the person is smart : people are paranoid & stupid

if you watch men in black (mib segment here) there is a scene when tommy lee jones character is sitting on a bench with will smith's character and jones says something to the effect of 'the person is smart, people on the other hand are paranoid, stupid,' and a few other things.  i always thought this very profound and telling of the mob mentality. it's what i thought of when i saw this behavior at a mccain rally.