Looking for a Home?

One of the posters at DemoOkie forum linked readers to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee's blog where it's chair, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK04) published a post on May 16th highlighting their American Families Agenda. It's contents were as revealing as were the comments scathing.

Rep Cole posts that the 'R's recognize that "more and more families struggle with balancing work, children and caring for elderly parents. Over the coming weeks, Republicans will be promoting new ideas that give people more personal freedom and lessen the burden of government."

Cole promotes affordable college, more freedom in the workplace for working parents and greater flexibility with their health care and prescription drug benefits for seniors. He also says the Republicans should produce commonsense solutions that modernize our laws and give people greater liberty.

Needless to say, this sounds like Democratic talking points!

In the comments section, hundreds of RWRs take Rep. Cole to task, saying; "I am conservative and want a conservative message," and "So if the RNCC is going to support this liberal RINO, then you and are at odds from here on out. No more money, no more support," and "Here's a thought: Why don't you figure out what you stand for? You're starting to sound like you're falling for anything. I won't be following you there."

To top it all off, Politico's David Paul Kuhn wrote a piece a week later (23rd) titled, "GOP Strategists Mull McCain Blowout!" But then goes on to say, "Some Republican strategists can envision a scenario in which Obama wins the popular vote but loses in the Electoral College — he might galvanize Southern black turnout, for example, but still fail to switch a state in the region."

"Among the 10 strategists interviewed by Politico for this story, there was near-uniform belief that had any other Republican been nominated, the party’s prospects in November would be nil."

I wonder if former consultants to John Kerry's presidential campaign have found a new home?


"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

Is Obama's Bridge Our Own?

From Kentucky:



and West Virginia:



These scenes are not just confined to Kentucky and West Virginia. They could be easily duplicated in many Oklahoma communities. The question these interviews raise is, "What should Barack Obama do about it?"

To me, there are two answers. One advocated by many political activists, is to tell Obama's story in a louder voice to a bigger audience, addressing the doubts these folks have about Barack Obama. Democratic Governor Mark Warner used a similar strategy with voters in western Virginia, acknowledging directly that although they are different culturally, they held the same values about family and citizenship. And he understood their culture. He didn't go to NASCAR races himself, but understood their devotion to this form of entertainment and their adoration of the drivers.

This may not work for Obama because of the overt racism these clips expose. No amount of explaining and cajoling will change their minds/beliefs. The simple irreversible fact is they are white and he is not. They are grab the "Muslim" label and use it as a code word for "ni##er." This leads to the second answer to the original question, which is; "blow them off."

From a distance, it seems that Obama has a unusually competent staff and my guess is they will try to split the difference; make a genuine effort to pick the low hanging fruit (no pun intended) from this group and not obsess about the remainder.


"Racism is man's gravest threat to man -- the maximum of hatred for the minimum of reason." -- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Prime Time Fear & Loathing

Fear and Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration Myths and Cable News, is a new report by Media Matters Action Network. The report exposes the vitriolic rhetoric heard almost nightly on these shows like those hosted by Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. They overflow not just with vitriol, but with several myths and urban legends that feed viewers' resentment and fears. The myths and misinformation disseminated on each of these programs do nothing but foster increased anti-immigrant hysteria.

Among the key findings of their study:

• Illegal Immigration and Crime: Although numerous studies have found that immigrants in general commit fewer crimes than native-born citizens, these programs are positively obsessed with the topic. During 2007, the alleged connection between illegal immigration and crime was discussed on 94 episodes of Lou Dobbs Tonight, 66 episodes of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, and 29 episodes of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck.

• Illegal Immigration and Social Services: Undocumented immigrants are barred from receiving most federally provided social services and pay a variety of taxes, including sales, property (in the form of rent), and payroll taxes. Yet during 2007, the allegation that undocumented immigrants drain social services and/or don't pay taxes was discussed on 71 episodes of Lou Dobbs Tonight, 13 episodes of Glenn Beck, and eight episodes of The O'Reilly Factor.

• Myths and Urban Legends: Dobbs and Beck have perpetuated two related myths, that there are plans to construct a "NAFTA Superhighway" running from Mexico to Canada and that there are plans to join Mexico, Canada, and the United States in a "North American Union." Dobbs has discussed the fictional North American Union on 52 separate programs during the past two years. All three programs, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Glenn Beck, and The O'Reilly Factor, have presented as fact the "reconquista" myth, which states that there is a movement afoot for Mexico to take over the American Southwest.

• Unsubstantiated Allegations: On Lou Dobbs Tonight, viewers were told about a mythical explosion of leprosy cases due to illegal immigration and a mythical epidemic of voter fraud due to illegal immigration.

• Dobbs Out Front: Of the three hosts examined in detail, Dobbs is the most obsessed with the topic; indeed, fully 70 percent of the 2007 episodes of Lou Dobbs Tonight contained a discussion of illegal immigration.

These cable news bullies have chosen to rely on myths and misinformation rather than a rational debate based squarely on the facts. They have not only muddied the public debate on this very important issue, but also stoked fear and resentment in a manner that fosters anti-immigrant hysteria. It is time to put their irresponsible reporting to an end.

Read the entire report here.

"Let the unskilled jobs, let the kinds of jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do -- let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work." -- Rush Limbaugh

Gays and Opportunity

Last week, I overheard a couple of Democratic Party insiders bemoaning the California Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage. The consensus voiced by these political veterans was that the Republicans would us this as a campaign weapon this fall against Democratic candidates for state offices.

There is no doubt that the gay marriage issue will be contentious this November. But I have a suggestion for party operatives; don't play their game using their rules. It's a no-win from the start.

First, this isn’t about religion or religious teachings. Elected officials place their hands on a Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution, not place their hands on the Constitution and pledge to enforce one particular interpretation of the Bible. The Constitution prohibits laws that discriminate against any group of citizens. That includes race, religion, sexual orientation and gender. It doesn’t matter how long the practice has been in effect. Equally important, states can’t grant special rights as it affirms equal rights.

If America stands for anything, it’s equal opportunity for all. Discrimination is un-American. If you have two children or grandchildren and one grows up straight and the other gay, you still love them equally. You know it’s wrong for the government to discriminate between them. Marriage equality laws simply prohibit discrimination between one American and another.

"No government has the right to tell it's citizens when or whom to love. The only queer people are those who don't love anybody." -- Rita Mae Brown

Bambi & Boren

OK, I’ll admit it. I have never been animal hunting with a gun in my entire life, much less felt inclined to join the National Rifle Association (NRA).

In Thursday’s edition (May 15) of the Tulsa World, there’s a story about Oklahoma’s privileged son, US Representative Dan Boren, being appointed to the Board of Directors of the NRA. That puts him right in the pantheon of advocates of “campus-carry” laws and unrestricted firearms sales.

Boren is quoted, “I harvested my first buck at age 9 and have taken one every season since.” What kind of English is this? Where did he go to school?

By using the word ”harvested,” was he saying he ran over a deer with a wheat combine? Probably not.

Boren goes on to say that he’s “taken” one every season since. Come on, Danny Boy, I’ve “taken” my granddaughters to the park and to school. To take means to carry or transport something. The only way to “take” a deer is to kill it first.

So, why is Boren afraid of saying he “uses a gun to kill deer.” Maybe he doesn’t want to offend the sandal wearing, latte sipping, tofu eating, PETA crowd!

Their granddaughters might call him a “Bambi Murderer.”

"I am not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife. Consider the merits of a knife. In the first place, you have to catch up with someone in order to stab him. A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness. We'd turn into a nation fo great runners. Plus, knives don't ricochet. And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives." -- Molly Ivins.

Senatorial Backbone

Today the Democratic Senators in the Oklahoma Legislature showed they do have a backbone, after all. They voted to effectively kill Senate Bill 1150, known as the Voter ID bill.

This is the last term of the session with a 24- 24 split among Democratic and Republican Senators. Under rules negotiated at the beginning of this session last year, a bill must receive 25 votes to be approved. Democratic leader Danny Morgan (Stillwater) did not vote, relieving Lt. Governor Jari Askins of breaking a 24 - 24 tie vote. The measure failed 23 to 24.
The Voter ID Bill is a 21st century version of the infamous 'Poll Tax' that was used to deny blacks the right to vote in the South many decades ago. From Wikipedia:

"A poll tax, in the sense of a discrimination tax which was a pre-condition of the exercise of the right to vote, emerged in some US states in the late 19th century. After the right to vote was extended to all races by the enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment, many Southern states enacted poll tax laws which often included a grandfather clause that allowed any adult male whose father or grandfather had voted in a specific year prior to the abolition of slavery to vote without paying thetax. These laws achieved the desired effect of disfranchising African and Native Americans as well as poor whites who immigrated after the year specified."

Sometimes these people make me proud.


"Never separate the lives you lead from the words you speak." -- Paul Wellstone

The Straw That Stains

Many years ago I lived and worked in northwest Arkansas. This was during the Clinton years in the Arkansas Governor's mansion. I was proud of all the things both Bill and Hillary did for the state. Bill Clinton and Winthrop Rockefeller did more for the state of Arkansas than all the other governors, added together. I was always vociferous in my defense of these two and was proud to be FOB by "two degrees."

But......today, the Associated Press quoted Bill Clinton saying,

"The great divide in this country is not by race or even income, it's by those who think they are better than everyone else and think they should play by a different set of rules," he said. "In West Virginia and Arkansas, we know that when we see it."

This not-so veiled slap at Barack Obama is the last straw for me.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have totally destroyed the faith and admiration I have felt for them for more than twenty years. I say this in all sobriety. In an attempt to destroy someone else to sate their manical egos, they have dashed the respect I held for them and put another unseamly stain on their place in history.

For me, they have 'soiled' their political pants.