<![CDATA[For decades now, it has been a staple of the left’s critique of patriots that both they and their leaders are stupid. First it was Ronald Reagan, the failed actor, a man who was given lines to read. Then there was George W. Bush, aka “Chimpy McHalliburton.” And now there is Donald Trump, the dull-witted billionaire. It has become a reflex for leftists to characterize every Republican president, as well as every Republican presidential candidate, as an intellectual lightweight or worse, who owed his electoral success to crafty and cynical handlers who didn’t believe in the message they were putting in the mouth of their front man. ]]>