Statistics: Pro-McCain states are 'stupid.'

>
This post will be a series of factual statements from which the reader can draw his/her own conclusions, because giving my own -- as I did in the headline -- would be inflammatory.

Morgan Quinto Press publishes, yearly, Smartest State Awards. The most recent, free, results are here, and for 2006 to 2007. My statistics come from this page.

Quinto uses 21 factors processed through a formula (details of which can be found here) to assign a numerical value to each state. That value shows how "smart" the state is compared to the national average.

For example: Vermont was the smartest state in '06-'07, with a "Smart Rating" of 18.57. Arizona was the least "smart" state, and rated -17.61.

I printed a map of the US that showed which states' electoral votes were awarded to Obama in the 2008 election, and which states went to McCain. I used the map and Quinto's Smart Rating numbers to make the following calculations:

*The 27 states that went to Obama had a total Smart Rating of 43.45.

*The 23 states that voted for McCain had a total Smart Rating of -65.27.

*States that went to Obama had an average Smart Rating of 1.609.

*States that went to McCain had an average Smart Rating of -2.838.

I also think it's important to note that eight of the ten "smartest" states voted for Obama.
>

Sarah Palin: complete, utter, hopeless, idiotic moron.

>
The following is reprinted from HuffingtonPost.com. Click the title of this post to see the article I quote below:

Nicholas Graham

"According to Fox News Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron, there was great concern within the McCain campaign that Palin lacked 'a degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, a heartbeat away from the presidency,' in part because she didn't know which countries were in NAFTA, and she 'didn't understand that Africa was a continent, rather than a series, a country just in itself.'

"Palin was apparently a nightmare for her campaign staff to deal with. She refused preparation help for her interview with Katie Couric and then blamed her staff, specifically Nicole Wallace, when the interview was panned as a disaster. After the Couric interview, Fox News reported, Palin turned nasty with her staff and began to accuse them of mishandling her. Palin would view press clippings of herself in the morning and throw 'tantrums' over the negative coverage. There were times when she would be so nasty and angry that her staff was reduced to tears.

"Cameron also reports, along with CNN, that McCain's senior foreign policy adviser was fired a week before the election for attacking, in defense of Sarah Palin, various McCain aides who he felt were undermining Palin."

Me again:

Watch the video below, which is the interview Nicholas Graham at HuffingtonPost referenced in the above article. I was going to post bullet points from the interview, but found myself transcribing everything Cameron said. Watch the video. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hope Palin stays the fuck in Alaska for the rest of her life.

And oh my freaking gods the apologism O'Reilly engages in is so so so pathetic.

Best. Video. Ever.




>

Elect "I'm Stupid" in '08!

Class warfare and socialism.

Republicans maintain that raising taxes on those that can afford tax increases is class warfare. A sort of warfare designed to "spread the wealth." Which is, according to those that know nothing of socialism, the larger part of the definition of socialism.

The smaller and smaller crowds McCain and Palin draw boo and hiss and sometimes call for Obama's murder when "spreading the wealth" is mentioned as something Obama supposedly desires. (Weather he does or does not -- and, if so, would attempt to do so -- is something to write about another time.)

I was running some errands, and passed by a trailer park as I did so. The entrance was a field of McCain/Palin signs.

These not-wealthy people overwhelmingly seem to support a campaign that has made it crystal clear they will give tax cuts to big corporations and the wealthy, on top of keeping W.'s tax cuts, which overwhelmingly favored the wealthy, permanent.

Many, I would guess, are so-called values voters. Many will vote in direct opposition to their economic interests because Republicans don't favor abortion.

Which is obvious. Because in W.'s first term, when the GOP

(which stands for Grand Old Party, which is synonymous with "Republican," and good to know if your local/state reps. and or senators list themselves on your ballot next Tuesday as members of the GOP to distance themselves from the Republican political philosophy the same way they would Aristotelian philosophy, which is a worldview just as wrong as their own)

had a veto-proof majority in the House, owned the Senate and the executive branch, they passed a law that made abortion illegal.

...Wait...

They didn't.

They didn't fight for any of the values the values voters put them in place for -- and they didn't do it because if they did they would have been voted out of office because their values are extremely unpopular.

Fine then. I'll end on this note, half-made points and all, because I don't feel like writing (but promised to do so in a post last week):

If you're going to vote McCain/Palin against your interests (beyond the economic ones, even) because of "values" promises that are sure to be not-kept, I reserve the right to call you a goddam idiot.

You goddam idiot. Your vote is as well thought-out as this essay.

Old and White? Experience Not-Voting This Year!

If you make less than $250,000 per year and plan to vote/will vote/voted for McCain/Palin please leave a comment that details how bad your head injury remains.

It could be the first step toward the help you need.

Fine then.

Bandini