Sophistrycated

In an interview with Der Spiegel last week Karl Rove made the comment that the Tea party movement is "not sophisticated". After being almost immediately pounced on by conservative pundits and talkers in the United States for slighting Tea partiers, Rove has attempted to make the case that he meant it in a good way. You know, like all of the other times that you've been complimented by being called unsophisticated. Let's see what undesireable things Webster has to say about being sophisticated:

Definition of Sophisticated

1: deprived of native or original simplicity: as a : highly complicated or developed : complex "sophisticated electronic devices" b : having a refined knowledge of the ways of the world cultivated especially through wide experience "a sophisticated lady" "a sophisticated columnist" b : intellectually appealing "a sophisticated novel"

2: devoid of grossness: as a : finely experienced and aware

Hmmm... Ok, perhaps that doesn't quite clear it up. Let's try taking a look at the Antonyms for sophisticated:

guileless, ingenuous, innocent, naive (or naïve), unsophisticated, untutored, unworldly, wide-eyed

Yikes!  Ok, how about the synonyms for unsophisticated (there has to be a compliment here somewhere):

aw-shucks, dewy-eyed, green, ingenuous, innocent, naïf, primitive, simple, simpleminded, uncritical, unknowing, naive, unsuspecting, unsuspicious, unwary, unworldly, wide-eyed.

I guess you get the point. "Sophisticated" may be my least favorite word in the world. The common use of the word is to indicate worldliness, or worldy experience and it is nearly always intended as something positive. The implication is that those who are not worldly are naive. It is a cynical philosophy that assumes that principles and worldy wisdom are mutually exclusive. In a way I do take it as a compliment to be considered unsophisticated, but the fact remains that nobody ever calls someone unsophisticated when a compliment is intended. If Rove had been looking for a term to compliment the Tea party movement with, the word is "principled". It is possible to be wise in the ways of the world, think critically, take a complex view of things and still hold true to one's principles. In fact, that's a pretty good description of the Tea party movement if I do say so myself.

People like Karl Rove and Dick Morris have made their lives out of playing a political game.  In that game they apply manipulation and compromise in pursuit of a goal. They may select the goal based on principles, but the path to that goal is expediency. In the days following the Delaware primary election, Karl Rove lashed out irrationally at the Tea partiers that had taken Mike Castle out of the race by handing the nomination to Christine O'Donnell. The strategist would favor Castle in the race for the sake of a certain short term victory. Rove made it very clear that he thought the election of O'Donnell indicated a lack of voter sophistication. Now that he has stated it plainly in the interview with Der Spiegel he would like to come back and try to convince us  that he is being taken out of context. Would it be unsophisticated to just take his word for it?