Keller @ Large: Why Don't Supposedly Smart People Get It?

BOSTON (CBS) - Have you ever wondered how it is that people who are supposed to be the smartest among us are sometimes…not?

We are reminded of that unfortunate reality by the decision of six novelists to boycott the annual dinner of the free-speech advocacy group PEN America because they are giving their Freedom of Expression Courage award to surviving members of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine that saw 12 of its staffers slaughtered by Islamic extremists in January.

One of the dropouts, Rachel Kushner, says she's boycotting because she's uncomfortable with the magazine's "cultural intolerance" and promotion of "a kind of forced secular view," an apparent reference to Charlie Hebdo's mocking of radical Islam.

Another, Peter Carey, says he's upset by "PEN's seeming blindness to the cultural arrogance of the French nation, which does not recognize its moral obligation to a large and disempowered segment of their population."

As usual when so-called intellectuals go off the rails, they have plenty to say about a topic they appear to know nothing about.

But don't take it from me.

Former PEN president Salman Rushdie, who had to live in hiding for years after Islamic fanatics threatened to kill him for alleged religious heresy, calls the boycotters "horribly wrong. If PEN as a free speech organization can't defend and celebrate people who have been murdered for drawing pictures, then frankly the organization is not worth the name."

Why don't these supposedly smart people get it?

Who knows what sort of fantasy world they live in.

All we can say is, as Rushdie puts it: "I hope nobody ever comes after them."

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.