POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
Oklahoma City television station KWTV once set the standard for broadcast journalism in the state, if not the region.
Its stable of reporters was so extraordinary in the 1970s that some went on to become network correspondents [at a time when networks commanded the lion's share of viewers] and many others help get CNN off the ground.
Today, KWTV journalism is an oxymoron.
Case in point: Dave Jordan's report [8.26.08, 10 p.m. newscast] on the state's crumbling roads and bridges contained enough holes to -- pardon the pun -- drive a big-rig through it.
He asserted that the Oklahoma Education Association -- through the HOPE [Helping Oklahoma Public Education] initiative -- wants to move $800 million over a three-year period from the general fund into public schools.
What the HOPE petition would require -- if approved by the voters -- is that lawmakers fulfill their broken promises to fund public education at the regional average. Currently, Oklahoma is 48th nationally in per pupil expenditures -- $6,944 per child. The regional average currently is $8,300.
Since a vote on the proposed constitutional amendment probably would not occur until next year at the earliest, it may well be at least six years before the funding would be effective ... giving legislators plenty of time to arrange spending priorities to protect sacred cows like the highway contractors.
By the way, the constitutional amendment would be permanent ... not a three-year transfer ... and hardly a transfer directly from the largesse that lawmakers provided this year to the powerful highway industry: $30 million guaranteed annually to transportation, plus $300 million in debt-financed improvements via bonds.
To listen to KWTV's one-sided report, Oklahoma's already crumbling roads and bridges are in danger of suffering even more at the hands of the greedy teachers' union. It's the bogus story line that anti-public education Republicans in the Legislature and highway contractors [anxious, quite naturally, to protect their bountiful new revenue stream] are peddling around-the-clock.
"If that [HOPE wins voter approval] happens," a grave-sounding Bob Stem of the Associated General Contractors said, "you can bet roads and bridges are going to suffer."
Maybe the highway contractors and their well-heeled allies like the Chambers of Commerce should have thought about that when the Legislature's anti-government zealots cut taxes $700 million over the last three years.
There's something else to point out here: This was a crime against journalism.
How does KWTV get away with airing a report that allows the highway contractors' spokesman to spin, spin and spin some more -- yet there is not even a hint of the possibility that there may be other sides to a complex issue critically important to Oklahoma's future?
No one from the OEA or other groups supporting the education initiative were given even a six-second sound bite to rebut the spin? Or set the record straight on what the initiative would do?
No self-respecting editor would permit such a slanted report to appear on air or in print.
Unfortunately, it happens all too often in Oklahoma where the mainstream media fail their readers and viewers on an almost daily basis. The problem isn't necessarily what they tell you. It's what they don't tell you.
And what KWTV failed to do was give its viewers even a smidgen of the whole story on the HOPE initiative and its relationship, or lack thereof, to the state's highway and bridge woes.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bad Idea
POSTED BY FROSTY TROY
The corn-into-fuel ethanol program has been around for years but has gained traction from President Bush's program to cure America's "addiction to oil" by using biofuels.
Diverting agricultural land to energy production is a major factor in the rise of worldwide food prices.
We've had food riots in Mexico and Egypt. Even in the U.S., Costco and Sam's Club are rationing rice.
Had the Bush Administration and Congress the courage to slap a big gasoline tax on drivers after 9/11 – or even in 2006, when the President made his "addicted to oil" speech – it would have been a better energy policy than the homographic panacea they've given us.
We could have reduced consumption, cut oil imports, kept low-income drivers whole by rebating their gas taxes with income tax breaks, and used the rest of the proceeds for deficit reduction or something else useful.
Food would be cheaper. So would fuel, because demand would be lower and we'd probably have fewer financial speculators, who some experts think are responsible for oil's march from $64 a barrel a year ago to a peake of well over $140.
Turning biological waste like wood chips into fuel makes a lot of sense. But devoting vast acreage of America's breadbasket to fuel – about a third of the U.S. corn crop is dedicated to ethanol – is a terrible idea, as we're now seeing.
Supposedly miraculous and painless cures have a nasty tendency to backfire. Both in scary movies and in the even scarier real world.
The corn-into-fuel ethanol program has been around for years but has gained traction from President Bush's program to cure America's "addiction to oil" by using biofuels.
Diverting agricultural land to energy production is a major factor in the rise of worldwide food prices.
We've had food riots in Mexico and Egypt. Even in the U.S., Costco and Sam's Club are rationing rice.
Had the Bush Administration and Congress the courage to slap a big gasoline tax on drivers after 9/11 – or even in 2006, when the President made his "addicted to oil" speech – it would have been a better energy policy than the homographic panacea they've given us.
We could have reduced consumption, cut oil imports, kept low-income drivers whole by rebating their gas taxes with income tax breaks, and used the rest of the proceeds for deficit reduction or something else useful.
Food would be cheaper. So would fuel, because demand would be lower and we'd probably have fewer financial speculators, who some experts think are responsible for oil's march from $64 a barrel a year ago to a peake of well over $140.
Turning biological waste like wood chips into fuel makes a lot of sense. But devoting vast acreage of America's breadbasket to fuel – about a third of the U.S. corn crop is dedicated to ethanol – is a terrible idea, as we're now seeing.
Supposedly miraculous and painless cures have a nasty tendency to backfire. Both in scary movies and in the even scarier real world.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A Real Chance To Help Uninsured
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
Window dressing? Or substance?
It's way too early to know whether the House's Health Care Reform Task Force is just another interim study for show -- or a meaningful attempt to help the one in five uninsured Oklahomans.
This much is certain: House Speaker Chris Benge picked a dynamite pair to lead the search for solutions.
State Reps. Doug Cox, the Legislature's only physician, and Kris Steele, renowned for his work on behalf of children and seniors, are two Republicans with a history of straight-shooting independence -- party loyalty be damned.
At times, it's left both in the deep freeze with their more partisan colleagues.
The fact Benge tabbed Cox and Steele for the difficult assignment suggests the first-year speaker gets it: It's unconscionable that 700,000 of our fellow residents are without insurance that affords them the most basic, preventative health care.
The human toll is staggering.
As state Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland noted in today's first task force meeting, Oklahoma ranks at or near rock bottom in nearly every imagineable health category.
She cited these health rankings of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, courtesy of the Commonwealth Fund and United Health Foundation:
Oklahoma is 50th in the number of primary care physicians per 100,000 and in rate of cardiovascular deaths; 48th in the percentage of insured adults and adults 50-and-over who received recommended screening and preventative care; 44th in percentage of insured children and prevalence of obesity ...
It seemed her PowerPoint of pitiful health indicators would never end.
"This is perhaps the most significant economic and social challenge facing the state and the nation," Holland said of the task force's mission to find ways to reduce the number of uninsured.
Benge's decision to put Cox and Steele in charge of the task force was a good first step -- but it's not enough. He needs to put the speaker's considerable political muscle behind the project, not only demanding fair, honest and balanced research, but also fighting to transform the panel's recommendations into good public policy.
If he does, his shaky first session as speaker quickly will be forgotten. More importantly, Oklahoma will take a giant step toward realizing its promise.
The task force meets again Aug. 12 at the Capitol.
Window dressing? Or substance?
It's way too early to know whether the House's Health Care Reform Task Force is just another interim study for show -- or a meaningful attempt to help the one in five uninsured Oklahomans.
This much is certain: House Speaker Chris Benge picked a dynamite pair to lead the search for solutions.
State Reps. Doug Cox, the Legislature's only physician, and Kris Steele, renowned for his work on behalf of children and seniors, are two Republicans with a history of straight-shooting independence -- party loyalty be damned.
At times, it's left both in the deep freeze with their more partisan colleagues.
The fact Benge tabbed Cox and Steele for the difficult assignment suggests the first-year speaker gets it: It's unconscionable that 700,000 of our fellow residents are without insurance that affords them the most basic, preventative health care.
The human toll is staggering.
As state Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland noted in today's first task force meeting, Oklahoma ranks at or near rock bottom in nearly every imagineable health category.
She cited these health rankings of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, courtesy of the Commonwealth Fund and United Health Foundation:
Oklahoma is 50th in the number of primary care physicians per 100,000 and in rate of cardiovascular deaths; 48th in the percentage of insured adults and adults 50-and-over who received recommended screening and preventative care; 44th in percentage of insured children and prevalence of obesity ...
It seemed her PowerPoint of pitiful health indicators would never end.
"This is perhaps the most significant economic and social challenge facing the state and the nation," Holland said of the task force's mission to find ways to reduce the number of uninsured.
Benge's decision to put Cox and Steele in charge of the task force was a good first step -- but it's not enough. He needs to put the speaker's considerable political muscle behind the project, not only demanding fair, honest and balanced research, but also fighting to transform the panel's recommendations into good public policy.
If he does, his shaky first session as speaker quickly will be forgotten. More importantly, Oklahoma will take a giant step toward realizing its promise.
The task force meets again Aug. 12 at the Capitol.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Whinings Of A GOP Drama King
Editor's Note: A federal bankruptcy trustee wants to reopen state Rep. Randy Terrill's three-year-old case, alleging the controversial lawmaker failed to report all of his assets. Terrill, best known as architect of the state's mean-spirited immigration law [HB 1804], blames a "cartel of immigration lawyers" for his election-eve woes. The matter could be referred to federal prosecutors for review.
BY KAREN WEBB
"We have a bunch of nameless, spineless character assassins who want to go around with hoods over their heads and shoot me in the back and use my wife to do it." – State Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore.
Is the guy who is saving us from all those illegals really blaming this on immigration lawyers? Obviously he thinks you should be a “born in the USA” American before you get to ignore the laws.
It brings to mind former Rep. Tim Pope wearing a gun on the Oklahoma House floor because he was expecting a shootout with gays. The only thing worse, in Oklahoma, is a gay immigration lawyer who speaks Spanish in front of Randy.
“Spineless character assassins?”
Really, Randy, coming from a guy who would go after low-income 5th graders for their Christmas decorations; pardon me if I don’t join your pity party. Then there are all those kids, born here, you want to punish for their parents wanting a better life and not deserving it.
“Hoods over their heads?”
Randy, that is a bit too much coming from a guy who demeans 5th graders on TV and in the press. They shot him in the back using his wife? Talk about your drama kings. Maybe we need to know exactly what was charged on all those credit cards. Maybe he really blames his wife because maybe they weren’t for books, tuition or gym shorts? Are we sure he didn’t use the credit cards to do campaign purchases?
Is it true that the Terrills owed less than $80,000, mainly on credit cards, and they made $100,000 a year? Is it true that he claimed he was a consultant to the State of Oklahoma instead of a representative?
So he had loaned or paid campaign expenses he was to be reimbursed for. They should have been included in his filing as assets and they weren’t. Then the campaign repaid him after he was granted bankruptcy protection.
These things happen all the time, especially to Republicans. With all those corporate lawyers you would think one would know about this. Stranger things have happened; former President George H.W. Bush was nearly indicted for tax fraud during the 1984 re-election campaign because he “inadvertently omitted” the sale of his house on his tax return.
Ed Meese, while working for President Ronald Reagan “inadvertently omitted” his wife’s income on his joint tax return. “Inadvertently omitted” was the term most used when Republicans were found out.
The fiscally conservative are, in reality, fiscally challenged. There was the savings and loan mess and Iran/Contra of the Reagan years and the Enron, the mortgage crisis and so much more in the Bush years.
The problem comes from having their cake, eating the whole thing too fast and puking it up on the rest of us.
Oklahoma has more than its share of family values nutcases. This year the lunatics are attempting to take over the asylum. First, we had Rep. Sally Kern claiming that the Oklahoma gay agenda was more dangerous than al-Qaeda. This week, multi-indicted Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart came out with an “edgy” comic book claiming toga-clad homosexuals are luring boy scouts in the woods.
Now the savior of the white race from people who speak other languages is claiming nameless, spineless, hooded lawyers are assassinating his character and using his wife to shoot him in the back.
You would think he believes it was immigration lawyers who forced her to charge whatever she charged on those cards.
By the way, the guy filing the suit isn’t nameless. Is he an immigration lawyer?
Randy thinks Hispanics should be a lot more forgiving even if he plans to toss their grandparents and their grandchildren into holding facilities indefinitely.
– The author lives in Moore, OK
BY KAREN WEBB
"We have a bunch of nameless, spineless character assassins who want to go around with hoods over their heads and shoot me in the back and use my wife to do it." – State Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore.
Is the guy who is saving us from all those illegals really blaming this on immigration lawyers? Obviously he thinks you should be a “born in the USA” American before you get to ignore the laws.
It brings to mind former Rep. Tim Pope wearing a gun on the Oklahoma House floor because he was expecting a shootout with gays. The only thing worse, in Oklahoma, is a gay immigration lawyer who speaks Spanish in front of Randy.
“Spineless character assassins?”
Really, Randy, coming from a guy who would go after low-income 5th graders for their Christmas decorations; pardon me if I don’t join your pity party. Then there are all those kids, born here, you want to punish for their parents wanting a better life and not deserving it.
“Hoods over their heads?”
Randy, that is a bit too much coming from a guy who demeans 5th graders on TV and in the press. They shot him in the back using his wife? Talk about your drama kings. Maybe we need to know exactly what was charged on all those credit cards. Maybe he really blames his wife because maybe they weren’t for books, tuition or gym shorts? Are we sure he didn’t use the credit cards to do campaign purchases?
Is it true that the Terrills owed less than $80,000, mainly on credit cards, and they made $100,000 a year? Is it true that he claimed he was a consultant to the State of Oklahoma instead of a representative?
So he had loaned or paid campaign expenses he was to be reimbursed for. They should have been included in his filing as assets and they weren’t. Then the campaign repaid him after he was granted bankruptcy protection.
These things happen all the time, especially to Republicans. With all those corporate lawyers you would think one would know about this. Stranger things have happened; former President George H.W. Bush was nearly indicted for tax fraud during the 1984 re-election campaign because he “inadvertently omitted” the sale of his house on his tax return.
Ed Meese, while working for President Ronald Reagan “inadvertently omitted” his wife’s income on his joint tax return. “Inadvertently omitted” was the term most used when Republicans were found out.
The fiscally conservative are, in reality, fiscally challenged. There was the savings and loan mess and Iran/Contra of the Reagan years and the Enron, the mortgage crisis and so much more in the Bush years.
The problem comes from having their cake, eating the whole thing too fast and puking it up on the rest of us.
Oklahoma has more than its share of family values nutcases. This year the lunatics are attempting to take over the asylum. First, we had Rep. Sally Kern claiming that the Oklahoma gay agenda was more dangerous than al-Qaeda. This week, multi-indicted Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart came out with an “edgy” comic book claiming toga-clad homosexuals are luring boy scouts in the woods.
Now the savior of the white race from people who speak other languages is claiming nameless, spineless, hooded lawyers are assassinating his character and using his wife to shoot him in the back.
You would think he believes it was immigration lawyers who forced her to charge whatever she charged on those cards.
By the way, the guy filing the suit isn’t nameless. Is he an immigration lawyer?
Randy thinks Hispanics should be a lot more forgiving even if he plans to toss their grandparents and their grandchildren into holding facilities indefinitely.
– The author lives in Moore, OK
Friday, April 25, 2008
Whose English?
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
OK, call me an elitist if you must, but I think state lawmakers embracing the English-only initiative ought to at least be able to speak proper English.
After all, we already have enough laws the Legislature ignores. The April 1 deadline for funding education? Not once have lawmakers met that requirement. What about the law that state employees who fail to file and pay their taxes can be fired? The last time I checked, Oklahoma legislators draw a state paycheck. Yet, none of the recently identified scofflaws have been canned -- though voters get the chance to play The Donald ["You're Fired!"] in November.
The King's English, as my grandmother used to call it, is mangled early and often in the Legislature.
Many lawmakers have been heard to ask: "Is there a physical impact on this bill?" Not unless someone throws a copy at your head. There may well be a fiscal impact, however.
The presiding officers frequently call upon members to speak by declaring, "You are reck-uh-nized." Alas, there is no recognition the word is being mispronounced.
A silly complaint? About as silly as amending the Oklahoma Constitution to memorialize English as the official language.
English already is the official language. I've been in most of Oklahoma's 77 counties during my lifetime and I don't recall ever seeing bilingual or multilingual government signs, documents or records like I saw on my visit to Quebec.
[Yes, I'm aware of efforts to help Spanish speakers secure driver's licenses ... but perhaps many of them are working hard to develop their English skills. Why would we make it more difficult for them to drive to school and work in the meantime? Will we soon be giving tests to non-English speaking tourists before we allow them to rent cars in the U.S. and drive on our roads?]
The English-only proposition isn't about helping -- or even forcing -- newcomers to participate fully in American society. It's about making a small, but rabid group of nativists feel superior.
They don't get it that strength can be found in this wonderful tapestry of the world's peoples, coalescing to create a magnificent land of opportunity, welcoming those who hunger for a chance to be all their creator made them to be.
The xenophobes offer a glass-is-half-empty view of the American dream. They trace their roots other lands, but are afraid new immigrants will displace them on the socioeconomic pecking order. They want to slam the door shut.
It's an age-old fear, playing itself out again.
Won't we ever learn?
OK, call me an elitist if you must, but I think state lawmakers embracing the English-only initiative ought to at least be able to speak proper English.
After all, we already have enough laws the Legislature ignores. The April 1 deadline for funding education? Not once have lawmakers met that requirement. What about the law that state employees who fail to file and pay their taxes can be fired? The last time I checked, Oklahoma legislators draw a state paycheck. Yet, none of the recently identified scofflaws have been canned -- though voters get the chance to play The Donald ["You're Fired!"] in November.
The King's English, as my grandmother used to call it, is mangled early and often in the Legislature.
Many lawmakers have been heard to ask: "Is there a physical impact on this bill?" Not unless someone throws a copy at your head. There may well be a fiscal impact, however.
The presiding officers frequently call upon members to speak by declaring, "You are reck-uh-nized." Alas, there is no recognition the word is being mispronounced.
A silly complaint? About as silly as amending the Oklahoma Constitution to memorialize English as the official language.
English already is the official language. I've been in most of Oklahoma's 77 counties during my lifetime and I don't recall ever seeing bilingual or multilingual government signs, documents or records like I saw on my visit to Quebec.
[Yes, I'm aware of efforts to help Spanish speakers secure driver's licenses ... but perhaps many of them are working hard to develop their English skills. Why would we make it more difficult for them to drive to school and work in the meantime? Will we soon be giving tests to non-English speaking tourists before we allow them to rent cars in the U.S. and drive on our roads?]
The English-only proposition isn't about helping -- or even forcing -- newcomers to participate fully in American society. It's about making a small, but rabid group of nativists feel superior.
They don't get it that strength can be found in this wonderful tapestry of the world's peoples, coalescing to create a magnificent land of opportunity, welcoming those who hunger for a chance to be all their creator made them to be.
The xenophobes offer a glass-is-half-empty view of the American dream. They trace their roots other lands, but are afraid new immigrants will displace them on the socioeconomic pecking order. They want to slam the door shut.
It's an age-old fear, playing itself out again.
Won't we ever learn?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
House 'Borders On A Dictatorship"
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
So much for Speaker Chris Benge's more open, collegial House.
The wingnut wing of the Republican caucus is firmly in control once again, stifling debate with impunity and force-feeding its far-out legislative agenda with parliamentary trickery.
The kinder, gentler House that Benge promised collapsed in a Democratic walkout today, all 44 minority-party members showing their disgust with Republican heavy-handedness that House Minority Leader Danny Morgan said "borders on a dictatorship."
Somewhere, former GOP Speakers Todd Hiett and Lance Cargill must be smiling.
The walkout came the morning after two contentious committee meetings. Without allowing discussion, Republicans in the House Judiciary and Public Safety Committee substituted a 133-page "tort reform" package for a four-page rural hospital bill and rejected a measure in the House Economic Development and Financial Services Commitee that would have required insurance companies to cover costs related to autism.
It also came one week after Rep. Guy Liebmann, R-OKC, chairman of the General Government and Transportation Committee, refused to allow Cherokee Nation Chief Chad Smith to speak in opposition to the wingnuts' English-only initiative.
House Democrats have two beefs, both legitimate.
First, not only is the general public -- at the whim of the committee chair -- being denied the right to speak in "public" committee hearings, but legislators themselves are being silenced, thwarted from asking questions or debating issues. Bottom line: Duly elected representatives are being prevented -- by fiat -- from carrying out their official duties.
Second, House rules are set up so that GOP chairs are now the sole arbiters of whether amendments are germane to specific legislation. House rules are supposed to prohibit rolling separate and discrete subjects into a single piece of legislation. When an amendment is submitted on the House floor, lawmakers can challenge whether it is germane. If the speaker rules it is, a lawmaker -- with the support of 15 others -- can demand the entire House vote on the matter. If an amendment is submitted in committee, however, the chair decides whether it is germane -- a ruling that cannot be appealed in committee or later on the House floor.
In the Judiciary Committee, Chairman Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, ruled the tort reform language was germane to the rural hospital bill. Never mind that civil procedure is found in an entirely different section of Oklahoma law. Tort reform -- essentially locking the courthouse door to ordinary Oklahomans who have been wronged -- is a Holy Grail for the reactionary right. Duncan marched in lockstep, basically ruling it was germane because he said so.
Don't be misled into thinking this is just so much inside baseball, a typical parliamentary skirmish between partisans. What is taking place in some House committees meets the definition of fascism.
House Democratic leaders met with Benge to discuss the matter, asking for specific rules changes to ensure democracy is not stifled. Benge promised an answer by Monday.
Don't hold your breath that anything will change. Benge is a captive of the House's reactionary right, the old Hiett-Cargill cabal that is so convinced of the righteousness of their cause that they're willing to steamroll anybody or anything in their path, including children with autism.
The sad thing is, Benge is a nice guy. A conservative, yes. But not mean-spirited. He's always been willing to let opponents be heard. And unlike some of his wingnut colleagues, he doesn't think he's smarter than everybody else or that he's on a religious crusade to remake Oklahoma in what he considers to be God's image.
Benge, though, is on the hot seat. He's trying to hold together a fractured caucus, currently driven by about three-dozen of the loudest, most extreme rightwingers in recent memory.
Most House speakers rule with an iron fist. The committee chairs do what the speaker commands -- or else. Benge meekly demurs to his committee chairs, saying repeatedly they're given "certain discretion" in conducting committee business.
How Benge handles this crisis will determine whether he's a token, caretaker speaker -- or a speaker to remember.
So much for Speaker Chris Benge's more open, collegial House.
The wingnut wing of the Republican caucus is firmly in control once again, stifling debate with impunity and force-feeding its far-out legislative agenda with parliamentary trickery.
The kinder, gentler House that Benge promised collapsed in a Democratic walkout today, all 44 minority-party members showing their disgust with Republican heavy-handedness that House Minority Leader Danny Morgan said "borders on a dictatorship."
Somewhere, former GOP Speakers Todd Hiett and Lance Cargill must be smiling.
The walkout came the morning after two contentious committee meetings. Without allowing discussion, Republicans in the House Judiciary and Public Safety Committee substituted a 133-page "tort reform" package for a four-page rural hospital bill and rejected a measure in the House Economic Development and Financial Services Commitee that would have required insurance companies to cover costs related to autism.
It also came one week after Rep. Guy Liebmann, R-OKC, chairman of the General Government and Transportation Committee, refused to allow Cherokee Nation Chief Chad Smith to speak in opposition to the wingnuts' English-only initiative.
House Democrats have two beefs, both legitimate.
First, not only is the general public -- at the whim of the committee chair -- being denied the right to speak in "public" committee hearings, but legislators themselves are being silenced, thwarted from asking questions or debating issues. Bottom line: Duly elected representatives are being prevented -- by fiat -- from carrying out their official duties.
Second, House rules are set up so that GOP chairs are now the sole arbiters of whether amendments are germane to specific legislation. House rules are supposed to prohibit rolling separate and discrete subjects into a single piece of legislation. When an amendment is submitted on the House floor, lawmakers can challenge whether it is germane. If the speaker rules it is, a lawmaker -- with the support of 15 others -- can demand the entire House vote on the matter. If an amendment is submitted in committee, however, the chair decides whether it is germane -- a ruling that cannot be appealed in committee or later on the House floor.
In the Judiciary Committee, Chairman Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, ruled the tort reform language was germane to the rural hospital bill. Never mind that civil procedure is found in an entirely different section of Oklahoma law. Tort reform -- essentially locking the courthouse door to ordinary Oklahomans who have been wronged -- is a Holy Grail for the reactionary right. Duncan marched in lockstep, basically ruling it was germane because he said so.
Don't be misled into thinking this is just so much inside baseball, a typical parliamentary skirmish between partisans. What is taking place in some House committees meets the definition of fascism.
House Democratic leaders met with Benge to discuss the matter, asking for specific rules changes to ensure democracy is not stifled. Benge promised an answer by Monday.
Don't hold your breath that anything will change. Benge is a captive of the House's reactionary right, the old Hiett-Cargill cabal that is so convinced of the righteousness of their cause that they're willing to steamroll anybody or anything in their path, including children with autism.
The sad thing is, Benge is a nice guy. A conservative, yes. But not mean-spirited. He's always been willing to let opponents be heard. And unlike some of his wingnut colleagues, he doesn't think he's smarter than everybody else or that he's on a religious crusade to remake Oklahoma in what he considers to be God's image.
Benge, though, is on the hot seat. He's trying to hold together a fractured caucus, currently driven by about three-dozen of the loudest, most extreme rightwingers in recent memory.
Most House speakers rule with an iron fist. The committee chairs do what the speaker commands -- or else. Benge meekly demurs to his committee chairs, saying repeatedly they're given "certain discretion" in conducting committee business.
How Benge handles this crisis will determine whether he's a token, caretaker speaker -- or a speaker to remember.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Religious Bigotry At Its Worst
BY JAMES L. STOVALL
State Rep. Sally Kern recently received some unwanted attention for herself when a recording of an anti-gay speech she gave was posted on YouTube.
Among a wide range of ridiculous statements she made, she stated that homosexuality is a greater threat to our nation than terrorism. She also stated that our nation will never survive if we continue to display tolerance toward gay people.
While I respect Rep. Kern’s right to express her opinion, I want to disagree with her in the strongest possible terms.
I also want to call to her attention that words do hurt people. Words spoken in a public setting by an elected representative especially have very real consequences. Words often contribute to a spirit of intolerance that can strengthen institutionalized discrimination and even lead to acts of violence.
MUTUAL RESPECT EQUALS STRENGTH
When we, as a community, learn to respect one another and live with our differences, we become stronger. Tolerance and a spirit of inclusiveness do not threaten our nation one bit.
The fact that gay people are coming out in growing numbers and being honest about their sexual orientation is a very positive development.
The fact that gay people are participating in the political process and asking for the basic human rights [like marriage] that others enjoy is an important step toward freedom and equality in our country.
In her speech, Sally Kern compares gay people to terrorists. We know what the U.S. has done to respond to the threat presented by terrorism. We have gone to war. We have killed suspected terrorists at every opportunity. We have tortured suspects and locked them up for years without benefit of a trial or any legal process or representation.
So what strategies does Rep. Kern suggest about an even greater threat?
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE THREAT?
She describes a small town in Arkansas where gay people have been elected to the city council. You may now gasp in horror. What she doesn’t explain is exactly what difference it has made [other than bringing in tourists]. Have they thrown out the Constitution? Have they organized forced indoctrination sessions among the citizens? What is the threat that she sees?
She says that gay people have violated God’s word. Once again she is wrong. She uses religion to stir up fears and hatred.
Some of my tolerant friends are of the opinion that all religions are good in their own way. Sure everyone’s beliefs are different but does it all really matter in the end. As they say: “Whatever floats your boat.” Various forms of religion seems to work for different people so who am I to judge?
Given the fact that many people have gone to war over trivial differences in dogma, such a view has some credence.
KERN’S COMMENTS HARDLY INNOCENT
I want to suggest that, like Rep Kern’s comments, religion is not is not nearly as innocent as some would suggest.
The world will not come to an end as a result of her comments but if many others express a similar opinion and go unchallenged then the groundwork is laid for ignorant public policy.
Her comments are an example of bad religion. Bad religion is a system of belief that pulls us farther apart instead of puling us together. Bad religion pits “us” against “them.” It often suggests that those who are different from us are bad and those like us are good.
Religion can draw us into an experience of the sacred depths of life or it can lead to a kind of narrow-minded bigotry.
Religion can lead us to a sense of gratitude and wonder for life as it really is or it can make us intolerant of those we don’t understand.
Religion can serve to facilitate an escape from our world [that many believe to be sacred and created by God] or it can lead us to accept others as they are.
Religion may call us to fully embrace and live our own authentic self or it can lead us away from reality.
– The author is ordained in the United Church of Christ and is an Associate Minister at Church of the Open Arms in Oklahoma City
State Rep. Sally Kern recently received some unwanted attention for herself when a recording of an anti-gay speech she gave was posted on YouTube.
Among a wide range of ridiculous statements she made, she stated that homosexuality is a greater threat to our nation than terrorism. She also stated that our nation will never survive if we continue to display tolerance toward gay people.
While I respect Rep. Kern’s right to express her opinion, I want to disagree with her in the strongest possible terms.
I also want to call to her attention that words do hurt people. Words spoken in a public setting by an elected representative especially have very real consequences. Words often contribute to a spirit of intolerance that can strengthen institutionalized discrimination and even lead to acts of violence.
MUTUAL RESPECT EQUALS STRENGTH
When we, as a community, learn to respect one another and live with our differences, we become stronger. Tolerance and a spirit of inclusiveness do not threaten our nation one bit.
The fact that gay people are coming out in growing numbers and being honest about their sexual orientation is a very positive development.
The fact that gay people are participating in the political process and asking for the basic human rights [like marriage] that others enjoy is an important step toward freedom and equality in our country.
In her speech, Sally Kern compares gay people to terrorists. We know what the U.S. has done to respond to the threat presented by terrorism. We have gone to war. We have killed suspected terrorists at every opportunity. We have tortured suspects and locked them up for years without benefit of a trial or any legal process or representation.
So what strategies does Rep. Kern suggest about an even greater threat?
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE THREAT?
She describes a small town in Arkansas where gay people have been elected to the city council. You may now gasp in horror. What she doesn’t explain is exactly what difference it has made [other than bringing in tourists]. Have they thrown out the Constitution? Have they organized forced indoctrination sessions among the citizens? What is the threat that she sees?
She says that gay people have violated God’s word. Once again she is wrong. She uses religion to stir up fears and hatred.
Some of my tolerant friends are of the opinion that all religions are good in their own way. Sure everyone’s beliefs are different but does it all really matter in the end. As they say: “Whatever floats your boat.” Various forms of religion seems to work for different people so who am I to judge?
Given the fact that many people have gone to war over trivial differences in dogma, such a view has some credence.
KERN’S COMMENTS HARDLY INNOCENT
I want to suggest that, like Rep Kern’s comments, religion is not is not nearly as innocent as some would suggest.
The world will not come to an end as a result of her comments but if many others express a similar opinion and go unchallenged then the groundwork is laid for ignorant public policy.
Her comments are an example of bad religion. Bad religion is a system of belief that pulls us farther apart instead of puling us together. Bad religion pits “us” against “them.” It often suggests that those who are different from us are bad and those like us are good.
Religion can draw us into an experience of the sacred depths of life or it can lead to a kind of narrow-minded bigotry.
Religion can lead us to a sense of gratitude and wonder for life as it really is or it can make us intolerant of those we don’t understand.
Religion can serve to facilitate an escape from our world [that many believe to be sacred and created by God] or it can lead us to accept others as they are.
Religion may call us to fully embrace and live our own authentic self or it can lead us away from reality.
– The author is ordained in the United Church of Christ and is an Associate Minister at Church of the Open Arms in Oklahoma City
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