The Sarah Palin = 3-d chess grandmaster contingent is growing. The latest supporter of the thesis is the NYT‘s Frank Rich. He has a slightly unusual take, though. His argument seems to be that Palin may not be smart at all, but she’s super-cunning. And her palm-prompter debacle may have been a deliberate super-cunning stratagem:

You had to wonder if Palin, who is nothing if not cunning, had sprung a trap. She knows all too well that the more the so-called elites lampoon her, the more she cements her cred with the third of the country that is her base. Her hand hieroglyphics may not have been speaking aids but bait.

If so, mission accomplished. Her sleight of hand gave the anti-Palin chorus another prod to deride her as an empty-headed, subliterate clown, and her fans another cue to rally.

No, Frank, you didn’t have to wonder. You could, since there’s no law against making a fool of yourself if you insist. But you certainly didn’t have to.