Oklahoma Politics

Former Gov. Henry Bellmon served Oklahoma with great distinction, and his death reminds us of a somewhat softer era in politics when it seemed almost natural that conservative and liberal politicians would work for bipartisan policies and programs to move the state forward.

Bellmon, a Republican who served two terms as governor and two terms as a U.S. Senator, died Tuesday at an Enid hospital. He was 88.

It makes sense that Gov. Brad Henry has called Bellmon his mentor, according to NewsOK.com. Henry has the same bipartisan political qualities that Bellmon possessed, the same independent streak. Henry rightly calls Bellmon “iconic” in Oklahoma’s history.

State media pundits and politicians have celebrated Bellmon and his career over the last two days. The late governor served as a model of political integrity. It’s difficult to overstate Bellmon’s importance to the state. He led the state through some extremely tough financial times in the 1980s, and he even served once as the director of the state’s Department of Human Services under former Gov. George Nigh, a Democrat. One could argue he was the driving force behind the GOP’s new ascendency in state politics.

When duty called, Bellmon was there. If anyone can represent so-called “Oklahoma values,” it was Bellmon, who was elected as the state’s first Republican governor in 1962. He was a man who avoided the limelight and pageantry of political power, a man with a strong work ethic, just as comfortable in casual clothes than a suit, a successful farmer as well as one of the state’s great leaders.

As a journalist, I interviewed Bellmon about his second race for governor in 1986. I found him to be a straight-forward person with no vested personal interests in the race, a man who didn’t mince words or use a lot of nuance. He wasn’t after power. He was running for governor because he felt the state needed him, and he was right, and the state’s residents were served well by his leadership.

One of Bellmon’s most important accomplishments, and one that seems so bipartisan in today’s political world, was his ability to help pass House Bill 1017 in 1990. The education bill improved school funding, reduced class sizes and increased teacher’s salaries. Bellmon pushed for the bill even as some politicians in his own party opposed him.

Bellmon’s political style was the antithesis of the constant bickering and extremism in today’s partisan politics. We need more leaders like him in Oklahoma these days.

In case you missed it from the corporate media over the weekend, here is the recap on the presidential race and its candidates:

Hillary Clinton’s political career is, well, over.

Barack Obama cannot win the presidency if he becomes the Democratic Party nominee because of the mean way he has treated Clinton.

John McCain’s campaign is in such disrepair that no one can expect the GOP candidate to win in November.

So it’s all over, folks, before it even really began, according to The New York Times. No new person will actually be elected president in November because the pundits and infotainers have decreed it. I guess we’re stuck with Bush for another eight years.

Meanwhile, take a deep breath, and read these recent excerpts from Okie Funk posts. I’ll be back tomorrow.

“Now that John McCain has repudiated the Rev. John Hagee and Barack Obama has repudiated the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, maybe we can repudiate all the country’s leading religious freaks and irrationality in general.”—Irrationals Warp Political Process, May 23, 2008.

“My description here of the interview makes it seem somewhat linear. Inhofe often rambles off topic, sounds egotistical, and seems like a fool who believes in vast political conspiracies. Of course, environmental groups are going to come after Inhofe, who is the unspoken GOP leader on denying the dire effects of global warming, but is it, really, a conspiracy, whose members, as he puts it, include George Soros, Michael Moore and Barbara Streisand, or just concerned citizens exercising their rights in a democracy? McCain’s recognition of credible science and his recent proposals, of course, are just one more mark against Inhofe, who seems increasingly incoherent and pathetic.”—Inhofe’s Fantasy World, May 21, 2008.

“Coburn’s stunts do nothing to help those state voters who elected him. It may be great on a short-term visceral level to some voters here, for example, that George Will has become a Coburn sycophant, but for every adoring pundit like Will there is another pundit or another organization that vehemently opposes the Senator and considers him a cruel egomaniac. The bad publicity outweighs the good. Coburn’s controversial stances continue to harm the state’s image.”—Coburn 7 Stops World AIDS Relief, May 16, 2008.

“But, then, who else besides a prominent Oklahoman Republican, backed by the state’s ultra-conservative, GOP-adoring corporate media and energy companies, could get a free media pass when defending on a de facto basis the botched Iraq occupation, the torturing of foreign prisoners by the U.S. government, the continuing war on basic civil rights in this country and the tanking economy? Who else would even do it? Maybe someone from Utah or Mississippi? Maybe.”—Cole’s Sinking Ship Brings Bad PR Vibes To State, May 12, 2008.

“Conservative pundits, from Rush Limbaugh to Robert Novak to George Will to Charles Krauthammer, dish out the witty vitriol and clever snark about Democratic Party candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but the real story is these commentators—blustering, pontificating cartoon figures—are as intellectually bankrupt as the Republican Party they so adore. The corporate media feeds these narcissistic, loony right-wing ideologues with petty guilt-by-association plots and Clinton-family obsession. What did the Rev. Jeremiah Wright say today? Did Chelsea look sad the other night? Is she out of touch with her generation? Limbaugh, Novak, Will and Krauthammer (and so many, many others in the mainstream media) crowd around the pig trough.”—Dead GOP Ideologies, May 9, 2008.

(It has been a mixed year for progressives in Oklahoma, but the fight continues. In this post, you will find excerpts from Okie Funk blogs published from January to June in 2007. The next blog will feature posts from the rest of the year. Here’s wishing you a great 2008.)

Oklahoma Creationists Try Textbook Trick

As predicted, the Oklahoma creationist movement is back this year in the state legislature.
Anti-evolution bills attacking the scientific method, the foundation of modern medicine, have a fair to decent chance of passing because the legislature is dominated by neoconservatives, whose bills are most often based on ideology or cultural wedge issues.

Want better health care and wages? Want to make sure your children have decent jobs here? Don’t ask a Republican. All you’re going to get from the Oklahoma GOP (and even some supposed Democrats) these days is pathetic, religious-driven legislation that makes the state one of the biggest laughingstocks in the nation. Yeah, right, it always helps to be known as a place of ignorance and intolerance when you’re trying to create economic development.

We can only hope this neoconservative strategy of activating the conservative, uneducated masses through cultural wedges has almost run its course here in Oklahoma. People are now waking up throughout the country. But will it happen here?

January 18, 2007

Cargill’s Petty Politics

Oklahoma House Speaker Lance Cargill’s petty move to ban a Norman legislator from serving on an important committee that is vital to his district shows again how Republicans consistently put politics above people in the state.

Cargill (R-Harrah) has denied a request by state Rep. Wallace Collins (D-Norman) to serve on the mental health subcommittee. Collins’ House District 45 is home to Griffin Memorial Hospital, a mental health facility. Traditionally, legislators from the district serve on mental health committees, according to Collins, who has complained publicly about Cargill's action.

But this doesn’t matter to Cargill, of course. Collins beat Thad Balkman, a religious extremist who wants to force Oklahomans to live under his narrow-minded views, for the House seat last November.

So here’s the kicker: Cargill and Balkman, two slick buddies, are operating the mysterious 100 Ideas initiative, which will not reveal its funding because government is secret in Oklahoma these days. The initiative seems designed to further Cargill’s and Balkman’s political careers and bolster the GOP chances to further dominate the Lege in years to come.

So Cargill and the Oklahoma power structure reward the religious fanatic and election loser Balkman but won’t even let Collins serve on a significant committee for his district. Collins won the election. Balkman lost. Essentially, it means secret individuals or corporations operate the political landscape here, not voters in Norman or elsewhere. What else is new?

Here’s an idea for your secret He-Man Woman Haters Club and its 100 big shot ideers, Cargill: Give Democracy a chance. Put Collins on the committee.

February 13, 2007

Terrill The Terrible

The bill states, “The State of Oklahoma finds that illegal immigration is causing economic hardship and lawlessness in this state and that illegal immigration is encouraged by public agencies within this state that provide public benefits without verifying immigration status.”

Those are lies. Undocumented workers (the key word here is “workers”) contribute to economy here and the vast majority of them are decent, hard-working people. They are here only because they want better lives for themselves and families. Terrill, who represents the Moore area, says illegal immigration costs the state $200 million a year. But how much do they actually add to the local economy? In addition, no public agencies here are actively encouraging illegal immigration. That’s absurd. They are merely dealing with a major federal problem just like other states.

The Republicans have failed on a national level to do anything about the growing numbers of undocumented workers in this country so Terrill and his GOP comrades say they are taking things in their own hands.

March 1, 2007

Impoverished Women Attacked By Anti-Abortion Bill

The bill is one of many anti-abortion bills introduced in the legislature this session. Will Gov. Brad Henry sign the bill? He signed four anti-abortion bills last year, of course, but if he wants to veto this bill he will have the medical community on his side. The Oklahoma State Medical Association opposes the bill.

Oklahoma is fast becoming a state with some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation.

But the larger view about the abortion issue in Oklahoma is this: Those women with the financial resources can always leave the state and obtain a discreet, safe abortion. For impoverished women, especially those with health problems, this could be problematic. This law could force some Oklahoma women to seek out back-alley abortions.

Our state government is openly attacking poor women. What else is new, right? If you’re rich, you can fly to California to get an abortion. If you’re poor, you probably don’t even have the money to travel to nearby states.

April 4, 2007

Head Lunatic

On the same day The Daily Oklahoman editorial page argued Gov. Brad Henry should veto state Rep. Randy “The Terrible” Terrill’s draconian illegal immigration bill, it carried a story about how U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe wants similar strict actions on a federal level.

The newspaper has consistently supported Inhofe despite the senator’s outlandish and bizarre statements about global warming, the Iraq occupation, and individual rights, and now it seems to contradict itself. The Inhofe story, of course carried no refutation or opposing views of the senator’s claims and supposedly it’s “news” not an endorsement. But did The Oklahoman interview anyone in the state who would argue against the tyrant Inhofe? No. We’re not allowed to speak in the state’s largest newspaper. Inhofe, meanwhile, gets to use the newspaper as his free, personal public relations firm.

May 5, 2007

Coburn Supports DDT Interests

Inhofe and Coburn are the tools of big corporations, which are damaging the environment and making our food supply unsafe. The state’s corporate media, especially Daily Oklahoman reporter Chris Casteel, who is a Washington bigwig “correspondent” (a big joke since he really writes editorials), allow the two politicians to consistently lie to Oklahomans without offering dissenting views. (Some media insiders say Casteel is under strict orders issued by Executive Editor Ed Kelley to give the gay-bashing Coburn and Inhofe positive coverage despite their lies, contradictions and rhetorical gaffes. The somber Kelley, for example, appeared recently in a personal video lauding bigot Coburn as a Senator. What type of metropolitan newspaper editor would take the personal time to kiss the tushy of one of the weirdest right-wing Senators in the history of the United States?)

June 2, 2007