CULTURE: Sarah Palin Could Learn Something From Marilyn

One of Sarah Palin's greatest sins is that she's "made ignorance fashionable," writes Maureen Dowd. Palin, in fact, revels in it. "You struggle to name Supreme Court cases, newspapers you read and even founding fathers you admire? No problem." It just proves you're not some Ivy League "elite" like President Obama, writes Dowd in the New York Times.

She spends much of her column contrasting Palin against "another famous beauty with glowing skin and a powerful current"—Marilyn Monroe. Sure, Monroe made her name playing ditzy blondes, but she "had a firm grasp on one thing: It was cool to be smart. She aspired to read good books and be friends with intellectuals." In fact, that whole era placed a high value on intelligence, writes Dowd. "But in Sarah’s America, we’ve refudiated all that."