OkieBrent's Soapbox

This is a new video clip from the DCCC.  As you watch the video, think of what is being said, and who is saying it.  If left-leaning commentators, or Democratic members of Congress, had said this about George W. Bush they would have been called “Unpatriotic, treasonous, left-wing America-haters” by the very same folks who are on this video saying they hope President Obama fails.

 

Just one more example of the right-wingers hypocricy.

 

Hope or Failure

From the 65th Annual Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner

 

President Obama

 

 

John Hodgeman

From the Edmondson Campaign:

 

With a nod to Oklahoma’s past and a plan for Oklahoma’s future, Drew Edmondson today announced he is running for Governor.

 

“As Attorney General, I’ve fought to protect Oklahomans from crime, I’ve stood up against special interests, and I’ve taken on corrupt politicians,” Edmondson said. “As Governor, I’m going to fight just as hard to create good paying jobs and make sure all Oklahomans have access to quality, affordable health care.”

 

Edmondson said he would focus his time as governor on creating new, high-paying jobs in the energy industry.

 

“We’re an energy state,” Edmondson said. “Though we’ve diversified our economy in recent years, oil and natural gas still are an important part of our economy. As Governor I’m going to do all I can to make sure those industries continue to grow and prosper.

 

“We are also uniquely positioned to be a national leader in renewable energy like wind, solar and biofuels. These industries have the capacity to create jobs for future generations of Oklahomans and to grow our economy for the current one.”

 

Edmondson said he would also continue his work to curb methamphetamine production and to hold DUI offenders accountable under Oklahoma law.

 

“Stopping the production and distribution of methamphetamine will help keep our neighborhoods safe,” Edmondson said. “Cracking down on DUI offenders will make our streets safer. Prosecuting Internet predators will make our homes safer. These are things we must do to ensure that Oklahoma remains a great place to live and raise a family.”

 

Edmondson also promised to work to make higher education more affordable.

 

“The business community wants an educated workforce. In this day and age, higher education is not a luxury; it is an economic necessity.”

 

Elected Attorney General in 1994, Edmondson was joined at the announcement by his wife, Linda, and his son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Andrea Edmondson. Drew and Linda are also the proud grandparents of twins, Andrew Edmondson Ross and Catherine Kay Ross, who were born to the couple’s daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Mike Ross of Arlington, VA.

 

“I would not be here without the love and support of my family and, in particular, my wife, Linda,” Edmondson said. “She has been a constant source of support and strength, of ideas and inspiration. I am truly blessed to have shared the last 42 years with her. I am pleased also that she joins me on this new journey.”

 

Edmondson is a Navy veteran, having served one tour of duty in Vietnam. He previously served as a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and as Muskogee County District Attorney. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Muskogee.

 

“I grew up in a family with a tradition of service to Oklahoma and our country,” Edmondson said. “My father and mother both served in the Navy during the Second World War, and my dad went on to serve in Congress.  Both of my parents instilled in me a sense of duty and responsibility to the state and country that have been so good to us.”

 

Edmondson made the announcement at the Oklahoma State Capitol this morning. He will also make formal announcements today at the Tulsa Press Club and the Muskogee County Courthouse.

 

“As we enter our second century, our next governor must keep Oklahoma moving forward,” Edmondson said. “I am proud of the progress we have made, and I look forward to working with Oklahomans from all walks of life to ensure our continued success as a state.”

 

Additional information is available on the campaign’s website at www.edmondson2010.com.

There!  I said it.

 

I have tried to put down in words my thoughts recently.  But there have been so many, with each taking a different train, my brain can’t decide which way to go.  Each attempt I’ve made has just turned into a big piled up wreck of too many different issues.

 

I love Oklahoma and am an Okie through and through.  I can go on and on about the pride I have in my state: its history, its terrain, its artists, its people, its beauty.  But it seems every day during this past legislative session when I read news about Oklahoma, my pride became overpowered by embarrassment.

 

What is it about Oklahoma voters that cause us to elect the type of representatives we do, both in our State Legislature and the United State Congress?  To me, the key factor seems to be fear.  What are Oklahoma voters afraid of, and why?

 

Looking at legislation produced by our “representatives” in the just completed First Session of the 52^nd Oklahoma Legislature, one could conclude: Okies are afraid of the Federal Government (HCR1028, HR1043, SCR0008, SCR0026); we are afraid of bad guys from foreign countries (HR1008); we are afraid of Spanish-speaking neighbors (HJR1042); we are afraid of juries of our peers (HB1603); we are afraid of science (HB1326, HR1014, HR1015); we are afraid of educational standards (SB0834, HR1063); we are afraid of ourselves as voters (SJR0012, SB0004); and we are afraid of God (HB1330)… just to mention of few of the fear-based bills put upon us by the first-ever Republican lead Oklahoma Legislature.  Brief descriptions of all the mentioned bills follow.

 

Fear of the Federal Government

• HCR1028, by Rep. Charles Key, R-Oklahoma City and Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, claims Oklahoma state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government. It serves notice to the federal government to cease and desist mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers. It calls on the prohibition or repeal of compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding.
• HR1043, by Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa and Rep. Sue Tibbs, R-Tulsa, expresses the House’s strong disagreement with the key findings and conclusions contained within the assessment report issued by the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It also urges Oklahoma’s congressional delegation to oppose any use of the assessment report that may encourage the enactment of any law or laws that infringe on the rights of any person.
• SCR0008, by Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City and Rep. Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, states the Legislature’s finding that the Employee Free Choice Act is detrimental to the rights of workers and an offense against democratic principles. It also urges members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation to support worker freedom by opposing the act and any of its components in 2009 and future years.
• SCR0026, by Sen. Cliff Aldridge, R-Midwest City and Rep. Daniel Sullivan, R-Tulsa, expresses the Legislature’s opposition to the proposed federal legislation, introduced as H.R. 1880 and known as the National Insurance Consumer Protection Act, because such legislation would threaten the power of state legislatures, insurance commissioners and state attorneys general to oversee, regulate and investigate the business of insurance to protect consumers.

 

Fear of Bad Guys from Foreign Countries

• HR1008, by Rep. Fred Jordan, R-Jenks, Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, and Rep. T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, urges President Barack Obama and his administration to recognize the request of Oklahoma to refrain from relocating detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the federal correctional institution in El Reno, the Fort Sill Regional Confinement Center, the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City or any other federal facility in Oklahoma as a result of the executive order signed on Jan. 22, 2009. It also urges the president to refrain from relocating detainees to any other state in the United States.

 

Fear of Spanish-speaking neighbors

• HJR1042, by Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore and Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, proposes a constitutional amendment designating English as the common and unifying language of the state. In the Senate, the measure was amended to require all official actions of the state to be conducted in the English language, except as required by federal. It also declares that no individual would have cause of action against a state agency or political subdivision for failure to provide any official government action in any language other than English. The proposed constitutional amendment also states that it shall not be construed to diminish or impair the use, study, development or encouragement of any Native American language. The proposed amendment also provides the Legislature the power to implement, enforce and determine the proper application of the amendment by appropriate legislation. (Constitutional Amendment)

 

Fear of Juries of Our Peers

• HB1603, by Rep. Daniel Sullivan, R-Tulsa and Sen. Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, creates the Comprehensive Lawsuit Reform Act of 2009. It states that in any civil action for professional negligence, the plaintiff must attach to the petition an affidavit that includes a written opinion from a qualified expert that the claim has merit. If such an affidavit is not filed, a court may dismiss the petition without prejudice… [The description of this bill is 2,048 words long, so to save space: it is tort reform. They are afraid that Oklahoma juries will be too generous to injured parties]. (Amended by House, Amended by Senate)

 

Fear of Science

• HB1326, by Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City and Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, prohibits the conducting of nontherapeutic research that destroys a human embryo or subjects it to substantial risk of injury or death; the transfer of a human embryo with the knowledge that it will be subject to nontherapeutic research or the use for research purposes cells or tissues that were knowingly obtained by performing prohibited activities. It makes violations a misdemeanor. (Amended by House, Amended by Senate)
• HR1014, by Rep. Todd Thomsen, R-Ada, expresses the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ disapproval of the current indoctrination of the Darwinian theory of evolution at the University of Oklahoma and requests that an open, dignified and fair discussion of this idea and all other ideas be engaged in on campus. It also opposes the invitation to speak on the OU Campus to Richard Dawkins of Oxford University, whose published statements on evolution and opinion about those who do not believe in the theory are contrary and offense to the views and opinions of most citizens of Oklahoma.
• HR1015, by Rep. Todd Thomsen, R-Ada, expresses the House’s opposition to the invitation to speak on the campus of the University of Oklahoma to Richard Dawkins of Oxford University, whose published statements on the theory of evolution and opinion about those who do not believe in the theory are contrary and offensive to the views and opinions of most citizens of Oklahoma. It also encourages OU to engage in an open, dignified and fair discussion of the Darwinian theory of evolution and all other scientific theories, which is an approach that a public institution should be engaged in.

 

Fear of Educational Standards

• SB0834, by Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville and Rep. Tad Jones, R-Claremore, creates the School District Empowerment Program to be administered by the State Department of Education. The bill requires the department to exempt any school district that participates in the program from all statutory requirements and department rules from which charter schools are exempt, except that the district will continue to be required to enroll all students who are residents of the district. The bill requires the department to implement the program beginning in the 2010-2011 school year for school districts which include a school that has been identified for school improvement for the 2009-2010 school year by the State Board of Education under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The bill requires the board to randomly select 20 percent of school districts from specific categories for implementation of the program beginning with the 2011-2012 school year. In the House, the bill was amended to include language allowing any school district board of education from choosing to follow any or all state laws, rules or regulations from which a charter school is exempt. It also adds a requirement for districts to comply with evaluation and training of teachers and personnel, as well as compliance with dismissal and due process procedures. It directs compliance with the requirement to make payroll deductions for either or both professional organization dues and political contributions upon the request of an employee, and it requires certification of teachers, counselors, librarians, school nurses, superintendents, principals, supervisors and others. The measure also requires districts to offer and students to complete curriculum requirements and demonstrate mastery of the state academic content standards. It also states members of a district’s education board must be required to satisfy the instruction and continuing education requirements of the state. (Amended by House, Amended by Senate, Committee Substitute)
• HR1063, by Rep. David Derby, R-Owasso, states that the House opposes any rule the State Board of Education may promulgate that attempts to establish a minimum number of school days in a school year for school districts choosing to adopt the school hours policy as contained in enrolled HB 1864.

 

Fear of Ourselves as Voters

• SJR0012, by Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso and Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, proposes a constitutional amendment to limit the term of governor, lieutenant governor, state auditor and inspector, attorney general, state treasurer, commissioner of labor, superintendent of public instruction, insurance commissioner and corporation commissioner to eight years. (Constitutional Amendment)
• SB0004, by Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville and Rep. Sue Tibbs, R-Tulsa, requires voters to provide proof of identity when voting. It states that proof of identity includes documents that show the name of the voter that substantially conforms to the precinct registry; a document with a photograph of the voter; a document with an expiration date after the date of the election; and a document issued by the United States, the state of Oklahoma or a tribal government. The bill states that a voter identification card constitutes proof of identity. The measure states that if a voter is unable to provide proof of identity, he or she may sign a statement under oath. It makes it a felony to use a false ID or to give a false swearing. It provides an exemption from the provision requiring an ID with an expiration date after the date of the election for voters age of 65 or older. It also repeals language requiring that voters provide identification before voting for the first time. The bill also allows voters in a general election to cast their ballots from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the Wednesday immediately preceding the election, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. the Thursday, Friday and Monday immediately preceding the election as well as from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Saturday preceding the election. (Amended by Senate, Committee Substitute)

 

Fear of God

• HB1330, by Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow and Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, creates the Ten Commandments Monument Display Act, authorizing the State Capitol Preservation Commission or its designee to permit and arrange for the placement of a suitable monument displaying the Ten Commandments on the state Capitol grounds. The bill directs that the design and construction of the monument be done by private entities at no expense to the state. It authorizes the attorney general to defend placement of the Ten Commandments, if challenged in court. The CCR added language authorizing the Liberty Legal Institute or the attorney general to defend placement of the monument, if challenged. (Amended by House, Amended by Senate)