Medea, clever or is everyone else just dumb?

Over and over in the play we are constantly hearing that Medea is clever, her cleverness is her most distinct attribute. There are some parts that it doesn't seem that she is so clever rather than other people are just dummies.
After she had decided that she was going to kill everybody, she runs into an old friend, Aegius, and in just a few moments together this guy has already agreed to put her up no questions asked. Is this guy and idiot? Only moments before she pretty much told him that eventually a bunch of ticked off people are going to be looking for her, probably because of something she did and this boob agrees to it. That wouldn't fly today.
If I went up to one of my buddies and said,
"Hey bill, I kinda need a favor."
"Sure pal anything."
"I need to stay at your place for a while."
"No problem, what a couple of days or so?"
"More like for ever and if the Cops come looking for me, I need you to hide me and tell them I'm not here and if the FBI and swat teams come I need you to tell them to get lost. Whaddya say? -- Bill....Bill...Hey where ya goin'?"
I guess I'm just not very clever.

What good is a soothsayer anyway?

There seems to be a recurring theme any time a sooth sayer is used in literature. The person who usually calls on the seer never listens to them, and that is something you can bet on. In the Iliad, Agamemnon got all mad at the soothsayer because it wasn't in his favor, what a baby. Oedipus didn't listen because it was all just too weird.
But this isn't the first time that this has happened. Even in the movies this happens. In the original Friday the 13th, starring a young Kevin Bacon, the kids were on their way to Crystal Lake. Before they reached the camp, an old man met them on the path. He was a modern version of a soothsayer perhaps he was an old maintenence man or something. He started yelling at them not to go to Crystal Lake because they will all be killed if they do. Well because the guy was old and probably insane the kids brushed off his guidance and continued to the camp.
A soothsayer is used in alot of newer movies and books. They don't proclaim to be a soothsayer but the character's main purpose is to tell the future and warn the protagonist. One thing is for certain however, you can be sure that the characters will not listen to him.