antics of crooked judges nor for little black boxes. They were for a stupid and doddering leadership that had permitted the enemy to gain the advantage. Tammany is old in the ways of politics. It knows that a "reform" administration will sneak in every now and then, at intervals like business cycles, every time that the Wigwam relaxes its vigilance and permits its sentries to nod. It knows too that with an aging and incompetent leader dismissed, with a younger and more hard-boiled man in charge, the Happy Hunting Ground will be open again...
...fact that they seem to be unable to take in the greatest contribution of the modern world to ethical theory, to wit, the concept of a moral obligation to be intelligent. . . . Its moral system remains an easy and grateful refuge for the weak and the sick, the stupid and the misinformed, the confiding and the irresolute, but there is little in it to attract men and women who are intelligent and enterprising, and do not fear remote, gaseous and preposterous gods, and have a proper respect for the dignity...
...intelligent college girl seldom considers those courses-by-which-The-State-sets-such-store worth her while after a sniff or two at them-and the game not worth the candle. They are stupid and inane and consist mainly of "horse-sense" in which only an imbecile might need instruction...
With a cast including Jimmy Durante, Marjorie Rambeau, Lupe Velez and Mary Carlisle, one would expect "Palooka" to be a good picture, unfortunately, these experienced players are incapable of dragging it above the drippy level to which one of the most stupid stories on record reduces it. Just why on earth such an array of talent must be so thoroughly wasted certainly passes understanding...