THREE TABOR OFFICIALS INDICTED!
DID DREW DO THE DUE?
Due diligence in civil litigation (also known as due care) is the effort made by an ordinarily prudent or reasonable party to avoid harm to another party. Failure to make this effort may be considered negligence
Once again, Oklahoma AG Drew Edmondson has shown his partisan side by indicting three officials that were involved in the Tabor initiative petition drive. The charge? Using out of state residents to get the petitions signed. Oklahoma requires that all initiative petitions be done by residents of the state. Paul Jacob, president of the pro-initiative group Citizens in Charge, was one of those indicted. You can read his take on the situation at the link below.
The amazing thing is how much out and out politicial corruption Edmondson has ignored or let the Feds investigate- Stipe, Mass, McMahan. But let a Republican get too politically active- and Drew gets out the cuffs.
PERSONALLY, I thought the Tabor initiative petition effort last year was not handled well at all. I attempted repeatedly to get petitions for volunteers in our county to work. and it was like pulling teeth. It was a classic example of CONSULTANTS pushing talented, motivated volunteers aside because the consultants were making money on the campaign by how many signatures they garnered.
The hirelings were not getting paid on signatures gathered by volunteers, so they discouraged solicitation for signatures by volunteers. In Stephens County, a man who was one of the driving forces behind the Colorado Tabor law was willing to do whatever it took to get TABOR on the ballot in Oklahoma. His efforts were given no consideration and his suggestions were not heeded. So if Drew was prosecuting them for incompentence, he might have a case.
But this whole situation is selective enforcement and reeks of partisan politics. Edmondson should be spending his time worrying about the straw donor scandal that funneled money into Democrats campaigns-including his own- in 2004. On the TABOR issue, Drew has not done the "due."
http://freepauljacob.com/
Thanks for helping get the word out on the Paul Jacobs case. You are correct in stating that this is partisan politics gone completely awry. I'd suggest, however, that it is also much more. The targetting of Paul Jacobs by Oklahoma's leaders is a desperate attempt at squelching the participation of citizens in politics. By their actions, AG Edmonson and those around him have made their position completely plain - citizens have no business using the initiative process to keep government accountable. We need to recognize this for the outrage that it is.
ReplyDeleteAlthough a number of news reports didn't mention it, Paul is the Senior Advisor of the Sam Adams Alliance, and we're very proud of our association with him. We encourage people to visit our website (www.samadamsalliance.org) to learn more and get involved.
Daniel:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. The reality is that a lot of Oklahoma elected officials would love to eliminate the initiative petition process. It's a thorn in their side. Hard issues have always had to be decided by the people through the IP process in Oklahoma. The legislature has avoided tackling the "tough issues." I'm confident that Paul will be cleared of all charges.
Steve