Here is reason 15. It’s a pretty simple one: give this old lady something else to complain about.
Dear god, what’s the world coming to when the old lady who uses coupons at Walgreens and holds up the line is now able to freely go in front of the Oklahoma City Council and give her piece of mind on issues that are way over her head. Seriously, I was waiting for her to pull out old photos of her grandkids and then applaud the quality of portrait studio at the southside Sears, but I don’t know if she did, because I could only watch 30 seconds of the clip before falling asleep.
Anyway, old ladies like this Wanda Jo Peltier Stapleton annoy me. It annoys me when they wreak havoc on our traffic system while trying to make brunch at the Cracker Barrel and annoys me when they want to ruin something great like the NBA coming to Oklahoma City.
It annoys me when weirdos try to screw it up, too.
So be cool! Piss them all off and vote “Yes!” on Tuesday!
“I’ll be brief”?! She said she didn’t want to pay $6.00 extra in taxes for $600 in groceries. It never fails that this is exactly who I get behind in line at any grocery store. I start to cry when the pennies start coming out of the coin purse for payment ONE PENNY AT A TIME.
Old people are funny.
http://www.thebig.tv/view_video.php?viewkey=4b1869781beb89f7b73b
Wanda Jo is a former state representative and one of the most dedicated people I have ever known.
One of you schmucks try to keep up with her one day of your lives.
And incidentally, Wanda Jo would not be eating at the Craker Barrell. It’s a shame when you speak of things of which you have no knowledge.
Ms. Peltier-Stapleton is one of those stalward public servants who has fought the ‘knuckle draggers’ for decades, to keep their noses out of our bedroom and their religion out of our school rooms. You go, Wanda Jo!
Who the hell are Clark, Patrick and Tony? The 3 freakin’ stooges? If you want to argue with anything WJ said, make your point — she will eat you for breakfast.
I’m not sure whose fan club is stronger: Wando Jo Peltier-Stapleton’s or Megan Mullaley’s.
Megan pales.
While you are sitting home in your Sharper Image inspired IKEA chair, playing on your laptop, Wanda Jo is out fighting for every right you hold dear.
Wrong old lady to pick on.
It is sad to me, you and your friends are enjoying the fruits of Wanda Jo’s labors and do not even know it!!
Mick Cornett is a weiner.
I like Matlock.
I have to agree with the previous comments. She’s the wrong old lady to pick on. Wando Jo is extremely dedicated to the citizens intrests as opposed to that of the establishment. If you pay more attention you will see more of her when there are issues concerning the public.
I’m sure she is a nice, dedicated lady.
But regardless of who she is, she is still spouting the same lines of poor Okie class envy that has stifled the city’s growth for years.
“The wealthy get wealthier”….once again, why should I personally be offended by Aubrey McClendon and Clay Bennett making money? They are smart, educated businessmen. To paraphrase Billy Tubbs: Don’t get bitter, get better.
I totally understand the need for mass transit. But what people fail to see is there is no reason for mass transit right now. You have to have an anchor downtown, and the Ford Center venue can be that anchor. What also gets failed to examined is the fact that the Ford Center is a public investment.
We invested the tax money into Ford Center, and we are just going to let it be dormant and uncompetitive for the next several years? The vote no side of this argument is foolish. It sounds like nothing more than a bunch of bitter country folks who have never had any money hating on people that do have money.
The scorn of private entrepreneurship is what has caused our city to lag behind ind the first place.
Don’t worry, peeps! I will come to Wanda Jo’s defense and dispense with this nonsense next Tuesday!
(probably. I’m not always reliable, time-wise.)
Utotem, note that a bond issuance in which those wanting to participate in a rejuvenation of the Ford Center was never proposed.
They went straight for the guy or gal buying a loaf of bread for their kids.
They straight for everyone that has to buy something because they believe we can all benefit from this. The mayor has faith in our citizenship and confidence that we are ready to compete.
For Wanda Jo Whomever and others, this might be about the usual politics, but for me this is more serious and more concrete. This is a chance for my city and my home to compete for economic stability and growth. I don’t believe for a second that I am somehow selling my soul by voting to extend a sales tax that many believe to be low risk/high reward. I don’t live in an Okie cocoon; I’ve been to other cities and realize that we can’t afford to be a poor Okie “We Can’t” culture anymore if we ever hope to grow.
This isn’t about basketball. This is about overcoming a mindset once and for all that has held the city back for as long as I’ve been alive.
No, it’s about basketball.
It’s also about the Ford Center being designed with cupholders that cut into the legs of anyone with median-Oklahoma sizing.
It’s additionally about not thinking ahead, and expect to be bailed out on every decision.
For you, it might be about basketball. But not for me. There is something bigger at stake here. I’m tired of seeing my friends leave or threaten to leave for lack of job opportunities. I don’t want to have to leave either. Everything I know is here, but there may come a day when I might have to leave. And I don’t want to.
Therefore, I am sick and tired of miserly, conservative power brokers with the old “poor Okie” mentality speaking for meas a citizen, telling me what I can and can’t afford, and telling me where and on what my tax money should go. Enough is enough……
Utotem Pole’s entries are violating your newly revised commenting policy — time for some censorship
What happened to the old commenting policy? The one that went like this: “Comments are always encouraged, but please remember that TheLostOgle.com is not a message board. Therefore, some comments may be moderated. Also, really mean comments that take us way too serious will probably be deleted.”
I guess it was “really mean” to point out what a farce this proposed arena tax is.
I wonder if Wanda Jo wears a big red hat…
It may get deleted, but I’m glad I said it. It needed to be said. If we vote this down, we’re still the tightwad, backwards city the rest of the country thinks we are.
I prefer not to enable their generalizations.
Yes, people, Patrick is mean to little puppies too.
Utotem has got a major inferiority complex
Wanda Jo thinking Wallace Collins is an expert on anything tells me all I need to know about her judgment.
I don’t have an inferiority complex. I’m just tired of tightwads and misers and conservatives having too much power in this city, and I don’t want their “We done cain’t afford it” attitudes killing some very real momentum for the city.
And, believe me, I am NOT political….
While I disagree with Wanda Jo Peltier on this issue it is important to note that she is a very dedicated public servant who has given countless hours of her time to fight the good fight for women, children and the downtrodden.
Of course the BONEHEAD who started this topic probably did not know who Wanda Jo was when he made his comment about her but it seems to me that this kind of attack against someone because of their age or their sex is just plain rude and wrong.
This kind of comment should be recognized as a brutish, low class, ignorant remark. I wish that political discourse was on a higher plane but as long as there are BONEHEADS like the one who started this rant against Wanda Jo out there we can expect to see this type of “discussion” on issues important to us.
I just got told off by Classen Blvd. I can’t wait to see what Hefner Rd. thinks about all this.
It’s good to see people using the word “bonehead” again. Not as good as using “knucklehead,” but close.
Actually any comment with the word “bonehead” used as a cut down is immediately considered rubbish.
Ms. Peltier-Stapleton is obviously fighting for those without a voice. The poor who will not receive a damn thing from this stadium. It will cost the average citizen over $500 a year.
With our country in the edge of a recession an many people struggling to make ends meet, this is insensitive and a cruel tax. Seattle told the Sonics to take a hike for a reason. That city was tired of being
squeezed for more money every few years. Talk about WELFARE!
If we want to fix our image, create REAL jobs by repairing the infrastructure. The gaul of these wealthy people is unbelievable.
I bet Wanda Jo would refer to him as a “rapscallion.”
I just can’t support something so shallow like that(NBA team) I loved when the hornets where here but it is insane that we get even consider something like this proposal. I only want them to fix TWO things: Schools and Highways, I know we have plenty of problems but let’s first do that and then we’ll see about a rich group of investors dreaming for free ride…
By the way, you misspelled God wrong(capital “G”)
Dear god, what has the world come to when some guy with a blog resorts to insulting old ladies just becuase an NBA team might not come to OKC. No one really cares if old ladies annoy you. You sound like a whiner. Deal with it. Someday Lauren Richardson will be that old lady who uses coupons at Walgreens and holds up the line.
Patrick, you’re really an envious pathetic loser. You have no chance of getting a date since everyone knows what you really think about old ladies. You don’t deserve an NBA team. What will you do if this tax doesn’t pass? Guess you could always keep drooling while having your mind shaped by Jim Traber.
Clark, you would be SO LUCKY if that’s all Wanda Jo called you. No, actually you’re just lucky if she’s on your side.
She is one of those delightful ladies who, without using profanity (my personal raisinette) can peel your paint, and leave you feeling bound and gagged on the side of the road pleading for mercy. You know, like that Saturday night you REALLY pissed us off.
Okay, me and Patrick get accused of not thinking this through, but whoever just said that this tax would cost an average of $500 a person makes me feel really good about myself. I’ve used this skill I learned in Oklahoma City Public Schools called math and calculated that to mean that the average person would have to spend $50,000 within Oklahoma City proper. Using the “internet” I learned that the median income for OKC is just a hair above $34,000. Now, assuming that this middle of the road person spends no money on anything that isn’t subject to sales tax (rent, mortgage, car payments, et cetera) that means they are still going into debt by about $16K buying products in our fair city. Take a second to think about whether that statistic before tossing it out again.
Man, I had no clue that everyone in Wando Jo’s bridge club was going to come here to get her back! She must have bought ensure for everyone.
So, you see the age group that REALLY reads thelostogle. Scarey, ain’t it.
“If we want to fix our image, create REAL jobs by repairing the infrastructure. The gaul of these wealthy people is unbelievable.”
“Wealthy people”, or private entrepreneurship within the citizenship, IS a large part of the infrastructure that creates jobs.
Without these ugly millinaires, we are Albuquergue, New Mexico or Little Rock, Arkansas: cities with high poverty and high crime rates.
“She is one of those delightful ladies who . . . can peel your paint, and leave you feeling bound and gagged on the side of the road pleading for mercy.”
OK, I just watched the clip - you’re right, she’s a regular William Jennings Bryan!
(Jane, Do NOT type out the Obama line you want to type. Do NOT type it.)
Where I see these “yes” signs, I do not think they are in the average income bracket as was stated. From the look of the houses, I think the tax affects their percent of income far less the the average family. Wanda Jo know how this affects people and has fought the good fight and still does. Thank you Wanda Jo for all your help.
Oh shut up, Jane. Anyone who wants to know the insanity of Jane and Wanda Jo can go over to their message board and see some of the crazy, conspiracy theory crap they spout. Anything to do with improving OKC, they don’t care about as long is it serves their own interests.
Wanda Jo, Thanks for fighting the good fight sista!
And be sure to vote Yes on March 4th!
Hey Danny, drive by my house. I’ve got “yes” signs, and I live in a total crap neighborhood, and I own my own house. Vote no on Tuesday, and support your local minor league team. You and Wanda Jo can get season tickets to the Yarddawgz.
If we have to spend even $50 per person in tax on this stadium I am pissed. Why should I have to support the wealthy? OKC will not be a ‘classy’ city because of a basketball team. You cannot buy status.
Voting yes is drinking the brainwashing Kool Aid. Those guys will set in their sky boxes smoking cigars and drinking brandy celebrating what FOOLS the people of OKC are. And the people of Seattle will know how stupid we are too.
We should be ashamed of the priorities of our city, ashamed of our mayor and ashamed of anyone who supports this rip off.
Wanda thinks Patrick is a “whippersnapper.”
Real classy, kidults.
-Steve H
Wanda Jo is 100% RIGHT!
Anyone who thinks otherwise has their head in the sand.
Patrick, I think all the crusty curmudgeons meet at the IHOP.
Okay, Lorii says Wanda Jo is right, and yet she implies that Wanda Jo “will eat Clark, Patrick and Tony”. Leave her personal escapades out of this! What odd things she does in private is entirely up to her! It’s amazing that you supporters say she won’t eat brunch at the Cracker Barrel but think she will eat Tony, Patrick and Clark. And anyway, if she was looking for change at Homeland for the tax for a loaf of bread, I’d pitch in for that too.
Some one posted “…why should I personally be offended by Aubrey McClendon and Clay Bennett making money?” Answer: Because they are doing at YOUR expense. Remember how well Bass Pro worked out in OKC? Not. That company (in which the Gaylord familiy was also an influential stockholder) got all manner of unnecessary financial incentives from our foolish city fathers. Bass Pro then opened a store in Tulsa without the incentives (after promising not to open another one in Oklahoma). If the Sonics were so great and creating so much revenue, why would Seattle ever let them go. Wake up. Some people (especially women) have no interest in sports. If YOU do, pay for it at the ticket window. Don’t make me subsidize your hobbies, unless you’re willing to subsidize mine. P.S. Nobody better say one bad word about Wanda Jo Stapleton. You don’t know a thing about her! If you want to work out on somebody, try the self-serving millionaires who expect to make a profit without risk while WE foot the bill.
Great job to the lost ones — clearly, you have been very successful in keeping these old ladies on this comment board instead of trying to scare other geezers into being against progress.
But don’t take them lightly — there’s only a dummy among them when they play bridge. Those over 65 will likely be 40% of the voters on Tuesday. You are wrong if you think this is an easy win.
Here is an idea that I’m behind…
Everyone who votes Yes and who is in Oklahoma City can show up to Bass Pro Shops with a sledgehammer and tear it down brick by brick to make up for past wrongs…
Free chartreuse spinner baits for everyone!!!
Would that make you happy Jody Harlan?
How did I know this blog entry was in trouble as soon as Wanda Jo mentioned the Internet in her filibuster?
Now we know.
Can someone give Wanda Jo and her blue-haired army a ride to Warr Acres so they can buy their groceries without paying that penny sales tax they’ve been paying for the last 10 years or more?
I can’t believe the idiocy I keep reading from some of these people against this proposal. Their arguments consist of tirades against the rich…that’s it. Boo hoo! I really wish people like Wanda Jo and her supporters would stop taking their consequences of their financial failures out on the people who succeeded. They know bringing the Sonics to OKC will help create needed economic development, thereby creating more “rich” people. Heck, they should love creating more rich people: it gives them a larger base of people to tax and confiscate/redistribute their income.
The truth is that this measure includes more than just upgreyedds to the Ford center. Civic leaders are just using the most visible component to sell it. That’s a little thing called stragety.
Hey Jody: You live in Yukon, so you don’t have a vote. Aubrey and Clay have already made an investment. They paid $350 million for a team that was valued less than that. The citizens of OKC, of which I am included, own the Ford Center and we are responsible for making it a viable venue. I’m voting Yes, which will counter your non-vote, since you don’t even live in OKC.
Lord Gerald: I personally have called at least 20 people. Once they understood who benefits, they are ALL getting out to vote NO. And they are not blue haired ladies either. They are people who actually think.
They understood the part about why it is wrong to take from the poor to give to the rich.
Not all OKC young people are stupid. Just as many younger people are against this as older folks.
We don’t want to pay for the billionaires skyboxes!
I probably disagree with everything that Wanda Jo Stapleton stands for, but she is right on encouraging the citizens of OKC to vote NO on March 4. I am astounded that people who call themselves conservatives are supporting corporate welfare. The same conservatives who balk at individual handouts (rightly so) are more than willing to support corporate welfare…this is disingenuous and hypocritical.
The people who say that the owners of the Sonics have already made an investment to bring the Sonics to OKC by purchasing the franchise for $350 million…the owners have made an investment in the Sonics franchise they have not made an investment in OKC. You see if the Sonics lose money what is going to keep the owners from moving the franchise out of OKC? I want the Sonics to come to OKC as much as the next guy, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of using public funds. The owners need to invest in not only the Sonics’ franchise but also in an arena that is suitable for them to play in.
I’m glad I found this bolg. Now I don’t have to listen to old smart women like Wanda Jo. I will adhere to the wisdom of young high school graduates with purple hair and herpes.
This lady is a horror show. Has it ever occurred to her that old timers are the most heavily subsidized segment of our population? I can assure Edna here that I resent paying out $60 for every $600 so she can stay supplied with metamucil and geritol.
I had to turn off the sound when she brought up that old un-reformed Stalinist Wallace Collins. An expert on mass trans? Collins lives in Norman. Is she talking about that fabulous trolley that runs up and down Lindsey every six hours? She hits all the crazy bases including a bit of GWB derangement.
Isn’t this what we have ice flows for?
And to Aaron and Anti-stadium, have you considered the de-valuation of the franchise when they move from from a large media center (Seattle) to this backwater on the plains? The owners will lessen the value of their franchise by roughly 100 million dollars to be here. Moving the Sonics to OKC can only be viewed as an act of charity by a few civic minded local rich guys. If money were the only consideration the Sonic owners would never consider moving their franchise here.
Surely to God we can renovate the Ford to make this a big league city. I understand well that the investment by the tax payers is a small net negative. So what? This is how the game of professional sports is played. You build, you get a team. Maybe. You don’t build or renovate in this case, you get nothing (certainty) I really wish Parson Grim and the sour-pussed school marm that wants to ride the bus would move to Starkville, Shreeveport or some similar crap hole where they would be more at home. Some city that has no desires beyond counting their pennies and wondering why they don’t still have the Astro Bluebonnet bowl over at Rutherford B Hayes stadium. If this could happen we would only have to worry about the 20 morons that Anti-stadium called on the phone.
I really respect what Wanda Jo had to say on this issue and mass transit is a worthwhile concern. Her comments about the Crosstown Expressway renovations were particularly of interest.
The simple fact of the matter is that getting people interested in OKC is an uphill battle. If you want your kids to stay there rather than move to Houston or Dallas for a decent job, you are going to have to have a serious break from the miserly psychological disposition that keeps the place a small town. In my own situation, my wife is a physician at the top of her profession and could have taken a job in OKC when we were were ready to leave the DC area. She wouldn’t even consider OKC. She considers it backward and drab and doesn’t even like to visit. As long as things stay the way they are, please know that the best and brightest have no interest in being there. I’m not saying that an NBA team will unalterably change the negative perceptions of the City, but a different state of mind on the part of the locals could start things on a path toward making the city more appealing to outsiders in terms of quality of life issues. Right now, OKC is just a place to pull off the highway and visit the Memorial on the way to somewhere more desirable.
Here’s a novel idea. How about updating the Ford Center and starting another revenue program for mass transit. People could actually use public transportation to attend the sports events.
In a place where attitudes tend to be conservative and incomes tend to be low, public funding of just about anything is easily viewed through jaded and suspicious eyes. Even so, the alternative is the status quo. Don’t worry, every other holiday season, your kids and grandkids will come back home for a visit.
Make a choice. Go big or stay backward.
If I vote yes on Mar 4 will you vote yes for liquor to be sold at grocery stores. If Billings and Albuquerque can have a Costco and a Whole Foods (in Alb) then we can too.
You are on Byron. Nice bit of log-rolling.
I don’t fully understand why Wanda and her crew come out of the fiscal responsibility closet right after grandpa gets his taxpayer subsidized false teeth or cashes his latest medicare re-imbursement check. The elderly in America are draining the public coffers dry, do we also have to put up with their sour attitudes as well? Why is the budget line drawn right before we do something worthwhile for the community as a whole? Sadly some of our fellow citzens know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
And to the ding dongs that can’t fathom the difference between cities with professional sports franchises and the ones that don’t, treatment options are available.
Leave it to a couple of young whipper-snapping rapscallions like Aubrey McLendon and Clay Bennett to divert funds away from my well-earned subsidized lifestyle in an effort to make the world better for the next generation, Next thing you know, somebody will try to convince me that I am not entitled to relief from my property taxes because I have no further use for public schools!
Mass transportation in OKC right now would have no chance of survival if the only thing it was transporting was blue haired people to their doctor appointments. OKC needs to join the large cities of the world and do things that will bring in business and industry. If renovating the Ford Center will help to do that, then it’s what we should do. If pissing on a spark plug would bring business and industry in, we should all consider taking turns. Any comments Steve “Mike” Hunt?
Man, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to write such long and boring comments. Closed!