And I never cared all that much for people who did.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/11/trump-why-did-we-wait-100-years-to-mark-a-centennial/

Trump: Why Did We Wait 100 Years to Mark a Centennial?
The president asks the tough questions.

Does Donald Trump know what defines a centennial?

The question arose on Monday during a White House event commemorating the passage of a bill honoring the women’s suffrage movement. The Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, which directs the Treasury Department to mint up to 400,000 $1 silver coins celebrating the 19th Amendment, passed with unanimous consent in Congress and is one of the least controversial bills to land on the president’s desk.

But as Trump opened his mouth in an attempt to lavish praise on himself for the bill—on its own, an absurd moment—trouble quickly arrived. “I’m curious,” he asked from the Oval Office, “why wasn’t it done a long time ago? I guess the answer to that is because now I’m president, we get things done.”

Why have Americans always embraced the simple minded and ignorant as somehow being more authentic and genuine than the intellectual and educated? This distrust of intelligence and intellect has always been a characteristic of the American psyche, I noticed it myself as a child. Cleverness and mental agility has always been condemned, except, of course, in the fields of business and sport.

No, its not because Americans are dumb, we are no smarter nor more foolish than any other race, but our culture seems to distrust and fear the intellectual, we see them as conceited and dangerous, unpatriotic, effeminate and seditious. Look at the cultural stereotypes of the nerd, the mad scientist, the absent-minded professor, the class “brain”. And by extension, we tend to lionize and admire those who are just the opposite: the good ole boys.

Americans with smarts have learned to hide it or risk being shunned as socially inept, even dangerous. And now we have elected one without any intelligence as President. Then again, maybe Mr Trump is NOT an ignoramus and a cretin. Maybe he’s a genius that has realized that’s what his chosen constituency really wants in a leader, and he has consciously chosen to play that role for them.

Either way, its a pretty sobering thought.