Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber
by Andy Borowitz
View on GoodreadsAndy Borowitz's serio-comic argument that American political culture has systematically rewarded ignorance over expertise across roughly the last 50 years — Reagan, Quayle, W. Bush, Palin, Trump as a coherent declining series, not isolated cases.
Core ideas
- The three-stage degradation model — "ridicule" (when ignorance was a liability), "acceptance" (when it became tolerable), "celebration" (when it became an asset) — structures the chronology, and the chapter pairs (Reagan/Quayle, W./Palin, Trump) walk through each stage.
- The book is funny by design but the underlying argument is serious — Borowitz is making a case about the political-culture selection mechanism, not just collecting embarrassing quotes.
- The implicit comparator is European/Canadian/Asian political culture, where the same incentives don't operate the same way — and Borowitz is honest that the American pattern requires a specifically American explanation.
Published2022
Pages320
ISBN9781668003886
ReadDec 2025
