Proof that the idiots are voting for Bush

I am not a politician so I don't have to be politically correct. But I would strongly urge those who are intelligent in the red states to educate the retardicans so they will also be blue states.
May this find everyone happy and well,
Vinnie
http://www.vinnievin.com




Is your state the smartest? Research firm Morgan Quitno evaluated state public school systems to determine the best school systems.

States were graded based on positive attributes, such as per-pupil expenditures, public high school graduation rates, average class size, student reading and math proficiency and pupil-teacher ratios.

States received negative points for things like drop-out rates and physical violence.



Rank State Sum
1 Massachusetts 18.43
2 Connecticut 15.78
3 Vermont 14.77
4 New Jersey 14.42
5 Wisconsin 9.62
6 New York 9.07
7 Minnesota 7.96
8 Iowa 7.80
9 Pennsylvania 7.57
10 Montana 6.97
11 Maine 6.43
12 Virginia 5.91
13 Nebraska 4.94
14 New Hampshire 3.72
15 Kansas 3.54
16 Wyoming 3.51
17 Indiana 2.44
18 Maryland 2.29
19 North Dakota 1.27
20 Ohio 0.51
21 Colorado 0.44
22 South Dakota 0.13
23 Rhode Island 0.07
24 Illinois -0.32
25 North Carolina -0.40
26 Missouri -0.50
27 Delaware -0.72
28 Utah -0.85
29 Idaho -2.37
30 Washington -2.40
31 Michigan -2.68
32 South Carolina -3.27
33 Texas -3.31
33 West Virginia -3.31
35 Oregon -3.38
36 Arkansas -4.12
37 Kentucky -5.19
38 Georgia -5.78
39 Florida -6.63
40 Oklahoma -6.90
41 Tennessee -6.91
42 Hawaii -6.93
43 California -7.61
44 Alabama -11.28
45 Alaska -12.00
46 Louisiana -12.83
47 Mississippi -15.30
48 Arizona -17.05
49 Nevada -17.33
50 New Mexico -18.09

The most populous state is one of the most Democratic states. Are you suggesting that a crappy school system (which we do have here) makes people vote Democratic?

And I also noticed the top four are the strongest blue states.
Caleefornia has many different reasons for their problems much of them are attributed to the Enron situation and border problems but you have collectively failed where you randomly succeeded.
Vinnie
http://www.vinnievin.com

Vinnie,

Intelligence is an innate trait and has nothing to do with the quality of formal education a person receives. Bad schools can hold a smart person back but they can't make you dumb. Good schools can give dumb people the best chance to succeed but can't make them smart.

I think you are promoting a bogus elitist agenda in order to plug your book.

Along with the border problems contribute to this. However the bottom line is the difference in intelligence is pretty clear. And the idiots who buy the crap that this administration is selling are in the Retardican areas. Of course we are all biologically individuals and there are pockets of intelligence in the pants of ignorance. I stated that the smart people in that area help out the retardicans. But that said I didn't do the research project nor did I ever cease to be a free thinker.
May this find everyone happy and well and not brainwashed,
Vinnie

http://www.vinnievin.com

Your statements smack of bigotry on many levels.

Most Republicans I know are Republicans because their parents are Republicans and the people who attend their church or school are Republicans and most of the people who live in their town or neighborhood are Republicans and that's all they have ever known.

My mom was a Republican most of her life. She was born in a small town in Iowa where just about everybody was a life-long Republican. She got over it - went independent about five years ago.

Rural areas and small towns tend to lean Republican. People who live in urbanized areas and places with a lot of recent immigrants tend to go Democratic. People who live near colleges and universities tend to go liberal and Democratic but that does not mean that Democrats are any smarter or better educated than Republicans.

The kind of thinking you are promiting here serves no useful purpose. It's hubris IMO. Dismissing your opponents as stupid is a facile argument; a cop-out to avoid real understanding.

An issue of the National Lampoon magazine contained a parody of a Southern redneck-run local newspaper. One of the headlines read:

Hippies: Living Proof that <racial slur>s Fuck Dogs

It's way too easy to dismiss that which we do not like and/or understand as mentally or morally inferior. Peg the enemy as a bunch of degenerates or fools, and you are relieved of the burden of actually comprehending where they are coming from.

I'm not trying to justify the values of Republicans here, just pointing out that assuming they are stupid is the wrong way to go. That kind of attitude isn't going to win any elections.

which stem from Proposition 13 which gutted the funding for schools and we also have a very high number of immigrants whose first language is not english. Before Prop 13 California had one of the best school systems anywhere. It's a mixed bag -- California has some of the best schools in the country too -- my kid's school district only has 5 schools in it and 4 of them have won National Blue ribbon awards year after year. Our high school is in the top 100 in the country according to US News and World Report.



Also there is a distinct difference in politics between the northern half or the state and the southern part. The North is solidly democratic as is Los Angeles which often saves us from the more republican areas such as central california, orange country, etc. California is a little schizophrenic these days. Remember we have the gropenator.

I have to admit though looking at the list -- that the blue states tend to be doing a lot better.

I graduated from high school in San Diego in 1975, and got my BA from UCSD in 1980. The registration fee at UC was about $150 per quarter when I started my undergraduate work there. That has to have been far less than the actual cost to the University of administering my records and paying for professors and facilities and such.

Prop. 13 is often blamed for the problems but I think that's an oversimplification. Property tax is not the only source of money that can be used for schools. Education is the largest budget item for the state, funding per pupil is low compared to the rest of the country; OTOH there is a lot of wasteful spending here.

Not to hijack the thread, but there were some very good reasons why people went for Proposition 13 back in the late '70s. Taxation was running amok. Assessors weren't abiding by the law, and some people were literally being taxed out of house and home.

I have no children in school now and don't mind paying my fair share to give every child a decent education. The cost of NOT educating them is a societal disaster.

Us against them. Thanks a lot.

I am saying its all about changing hearts and minds.
Vinnie
http://www.vinnievin.com

retardicans...that is great!