Our Neighbors in New Mexico Move Against Cockfighting

It looks like the New Mexico Legislature has the fortitude to move towards banning cockfighting themselves!! I wish our Legislature had the same degree of courage.


Election Fraud and Cockfight Proponents


Speaking of our Legislature, as we mentioned yesterday, Walt Roberts, a former state Legislator and candidate for Congress pleaded guilty to election violations. Walt was one of the defenders of cockfighting during his days in our state Legislature. The following from Animal People gives an idea of how Walt operated:

"Alleged cockfighting violence even spilled into the Oklahoma state legislature in January, when according to representative Charles Gray (D-Oklahoma City), Oklahoma Game Breeders Association member Walt Roberts “told me that if I filed a bill to ban cockfighting, he’d have 4,000 to 5,000 people come to the state capitol and work me over. I don’t take kindly to being threatened,” Gray explained to Mick Hinton of the Daily Oklahoman. “Roberts is still mad because some of us didn’t support him enough” in an unsuccessful race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1998. “So I included in the bill some other things that Roberts likes, like rodeos and hunting, and I like them too,” Gray continued.

Roberts denied threatening Gray––and got what he wanted, when the breadth of the Gray bill convinced Oklahoma house criminal justice committee chair Bill Paulk to table it without consideration. Cockfighting has been legal in Oklahoma since 1963, but a Daily Oklahoman poll of 750 residents found in early January that 54% were unaware it is legal, 65% would vote to outlaw it, 30% would favor it, and only 6% would actually attend a cockfight. "

Walt's pro-cockfighting buddy, Senator Gene Stipe, is also in trouble in the election fraud scandal. Is that a surprise?

The Little Quonset Hut on the Prairie

As I think of some of our most colorful Legislators I am reminded of one such fellow that for years, like more than a few fellow Legislators, kept a mistress in Oklahoma City for entertainment Monday - Thursday. This particular Senator bought his mistress a Quonset Hut-style building on Lincoln Blvd near the State Capitol and proceeded to "persuade" state agencies to rent office space in her building. For years and years her building was 100% occupied by state agencies. The time came to sell the building. A prospective buyer took a look at the record of many years of 100% occupancy and paid a high price for the old tin building. As soon as the Senator's mistress sold the building all of the agencies moved out. I wonder if the hapless buyer ever figured out what he did wrong?

Has Gene Stipe finally Slipped Up?

Dustbury shares the opinion of a lot of Oklahomans that Senator Gene Stipe has gotten away with too much for way too long.

It probably wasn't any big surprise that failed Congressional candidate Walt Roberts entered a guilty plea to various
counts of conspiracy; many of us have been wondering just where this good ol' boy was finding all this campaign financing.

Dustbury points us to a cagey article in the Daily Oklahoman that dances around the "McAlester lawyer" that has apparently been implicated in the investigation of Walt Roberts. Could they possibly mean Senator Gene Stipe??!!!

Gene Stipe has wiggled his way out of so many run-ins with the law that you have to admire his intelligence - while hating the way he has abused his power, controlled the Legislature for decades, and generally behaved in an above-the-law sort of way. I remember the times he has been reported to have been stopped speeding or "allegedly" driving drunk and managed to get out of it. He may be the fellow that got a law passed years ago that allows our Legislators to legally break the speed limit if they are going to or from the Legislature.

Senator Stipe hides a sharp mind behind a good ol' boy charisma. You can't help but like him when you are in his company - until you think about all the bad things he has done. His latest bout of underhandedness has him working with the cockfighters to overturn the vote on cockfighting by lowering the penalties to a point that the law is useless. That's just the latest reason to loath what this man has done to Oklahoma.

Very few people are completely without good however and Gene Stipe has probably done good too. He did give over $1 million to put a dome on our Capitol and his name, even if he ends up in a prison, will forever be emblazoned in large letters on the inside lip of the Capitol dome. He might want to take a picture of it.

The First Demo for Prez in Okieland

On February 23rd, US Senator John Edwards visited Tulsa and spoke to early supporters at the Tulsa Garden Club. The promoter of the event was State Senator Kevin Easley of East Tulsa and Wagoner County. Senator Easley has made an early move to be Edwards' key man in Oklahoma. Will it pay off?

The Principality of Gaffalot is an idealistic new micronation that was formed by a group of disgrunteled cockfighters, sick and tired of the disgusting acts of their government. Gaffalot has been an interesting new experiment so far, it is moving towards become one of the worlds only participatory monarchy and the present ruler, Prince Frank Shurdum (who doesn't usually write about himself in third person) has passed a number of controversial laws including the legalization of cockfighting and bull fighting. 'Gaffalot will be what we make it, and with our best efforts it can be a micronational utopia'.