Girl Jungle:

Having just returned from a windswept drive around the spectacular Gaspé Peninsula and through northern Maine, I must report ongoing confusion with the wind power controversy. Some folks think wind turbines are ugly. A pox on the land. Interruptive of nature's majesty. A dangerous environmental concession.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but these things are beautiful, right? Stunningly simple, manificent, really. And even more beautiful when one considers the clean energy they conjure . Juice produced without holes in the ground, pipelines, ocean spills, carbon dioxide or global terrorism. What could be more logical?

Of course there are trade offs. Birds, a little whir, sometihing man made on the horizon. But let's face it, a fondness for too much ice cream yields bigger butts, and power generation isn't totally without consequences either. Seems to me, the aesthetic and environmental trade offs present in wind power are minimal when one considers the upsides, not the least of which is the intrinsic aesthetic of the turbines themselves. Maine's former Governor, Angus King who worked in the demand side management side of the energy business before his political career has founded a new initiative called Independence WInd and believe you me, if Angus think's it's a good idea, it probably is.

For heaven's sake! Some countries are so proud of their wind technology they put it on postcards! It's all a matter of perspective, I suppose.

I am taking a few moments off from my current stock price obsession to reveal some exciting new political thinking. And boy, it's earth shattering, this insight of mine.

This year, I've decided, it pays to vote smart. Not that we ought not consider our options carefully at every voting opportunity. What I mean is, I'm sick of stupid candidates. Candidates who wink and sneer, mispronounce nuke-u-ler and think international diplomacy means liking Chinese food. You betcha.

How is it we actually seem to admire leaders who proudly announce they've only had a passport for a year, attended five, count-em F.I.V.E. mediocre institutions of higher learning before actually graduating and whose undergraduate class rank was next to last.

SInce when has top of heap, best in class, thoughtful, accomplished achievement become a political liability? What's with all this anti-intellectual prejudice?

It seems to me, given the complexity and gravity of the current domestic and world situation, we ought to can the folksy, down-home crap and seek the best minds we can to help navigate us out of this hole.

And here's the deal, smart people can disagree but they at least believe in science, have read history and understand (as well as one can) economics. Field dressing a moose? Nice soundbite but pretty irrelevant training for hardball.