Saturday, May 17, 2003

We Don't Give a Flip?

As the Tulsa World points out in an editorial ("What a surprise" on A24) today, Senator Shurden continues his attempts to reverse the citizen's vote to outlaw cockfighting last November. In typical Shurden fashion he is using subterfuge to try to thwart the will of the people. He has introduced and changed his pro-cockfighting bills so often even close observers have a hard time figuring out what is going on. As the World points out Shurden has also changed his bill to call for a revote - but not during a general election as usual - but during a primary vote. Shurden is doing this because he knows Republican-dominated Oklahoma City and Tulsa don't participate big in Democrat-dominated primary elections. And the 2/3rds of the population of the state live in these two metro areas. Shurden wants to limit voters to rural Democrat-dominated primary elections.

This may be smart strategy but it is strategy that seeks to appease gambling (cockfighting) interests at the expense of straightforward democracy. That may be smart for Shurden and the cockfighters who don't give a flip about the principles of democracy but it is poor public policy. Comedian Joe Bob Briggs of Texas once called Oklahoma the "I Don't Give a Flip State" because we didn't seem to care about anything. When it comes to our state Legislature and voting, it is no wonder Oklahomans don't give a flip. They know their votes and their wishes mean nothing to the miscreants like Shurden that think they own Oklahoma and will do anything to keep it that way.

Friday, May 16, 2003

Religious Debate on Senate Floor

This week there was an interesting exchange on the floor of the Oklahoma Senate between Democratic Senator Bernest Cain of Oklahoma City and Senator Scott Pruitt, Republican of Broken Arrow. The debate was over some language Senator Pruitt wanted placed in science textbooks used in Oklahoma - a sort of disclaimer regarding the theory of evolution. Senator Pruitt, a very conservative and religious person, has been trying to insert a conservative religious agenda into the political debate - centered around efforts to get creationism into the public schools. This week Senator Cain, a liberal Senator who apparently believes in the separation of church and state, took the effort to put creationism into the schools head on. As The Tulsan points out, you can read the exchange, at least the part KFAQ radio wants you to read, at their website. Republican Senators Fine, (shouldn't be casting stones) Ford, and Wilcoxson jumped to Pruitt's defense and conservative talkshows in Oklahoma have pilloried Senator Cain's remarks in favor of religious diversity.

I cannot fault Senator Cain as I agree with his call for the defense of separation of church and state and his desire for the Christian right to stop trying to force their beliefs and codes on others. They will deny that they are wanting to do this but a read of the Republican Senators statements (if you can understand Ford's rambling) will reveal their intent. They may say they just want equal treatment for creationism and science but they never speak in terms of Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu theories of creation. Until they do, I cannot believe them. Their disingenuous attempts to lie about the ultimate agenda - the recognition of Christian values and beliefs as the tacitly approved religion - tells us we cannot trust them to be openly honest. The radio talk show hosts like Michael DelGiorno on KFAQ carry the water for the Christian right and they come closest to spilling the beans on what the objectives are. DelGiorno is honest, but scary. But thank (insert your deity or lack thereof here) he and his colleagues are out there revealing the true agenda of the Christian right.

The thinking around the Capitol is that the Republicans are pushing issues such as prayer in school and creationism to force Democrats to vote in ways that can be used against them in upcoming elections. Unfortunately, in Oklahoma it certainly never hurts to say your opponent is against teaching creationism in school or in favor of child abuse. Of course, using religion for crass political maneuvering would be frowned on by most faiths and holy men I am acquainted with. WWJD?

Senator Pruitt believes he is doing good. He's about as good a person as you'll find at the Legislature, but he's wrong on pushing his religious beliefs into schools and government. I'm with Senator Cain on this one. He's a good man too.

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

The Conspiracy Theorist that has cost Oklahoma Taxpayers $$$$$

Further to the posting regarding the State Auditor and a Mr. Sam Mahjoub, a conspiracy theorist that has harassed various state government agencies for a few years. The Daily Oklahoman claims the man is an Oklahoma exporter but sources at the Capitol say they can't find any evidence that the man makes anything in Oklahoma to export. The man has filed numerous freedom of information filings only to drop the requests after the agencies went to the trouble of counting all the files and estimating the cost of copying. Mr. Mahjoub has made a number of claims of corruption against agencies and individual civil servants. The claims haven't panned out but Mahjoub seems to have no reluctance to smear state workers by name. He has been dismissed by most Legislators and journalists - after claims repeatedly proved groundless. And after they discovered that the man had been trying to get a contract with the state Commerce Department for several years. The conclusion of most was that the man was seeking vengence for being denied a contract. The pity is that some Legislators continue to give the conspiracy theories an ear. Are some legislators really so gullible or are they afraid of the guy? The pity is that Mr. Mahjoub has cost the state tens of thousands of dollars in response time and lost focus and the media has not picked up on the story. Can failed contractor wannabes harass state agencies and smear civil servants and waste tax dollars for years on end?

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Texas Democrats Find Refuge in Oklahoma


Faced with a gerrymandered Republican redistricting plan in Austin over 50 Texas Democrat Legislators made a strategic retreat across the border to Oklahoma yesterday. Incredibly, the State of Texas sent Texas Rangers across the border to try to arrest the Texas Legislators in Oklahoma. At some point it dawned on the Texas Rangers that their law doesn't apply in Oklahoma and they retreated back across the border to Texas without the runaway Legislators. Meanwhile, half the Texas Legislature is meeting in a Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Oklahoma - out of the grasp of the Texas lawmen. Exactly what is illegal about a Legislator not showing up for sessions in Austin escapes me. The Democrats that control the Oklahoma Legislature invited the Texans to come on up to Oklahoma City and be welcomed as heros.

The Texas Democrats say they won't go back to Texas until the Republicans play fair.