Recently, a friend sent me a list of neologisms that were the result of a contest that the Washington Post allegedly sponsored (not really true). One of the neologisms, bozone, struck me as being quite apropos of what took place earlier this month. The definition of bozone, according to the list, is “the substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.”

With that definition in mind, I started to look for some of the stupid things that Americans who live under the bozone layer believe in. Here are some that I found:

18% of Americans believe that President Obama is a Muslim.

39% of Americans do not believe in evolution.

41% of Americans believe that the new health care law includes a government panel to decide about end-of-life care.

41% of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

18% of Americans believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth.

47% of Americans think that Christianity is an older religion than Judaism.

75% of Americans can name two of Snow White’s seven dwarfs, but only 25% can name two Supreme Court justices.

60% of young Americans (18-24) could not locate Iraq on a map of the Middle East.

73% of Americans can identify Larry, Curly and Moe as the Three Stooges, while only 42% can name the three branches of the federal government.

39% of Americans cannot name a single right (there are five) that the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees.

I’m sure a diligent researcher could find plenty of other facts that a large number of Americans don’t know. But for those who think that Sarah Palin doesn’t have a chance in 2012, what I’ve presented in this post should give you pause.