AN EASY ANSWER

(h/t David Neiwert at Crooks & Liars)

In his article on Caribou Barbie in Vanity Fair, Todd Purdum raises this question:

What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded?

The answer is pretty simple: ignorant populism is alive and well in the conservative movement. In fact, one of the movement's leaders thinks credentials are elitist. These people confuse self-assertion with a refusal to learn.