Disqus - Friends of vicupstate

Re: We've moved to a new comment system

IamSmartypants — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:54:10 -0000

Somebody already had my username. Crap! Instead changing to "TheCommenterFormerlyKnownAsSmartypants", I decided to go with the more declarative "IamSmartypants". Kinda like Tony Curtis saying, "I am Spartacus". Err, yeah.

Re: Toxic FEMA trailers thanks to lack of regulations

IamSmartypants — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:53:57 -0000

A friend of my works for emergency management in Indiana. Right now they are dealing with hundreds, of not thousands of people who lost their homes in the recent flooding. Guess where FEMA is sending trailers?

No word if they are new trailers or recycled from Katrina, but definitely something to be concerned about.

Re: Washington Post on Cindy McCain's drug addiction

IamSmartypants — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:52:01 -0000

Snohomish is the third closest county, so neither of you get royalties. : P

Re: Alaska under Sarah Palin has the highest rape rate of any state

IamSmartypants — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:24:33 -0000

Rape statistics for Wasilla are difficult to find, but this site http://www.disastercenter.c... indicates that there were only a couple of rapes per year. So Sarah Palin is saying that a city receiving thousands of dollars per capita in federal earmarks and spending millions of dollars on ill-conceived capital projects (like the community center built on land the city might or might not own), she is saying the city could afford several hundred dollars for rape kits to help capture sex offenders?

That's messed up.

Re: Why are Wall Street executives and Bush so unpatriotic?

IamSmartypants — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:40:20 -0000

There's a new Facebook group "No blank check for Wall Street". Join up at http://www.new.facebook.com...

Let's make this the biggest Facebook group ever.

Re: BREAKING NEWS: Washington Mutual Fails

IamSmartypants — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:23:12 -0000

I've been a WaMu customer in Seattle for 15 years. This just makes me sick. WaMu used to be a great place to bank -- they had a tremendous small client, community focus. Now it's just going to be some huge monster based on the other side of the country that doesn't give a rat's ass about my tiny savings.

Damn Kerry Killinger and all the other greedy bastards who have screwed up a formerly good thing. Time to find a nice little local credit union.

Re: Very interesting debate analysis

IamSmartypants — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:01:12 -0000

Rather ironic given McCain's attack that Obama doesn't know the difference between strategy and tactics.

If nothing else, Obama's campaign has executed one of the most effective strategies in modern political history -- against which McCain's tactical strikes to paint Obama as inexperienced or unprepared appear to have failed miserably.

Re: You can't even trust her to buy a cheesesteak

IamSmartypants — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:46:38 -0000

And Tina Fey just nailed it again in the SNL opening. She does a brilliant job showing how utterly vapid Palin is, using or paraphrasing many of teh governor's own words from the interview with Katie Couric. Ridicule is a very useful tool at this point.

Re: Where will anyone find the time to search for new health insurance?

IamSmartypants — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:02:01 -0000

Remember Medicare D? The program that was supposed to help seniors with the cost of drugs?
It was extraordinarily confusing for seniors and the community agencies working with them to navigate; it had a huge gap "the donut hole" in coverage that proved very costly for many; and it was a windfall for insurance companies.

This sounds like a repeat, only this time it will affect everyone in America (at least the ones who have a job with enough left over to afford minimal health coverage. As a single, healthy self-employed male in my mid-40s, I have fairly decent health insurance through Costco that costs me about $350/month or about $4200/year. It's absolutely the cheapest coverage I could find that didn't have exorbitant co-pays. And I can deduct the entire amount from my taxes as a business expense. So the $2500 "credit" McCain is proposing will end up costing me an additional $1700 per year which I really can't afford.

I can't imagine how much a family with kids will lose with their $5000 "credit".

Oh well, back to the bad old days of no insurance. Or as I like to think of it, "Pray as you go."

Re: Watch the latest CBS video of McCain's running mate

IamSmartypants — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:54:48 -0000

I think Palin's getting better at this. She used mostly complete coherent sentences this time. Granted, she inadvertently slammed her running mate, but otherwise a step in the right direction. Kind of like making it from home to the locker room. She's suiting up, but somebody will need to give her more directions if she's going to find the field before game time.

Re: CBS: Palin can't name one single newspaper or magazine that she has EVER read in her life

IamSmartypants — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:40:19 -0000

Doesn't she at least lay down the occasional newspaper when she's cleaning fish or gutting a moose?

I simply don't understand the profound lack of curiousity about the world. As so much else about Palin, it would be laughable if the stakes weren't so high.

Re: CBS: Palin can't name one single newspaper or magazine that she has EVER read in her life

IamSmartypants — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:43:37 -0000

If only Government Magazine (distributed for free to just about every elected official in the country) published a kids edition...

Re: Vice Presidential Debate Open Thread

IamSmartypants — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:28:52 -0000

She may be reciting talking points, but she's coming across very smoothly. Disturbingly well.

I really dislike this format, though Gwen Ifil seems to be flexible about letting them respond to one another.

Re: Vice Presidential Debate Open Thread

IamSmartypants — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:41:16 -0000

Tire marks on my back. Fuck both of them for the moment. I really don't like being a second class citizen.

Re: Vice Presidential Debate Open Thread

IamSmartypants — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:22:25 -0000

That was the moment. Biden just won the debate talking about being a single parent. Out of the park!

Re: Vice Presidential Debate Open Thread

IamSmartypants — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:23:44 -0000

Go Joe! McCain is no maverick! Brilliant!

Re: McCain now saying Keating Five scandal was a Democratic plot against him

IamSmartypants — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:44:44 -0000

He isn't contrite, but he does regret getting caught.

Re: McCain now saying Keating Five scandal was a Democratic plot against him

IamSmartypants — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:51:40 -0000

If you're having trouble with the Youtube video, there's a mirror version in QuickTime that's working pretty well at http://www.barackobama.com/...

Re: Palin's pals in the Alaska Independence Party had ties to terrorist state Iran. Yes, Iran. The country that wants to wipe Israel off the map.

IamSmartypants — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:45:36 -0000

So let's put this new Palin story in simple terms.

A. One year after the founder of the AIP worked with Iran, an enemy of the U.S. and Israel, to publicly embarrass the U.S. at the United Nations, Sarah Palin attended the AIP convention.

B. The following year, at a time when the AIP founder was advocating secession from the United States, Palin's husband joined the AIP. He remained a member until recently, so Sarah Palin was arguably "sleeping with the enemy" while she was a public official. (Btw, does anyone know if the mayor of Wasilla has to swear to uphold the U.S. Constitution?)

C. Then earlier this year, as governor of Alaska, she again praised the AIP, which is pledged to break the Union?

D. Sarah Palin and her husband have been for 15 years affiliated with and praised an organization that has actively consorted with an enemy of the United States. It continues to be committed to secession from the U.S.

Where's the story here?

Re: Palin's pals in the Alaska Independence Party had ties to terrorist state Iran. Yes, Iran. The country that wants to wipe Israel off the map.

IamSmartypants — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:56:14 -0000

Alaska Constitution Article 12, Section 5
§ 5. Oath of Office
All public officers, before entering upon the duties of their offices, shall take and subscribe to the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Alaska, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties as . . . to the best of my ability." The legislature may prescribe further oaths or affirmations.

From the AIP web site:
"Although it is widely thought to be a secessionist movement, the Party makes great effort to emphasize that its primary goal is merely a vote on secession."

The AIP denies the legitimacy of the 1958 vote by Alaskans to become a state. They make a show on their web site of supporting the U.S. Constitution, but there is no provision in the Constitution for states to secede. Essentially they and their supporters are anti-constitutional.

Does Governor Palin care to comment or explain how her support for the AIP is not a violation of her oath of office?

Re: Planned Parenthood dumps Susan Collins, endorses Tom Allen. The race is tightening.

IamSmartypants — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:15:30 -0000

Great to see the DSC expanding it's offense to Maine. They really think they can hit 60 seats. This is very good news.

Re: PARADE Magazine: Obama tax cuts better than McCain's if you make under $112,000

IamSmartypants — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:34:16 -0000

Parade is the largest, most widely read magazine in the U.S. So this is good -- if people actually read the column headings...

As for jokes, my favorite one so far is, "What's the difference between a stock broker and a large pizza? A large pizza can still feed a family of four."

Re: McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort

IamSmartypants — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:33:52 -0000

A friend was joking that you can guess what the Republicans are guilty of simply by looking at what they accuse their opponents of doing. But it's really true. This is just unbelievable. If McCain is finally bravestupid enough to bring up Obama's relationship with Ayres at tomorrow night's debate, this is the ultimate STFU.

Re: Obama buys ads in slew of Xbox 360 games

IamSmartypants — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:55:51 -0000

The XBox ads are dynamic content - they can change at any time.

This is just so fucking brilliant. The previous comment about 30 to 40-something guys playing these games is absolutely true. I've got gamer friends who might end up voting for Obama simply because this is so cool.

And I was going to mention Betty White's interview with Craig Ferguson, but another poster beat me to it. Here's the link if you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Re: Hillary on CNN: Obama three for three

IamSmartypants — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:20:45 -0000

Very gracious and deeply committed to a Democratic victory. If she maintains this kind of position for the next eight years, she could be a strong contender in 2016. After all, she'll only be 68 then, four years younger than McCain is now.