You Don't Have to Be a Rocket Scientist

A while back, when NASA lived through a moment of embarrassment after having launched a multi-billion dollar probe to Mars only to discover later that they have forgotten to convert inches into centimeters in their calculations, and thus the probe was launched to anywhere but Mars, I saw a very funny cartoon in the newspaper referring to that story. I regret not having saved it, but I want to describe it here. In it two young guys in an old clunker are passing by the building with the word "NASA" across the top. In front of the building there is a tottering sign saying "Now Hiring." One of the guys says that he is planning to apply for a job there, and after the other one gives him an incredulous look, exclaims, "What?! You don't have to be a rocket scientist!"

I just heard on the radio that Fox News is hiring Sarah Palin to be its news analyst. Let us see. A person who thinks Africa is a country, who seriously considers the fact that Putin flies over Alaska to be evidence of her foreign relations experience and who cannot name a single news publication which she reads regularly to form her world view is hired as an ANALYST. Right...

Evidently, you don't have to be a rocket scientist there, on Fox News.