Why do smart people do dumb things?
Why do people vote against their interest?
Why do common folk defy common sense?
Why is reality TV so popular, when we know it's a contrived reality.
Why do we spend more money protecting natural resources than it would cost to share natural resources?
The same answer to these questions is the same answer to why al Gore is so boring. It's not an assault on reason. There is no universal criteria for reasonable. Reason doesn't mean reasonable as much as it means, with reason. The reason is that people fear boredom more than death.
The smart thing to do is also the predictable thing to do. Predictability is boring. Predictability is what allows stupidity to trump smarts. For every right way to do something, there is 1000 wrong ways to do the same thing. Stupidity has more options, which gives it more variety. Stupidity's biggest advantage over it's opponents is it's lack of predictability. Stupidity never loses, because excitement is it's criteria for success. It has just as much fun coming down as it does going up. Even the fear of losing is exciting. You can't lose unless you die, and then you don't even have to live with your loss.
So shut up and enjoy the roller coaster, even if you get stuck upside down at the top of the loop for 30 minutes. At least you have something exciting to talk about at the water cooler on monday. And be glad that you live in a country that has a reason to use those expensive weapons you are paying for.
Your thoughts?