WP: Beware the Brain Trust.

“While Obama’s picks have been lauded for their ethnic and ideological mix, they lack diversity in one regard: They are almost exclusively products of the nation’s elite institutions and generally share a more intellectual outlook than is often the norm in government.” Yikes! Apparently delving deep for ways to stir up trouble, the WP raises an eyebrow at the purported braininess of the Obama cabinet. “They are really smart people, but they will never take an obvious solution if they can think of an ingenious one. They’re all too clever by half…These degrees confer knowledge but not judgment. Their heads are on grander themes…and they’ll trip on obstacles on the ground.

Hmmm…I dunno. After several years in academia, I’m well aware of the ways in which really smart, intellectual-minded people can end up overthinking a problem. But, particularly after the last eight years, choosing brainy folk as a Cabinet-filling strategy still sounds a heck of a lot better to me than the alternative.