OKLAHOMA'S VOTER TURNOUT IS TERRIBLE!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

MIGHTY MOUSE!

by Steve Fair

 

     This week early voting starts in the Sooner state.  Voters can vote on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8am-6pm and Saturday 8am-3pm at their counties designated early voting site.  In most counties, that is the county courthouse or election board office.  Go the Oklahoma state election board website for the early voting location in your county.   In 2022, 122,000 Oklahoma voters cast their ballot in-person absentee, meaning they voted before the Tuesday election.   2024 is a presidential election year, so that number is expected to be double.

     Oklahoma has 2,301,188 registered voters in Oklahoma.  52% are registered Republicans, 28% Democrats, and 19% are Independents.  Turnout is expected to be lower than 2020.  There is only one statewide race on the ballot.

     Oklahoma’s voter turnout is terrible.  In 1996, 49% of Oklahoma’s registered voters turned out for the general election.  That ranked #26 among the states and slightly higher than the national turnout numbers (48.1%).  Fast forward to 2020 and 61.5% of America’s eligible voters showed up, but only 51.5% of Oklahoma’s voters.  Only Texas had poorer turnout, 51.3%.  With a high-profile U.S. Senate race in the Lone Star state this year, it’s a safe bet Oklahoma will be at or near the bottom in turnout in 2024.

     Why are Oklahomans not voting? Clearly, they are not prioritizing getting to the polls.  They wrongly believe their vote doesn’t matter.  Here are three possible reasons for Oklahoma’s voter apathy: (1) they have brought into the notion the system/machine/process is rigged and it doesn’t matter who they vote for, the ‘establishment’ is going to win and install their lackey.  There is certainly unrefutable evidence special interests and big donors control the process, but when average folks quit participating in the process, it makes it worse, not better, (2) they believe their vote is irrelevant or pertinent.  Because Oklahoma is not a ‘battleground’ state, why waste your time?  There is a lot more on the ballot than the presidential election and those state and local races impact a voter’s life more than the POTUS race, (3) they have poor examples in Oklahoma elected officials.  When lazy, slothful, apathetic non-voters roll out of bed one morning, wipe eye boogers from their eyeballs, file for office and win, it reveals that voting is not too important in the Sooner state.  Oklahoma voters didn’t punish such detritus in 2018.  That proves being a faithful voter is not high on many Oklahoma voter’s decision tree.

     Political Parties and campaigns spend a significant percentage of their monies on their Get Out to Vote efforts.  They know if they can reach their infrequent voters, get them up off the couch and to the polls they will win.  The problem is infrequent voters are very often ‘low information’ voters, paying attention to movements and personalities, but not issues and policy.  The infrequent voter is manipulated and exploited as a means to an end.  Once the election is over, they are ignored until they are needed in the next election.

     Oklahoma voters should repent of their unfaithful voter turnout.  One way to send the right message would be to add to the state constitution a requirement of candidacy to include a citizen/candidate to have voted in at least 75% the elections, they were eligible to vote in (every election) over the past 8 years. With early voting and absentee balloting available, there is no excuse for a citizen for not casting a vote.  

     Until Oklahomans stop voting for non-voter candidates singing “Here I Come to Save the Day,” they will keep getting Mighty Mouse elected officials and government. 

POLITICOS LIKE TO POLL THE WIND!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

BLOWING IN THE WIND!

by Steve Fair

     An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy before a baby can survive outside of the uterus. It can happen naturally, also known as a miscarriage, or it can be induced intentionally through medical or surgical procedures. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines a legal induced abortion as a procedure performed by a licensed clinician to end a pregnancy that does not result in a live birth. 

     Until 1973, most states in the U.S. had laws stating an abortion could only be performed to save the life of the mother.  In 1973 in a controversial ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) in Roe vs. Wade ruled women had a Constitutional right to an abortion.  For 49 years, Roe was the law of the land, but in 2022, the SCOTUS overturned it, sending the legality of an abortion back to the states.  Democrats have blamed Trump for the ruling because he appointed three SCOTUS justices that voted to overturn Roe. 

     According to the Wall Street Journal poll, abortion is the number one issue for suburban women voters in swing states.  A Pew Research poll found 63% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases- 36% say it should be illegal in all or most cases.  When broken down by religious affiliation, 73% of White evangelical Protestants think abortion should be illegal.  By contrast 86% of religiously unaffiliated Americans believe abortion should be legal.

    First, the GOP has downplayed the abortion issue.  For the past thirty years, the Republican platform was strongly pro-life.  During that time, the GOP campaigned on abolishing abortion.  Torn between an activist base wanting more restrictions on abortions and the mushy middle that does not, the national Party removed the pro-life plank that had been in the platform for over 40 years at the 2024 national convention.  The new language, approved by President Trump, deems abortion be left to individual states to decide. GOP candidates, at all levels, followed suit and have become tentative and timid on the issue, afraid they might offend a voter. Situational ethics and moral relativism is the order of the day, even in the Grand Old Party.

     Second, America has become less pro-life.  According to a recent Gallup poll, only 41% of Americans consider themselves pro-life.  That is down from 54% back in 1994.  Among Republicans, pro-lifers are still in the majority, but down by nearly a third in the past twenty years.  A sad fact is respect for life in the womb is on the decline in America. 

     One of the ways, Christian cultures have distinguished themselves from pagan cultures throughout history was by rejecting abortion and infanticide.  The decrease in spiritual interest in the U.S. is directly related to the sad trend to excuse the killing of unborn babies. 

     Third, God says abortion is wrong.  God is the Creator.  He created man in His image.  Life begins at conception and human life has value before birth.  It doesn’t matter what the creature thinks- the Creator dictates truth.  God’s Word says life begins in the womb.  It doesn’t matter what a politician says one way or the other- only God.  If a nation or people care more about winning an election than honoring their Creator, they are doomed to the ash heap of history. 

     Thank God, there are still Americans who believe it is wrong to kill the unborn.  While their Party standard bearers (candidates) may have deemphasized the issue, they have remained unbending.

     Politicians always like to ‘see how the wind is blowing,’ (poll) before taking a position on issues.  The answer to the life issue isn’t blowing in the wind- it’s found in the revealed Word of God.  Life begins at conception.

TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING THE DOUCEUR!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

JUDICIAL REFORM!

by Steve Fair

    

 

     Oklahoma has the distinction of having the political scandal resulting in more indictments of elected officials in American history.  In 1980, 220 county commissioners and suppliers were convicted for their involvement in a scheme of kickbacks paid on orders for county road-building supplies, like timber and gravel.  The scandal reached 60 of the 77 counties and the graft had been going on for as long as anyone could remember.  The federal government was the chief agents in exposing and cleaning up the corruption.  But wait- Oklahoma has many scandals. 

     There have been a number of other improprieties by public officials in the Sooner state.  In 1965, three Oklahoma Supreme Court justices were convicted of federal tax evasion charges for accepting bribes to decide cases over a twenty-year period.  Justices N.S. Corn, Samuel Welch, and Napoleon Johnson either resigned or were impeached after it was exposed their decisions could be brought.  Once again, the feds exposed it, not state officials.

     After the bribery scandal, then Governor Dewey Bartlett, (R-Tulsa) pushed for judicial reform.  With the Democrat led legislature’s cooperation, two state questions were drafted and placed on the July 1967 ballot.  Oklahoma voters approved, by a narrow margin (52-48), two state questions (#447 & #448) amending the State Constitution and creating the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary.    

     The two state questions abolished elected justices of the peace, the county court system, and special courts (replacing them with 77 district courts).  It created the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC), replacing judicial elections with a retention system.  Appellate justices and judges are appointed by the governor from a list of three finalists provided by the JNC.  Once appointed, they face the retention ballot every six years.  Since Oklahoma went to the retention ballot system, no justice or judge has been removed.  Must be because they are doing such a stellar job.  But that could be changing…

     This election cycle, conservative think tank Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) has targeted three justices on the November retention ballot to dump.  Citing the justice’s inconsistency in rulings and overturning of conservative legislation, OCPA calls for Oklahoma voters to make history and kick the trio to the curb.  A ‘dark money’ group, allegedly associated with OCPA, has spent around $250,000 in broadcast media ads urging voters to not retain the three.  There is an opposing group planning to mount a campaign to keep the justices.  Expect the ‘battle of TV ads’ to be coming to your home soon.  Three observations:

     First, Oklahoma needs true judicial reform.  The current system wasn’t overwhelmingly popular when it was approved back in 1967.  Fifty-seven years ago, critics of #447 & #448 feared there would be no accountability for judges if they were not directly elected.  Their fear has been realized.  Lifetime appointments and a confusing retention ballot system has resulted in an activist judiciary in Oklahoma.

     Second, liberals control Oklahoma’s appellate courts.  That is because the JNC is loaded with liberals.  Many members of the commission may have an “R” behind their name, but their values are not conservative.  The JNC’s recommended appointees have made recent rulings not based on the state constitution, but on their personal value system.  The JNC system may have removed bribery from getting a favorable ruling, but it hasn’t removed unfair rulings.

     Third, the judiciary should be fair and impartial.  The Oklahoma Code of Judiciary Conduct says those two components are ‘indispensable to our system of justice.’  Justices and judges are to be independent, competent and trustworthy.  The current system’s ‘unintended consequences,’ have been legislating from the bench and no accountability to the public.

     Oklahoma voters can send a powerful message in November.  By removing three liberal justices, they can tell the legislature to reform the judiciary system in Oklahoma. 

     Sadly, not much has changed since the 60s- justices/judges are still making rulings favoring their liberal friends, but now the taxpayers are paying the douceur.

U.S. taxpayers fund ALL FEMA programs!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

FEMA IS A DISASTER!

by Steve Fair

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was created in 1978 during the Carter administration by executive order (EO).   After FEMA’s creation Congress expanded its scope of authority.  FEMA handles dam safety, disaster assistance, earthquake monitoring, and procuring medical supplies during a pandemic, in addition of a dozen other functions.  FEMA’s motto is, “A Nation Prepared.”

     After 9/11, Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  FEMA was absorbed into the new cabinet level agency, along with 21 other federal agencies.  The FEMA director reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security.  President George W. Bush appointed Oklahoman Michael D. Brown as FEMA director.    Brown warned the absorption into DHS of FEMA would ‘sever FEMA from its core functions.’   DHS’s priority was and remains counter terrorism, not disaster relief.  Brown’s 2003 prophecy came true when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005.   FEMA’s response to the hurricane was late and unorganized.  Brown was forced to resign, but the lack of training of FEMA personnel and DHS’s deemphasis of FEMA’s core function was the real issue.  FEMA has around 3,000 full time employees. 

     FEMA, along with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), administers the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a federal grant program that gives money to illegal immigrants.  President Trump has claimed FEMA’s slow response in North Carolina is due to FEMA being out of money because they gave the money to illegals.  FEMA responded by adding a ‘rumor’ tab on their website.  They say they have money and the SSP and disaster relief are not connected.  They say the appropriated monies for two separate programs and are earmarked and can’t be used for any other purpose.  Three observations:

     First, FEMA is a disaster.  Since its creation, it has been a joke. Prior to FEMA’s creation, the federal government responded to disasters in a variety of ways.  More than a hundred times in 150 years, Congress passed ad hoc legislation for relief or compensation after a natural disaster.  They let local authorities administer the monies.  FEMA has evolved into a bureaucratic nightmare.  Billions of tax payer dollars are wasted and fraud runs rampart.  Brown’s prognosis the agencies core mission would be compromised has come to past.  The agency has morphed into a social services behemoth and response to natural disasters has become secondary. 

     Second, the money comes out of the same bucket.  Shelter and Services and Disaster Relief may be earmarked, but bureaucrats are only interested in not co-mingling monies when it is convenient.  U.S. taxpayers are funding both programs. Taxpayers expect FEMA to be more interested in helping their fellow U.S. citizens displaced by a hurricane and flooding than getting an illegal immigrant a hotel room like the local Marriott.

     Third, the president controls FEMA response.  The costs of a disaster to a state or local government can escalate quickly.  Federal assistance becomes fully available with the approval of the president and at the request of the state’s governor.  North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper declared 25 of the state’s 100 counties disaster areas after the hurricane swept across the western half of the state.  Cooper has praised President Biden and the federal response.  But residents in the Tar Heel state affected by the disaster haven’t been as complimentary.   Rumors of activated National Guard troops and volunteers being hindered, blocked and thwarted by FEMA abound.  Once again, FEMA has failed to ‘manage’ a national emergency and the Biden/Harris administration controls FEMA.

     After Trump’s remarks regarding FEMA’s lack of response, the liberal media went into ‘fact checking’ mode.  Not surprisingly, they found Trump’s comments inaccurate and FEMA’s response to be stellar.   Who fact checks these so-called fact checkers?  Today’s mainstream ‘fact checkers’ appear to be biased, one-sided, partisans editorializing under the guise of journalism.  Americans aren’t fooled- they recognize their fellow citizens in North Carolina need help and the feds aren’t providing it.  [S1] 

     At a news conference in 1986, President Ronald Reagan said, “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Truer words were never spoken.

VOTING IS A SACRED RIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

CROWN JEWEL!

by Steve Fair

     Oklahoma voter’s November general election sample ballot is available.  Go to the state election board website to view/print your ballot.  Here is the link: https://oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp.html

     Sooner state voters will choose from five slates of electors for president/vice president.  In addition to the Democrat, Republican, and Libertarian slates, there are two independents.  There is only one statewide race on the ballot- three candidates running for a six-year term on the Corporation Commission.   There are also congressional, legislative, county and local races on the November 5^th ballot and vary by district.  Informed voters should download their sample ballot.

     A dozen judges/justices are on the November ballot to either retain or dismiss.  Oklahoma uses the retention ballot system where a judge faces voters, but has no opponent.  Voters check ‘yes’ or ‘no.’  If they get less than 50%, they are replaced, but since Oklahoma implemented the retention system, no judge has been removed, but that could change this year.

     Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) has researched rulings on the judges on the ballot.  That information can be accessed at: https://ocpathink.org/judicial-scorecard

     OCPA recommends all three justices of the state Supreme Court on the November ballot be dismissed.  All appointed by former Democrat governors, justices Yvonne Kauger (40 years), Noma Gurich (13 years), and James Edmonson (21 years) voted to kill lawsuit reform, workers comp reform, and struck down pro-life legislation.  If Kauger and Edmonson are retained, they would be 93 and 85 years old before they would face voters again in six years.  Voters should send them home.  

    Nine other judges are on the retention ballot.  Of those, these two should be retired: David Lewis (19 years) and Robert Bobby Bell (19 years).  Both were appointed by former Democrat Governor Brad Henry and their rulings are from the left.

     Oklahoma needs judicial reform.  In the current system, justices and judges are appointed by the governor from a list of three submitted by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC).  The JNC is composed of 15 members, 6 chosen by the Oklahoma Bar Association.  Defenders of the JNC claim it takes the partisanship out of the process, but the fruit has been liberal appellate courts in Oklahoma.  Conservative Oklahoma has liberal appellate courts and that needs to change.  If voters fire some justices/judges on November 5^th, judicial reform will follow.

     Oklahomans will also vote on two state questions on the ballot.  Both are Joint Resolutions, that originated in the state legislature.  Both would amend the state constitution, which is already the longest in the nation.

     State Question #833 would authorize municipalities to create public infrastructure districts (PID) to finance infrastructure improvements in a development.  A PID reduces the amount of money developers have to raise, but it also takes a city of the hook for the cost of development of infrastructure like water, sewer, etc.  SQ#833 requires unanimous approval of the PID, and those who will pay the taxes must agree to it, there is no downsize.  Voters should approve and give this tool to municipalities.

     State Question #834 changes Section 1, Article 3 of the state constitution to state: “only citizens of the United States are qualified to vote in this state.” It seems like common sense that non-citizens can’t vote, but with illegal immigration and border security at the southern border, legislators believe the clarification is necessary.  Voters should approve SQ#834.

     Eligible citizens have until Friday October 11^th to register to vote.  Forms are available on-line at: https://oklahoma.gov/elections/voter-registration/register-to-vote.html  Early in-person absentee voting is available on Wednesday October 30^th, Thursday October 31^st and Friday November 1^st from 8am to 6pm and Saturday November 2^nd from 8am-2pm at your counties’ designated voting location.  Polls at precincts will be open from 7am-7pm on Tuesday November 5^th.  There is ample opportunity for a voter to cast a vote in Oklahoma.

     "The right to vote is the crown jewel of American liberties and we will not see its luster diminished," President Ronald Reagan said.  Oklahomans should cherish their right to vote and faithfully exercise it.

The values of America are antithetical to Marxism!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

COCONUT TREE!

by Steve Fair

     Marxism is an economic and political system based on the work of German philosopher/economist Karl Marx.  Marx co-authored the 1848 pamphlet, “The Communist Manifesto.  He held the capitalist economic system produces conflict between ‘the ruling class,’ and ‘the working class.’  Capitalists, Marx observed, own the tools and machines workers need to do their jobs. By owning the ‘means of production’, capitalists are able to exploit workers and extract a ‘surplus’ (excess profit).

     Capitalists, says Marx, are parasites. They live off the backs of workers. Marx believed if the working class were in power, they would equally distribute resources, thereby creating a classless society.  He said ownership of ‘private property,’ was the real cause of most social ills. 

     Dr. Donald Harris is the father of Vice President Kamala Harris.  Harris, 86, is a Jamaican born economist and emeritus professor at Stanford University.  The New York Times describes Harris as a ‘prominent critic of mainstream economic theory from the left.” 

     In 1976, Harris wrote, “Capital Accumulation and Income Distribution,” which criticizes capitalism.  Harris subscribes to Marxist economics.  He has taught it for years.  During the recent debate, former President Trump brought up Dr. Harris and his Marxist views, but the statement was largely ignored.  Three observations:

     First, Donald Harris isn’t running for president.  His liberal economic views are not necessarily held by his daughter.  Parents and their offspring often disagree, but kids are clearly influenced by their parent’s views and values.  Voters have a right to know Vice President Harris’ economic philosophy. 

     The Vice President has repeatedly spoke of her mother’s admonition that she (Kamala) didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree.  “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you,” her mother would say.  Kinda like the Okie phrase: ‘the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.’  If Kamala Harris, like her father, subscribes to Marxism- economic or political- voters need to know. 

     Second, Marxism never works.  In every country it has been implemented (China, Russia), it has led to a loss of individual freedom, inhumanity, and economic devastation.  In its attempt to create a ‘classless’ society, a clear hierarchy/oligarchy always emerges to manage/control the working class. 

     The most inaccurate tenet of Marxism is workers under capitalism would be trampled and left in poverty until they threw off their shackles and embraced communism.  The fact is during the Industrial Age in America, the quality of life for ‘the working class’ increased more than every before.   A rising tide lifts all boats. 

   Third, America was founded on personal freedom/liberty. Each individual citizen has the right to make choices and decisions without being unduly interfered with by outside forces.   Americans have the right to privately own property.  Capitalism promotes individual initiative and ambition, allowing people to enjoy the fruits of their labor.    

     Last week, Vice President Harris was a guest on Oprah.  In the hourlong interview, Winfrey didn’t ask one tough question.  During the lovefest/cuddle, Harris spoke in clichés and platitudes.  She stated, “We have the freedom to be.”  What does that mean?  Ophrah should have asked if that ‘freedom to be’ applied to the unborn, since abortion was the most discussed topic. 

     America didn’t fall out of a coconut tree.  The United States is a culmination of 248 years of sacrifice and determination by extraordinary people.  It is the greatest country on earth.  Harris admits she is a product of her past, which should give voters pause.  The values of America are antithetical to Marxism.  Voters beware! 

There is only one omniscient being and He isn’t running for office.

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

GOD HAS THIS!

by Steve Fair

 

     The contentious nature of politics turns off most people.  Civility and respect for differing opinions are considered weak attributes in public affairs.  Passion, anger and confrontation are deemed stellar characteristics.  In a recent poll by Statista Research, just 16% of Americans think Congress is doing a good job and over 60% think President Biden is doing a good job.  Citizens mistakenly believe getting involved in politics accomplishes little.  They think all engaged in politics are liars and crooks, but that is not true.  Three observations:

     First, there are principled people engaged in politics.  There are plenty of reprobates, rascals and scalawags involved in what Ronald Reagan called the world’s second oldest profession.  But there are trustworthy, high-minded, honorable politicians as well.  Lumping all elected officials into the same category is unwise and imprudent.  Citizens should judge each elected official on how they govern.  Separating the sheep from the goats can be challenging. 

     Second, Christians should be involved in politics.  That is a controversial statement.  Many theologians claim the temporal nature of politics distracts believers from the eternal (Gospel) and therefore they should not engage in political involvement.  All Christians are political whether they realize it or not.  God set up human government and ordained its authority.  Christians should be involved in the culture and community.  Christ commanded believers to be the salt and light of the world.  Political involvement is Biblical stewardship. 

     The problem comes when Christian political activists and elected officials adopt secular tactics to further a political agenda.  Nowhere is a believer told to use situational ethics to advance a program.  They should labor and God then gives the increase.  Those misguided zealots violate the very values they claim they hold.  That inconsistency gives fellow believers pause when they consider engaging in politics and that is a terrible loss to the process and the country. 

     Third, no human being knows everything.  There is only one omniscient being and He isn’t running for office.  The arrogance and egotism in elective politics has escalated in recent years.  Self-promoting, boasting, and swager are necessary qualities for a candidate.  Exaggeration, sensationalism, and hyperbole rule.  Humility, meekness and modesty are non-existent in today’s public square. Every politician knows the answer to every question.  In the past, admitting ignorance wasn’t considered a weakness, but the modern politico bluffs their way to victory.

     What is a Christian to do in regard to politics: (1) Do not compromise Biblical values to further a cause.  When a believer uses worldly tactics in politics, it reveals a lack of faith in the sovereignty of God.  He sets up leaders and no election result catches Him by surprise.  (2) Get involved in politics.  At the very least, a believer should be a faithful voter.  Involvement can mean political activism or running for office.  Christians should pay attention to what their elected officials are doing.  What is their worldview?  How they view basic human nature will dictate how they govern.  (3) Pray for those in authority.  The most effective lobbying is asking God to move on the heart of an elected official.  God can change their mind/heart more effectively than a yelling constituent.

     In 50 days, Americans will go to the polls.  Those on both political spectrums are claiming the future of America is dependent on their candidate winning, but no matter what the outcome- God has this!  He sets up leaders- and brings them down. 

CONSTITUENTS SHOULD PROVIDE MEANINGFUL INPUT!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

SCHOOL THE IGNORANT!

by Steve Fair

     This week on the steps of the Oklahoma Capitol, Senator Shane Jett, (R-Shawnee) announced the formation of the Freedom Caucus (FC) in the Oklahoma state legislature.  The Sooner state is the 12^th state to form a Freedom Caucus in the legislature.  The concept mirrors the FC in the U.S. Congress.

     Jett said the purpose of the FC will be to ‘preserve freedom for families back home and to educate and provide meaningful input to our colleagues before they vote.’   Five fellow members of the legislature also members of the FC stood behind him.  Other members of the Oklahoma legislative FC were not identified because according to Jett members in other states of the FC have faced punishment from their legislature leadership for their participation in the caucus. Three observations:

     First, legislators should be listening primarily to those who elected them.  Constituents within their district are who they represent first and foremost, not a caucus.  If a lawmaker is too lazy or incompetent to read, research and study a bill before a vote, they should quit and go home.  An effective representative develops a network of trusted counselors within their district who advise them in their field of expertise and provide ‘meaningful input.’ It’s not the job of legislators to ‘school the ignorant’ among them.  Lawmakers are there to represent those who elect them.  They aren’t elected to form cliques, fraternities and hold theme parties.  

     Second, freedom and liberty promote independence, not interdependence.  A caucus is formed to promote and execute group think- vote as a bloc.  Group think promotes interdependence.  A legislator should never feel obligated to vote for a bill because a caucus tells them to.  That is the opposite of freedom.  The best elected official is an independent thinker, one not bound to lobbyists, donors, special interests or their fellow legislators.  Good ones collaborate, but don’t capitulate.  They participate, but don’t surrender.  They are independent thinkers who use their own judgment and perceptions to make decisions and solve problems.    

     Third, anonymity is for cowards. Jett said the full membership (other legislators) couldn’t be revealed because of fear of retribution. Jett didn’t identify who the executioner/boogie man in legislative leadership that was going to punish the unnamed for joining the FC.  If an elected official is a member of a caucus and plans to vote with them, then why hide?  If two agree, they walk together- not one hiding behind the other.

     Jett said anonymity was necessary because the focus of the caucus is to be on policy and not personality, but those can’t be separated?  Anonymity hides/shields/protects/shelters cowards.  The truly brave don’t fear retaliation.      

     The FC in the U.S. House has been a vehicle of disruption within the GOP majority and hasn’t truly advanced conservative policy.  They took down the Speaker of the House, stalled legislation they deemed not conservative enough, and attacked fellow Republicans in the media.  They steadfastly refuse to compromise, collaborate, or negotiate.  They are willing to get nothing if they can’t get everything, so most of the time they get nothing.  Many conservatives agree with their values, but not their zeal to get nothing done and continual attacking of the like-minded.  Hopefully the Oklahoma chapter of FC is willing to work and play well with others.  In the meantime, citizens should be helping to school the ignorant.           

VOTERS NEED TO VET CANDIDATES!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

DO THE WORK!

by Steve Fair

     Politics has always included dirty tricks. The presidential campaign of 1828, pitted incumbent John Quincy Adams against Andrew Jackson, a rematch of the 1824 election. In 1824, because none of the five candidates received a majority of the electoral votes, the election was thrown into the U.S. House of Representatives. Jackson had received more popular and electoral votes than Adams which had resulted in bad blood between the two men. The rematch in ’28 became what is perhaps the dirtiest campaign in American political history. Jackson was accused by Adams of murder, gambling, slave trading and treason. They called him a 'military chieftain,' and said his mother was a prostitute, his father a mulatto man, and his wife a bigamist. After the attack on his dead mother, Andrew’s wife Rachel found Old Hickory in tears pointing to a newspaper article and saying, “Myself I can defend; you I can defend; but now they have assailed even the memory of my mother." But Jackson’s supporters were not innocent. Adams was accused of installing gambling tables in the White House at the public expense, of padding his expense account, and even of pimping women for a Russian monarch.

     According to author Joseph Cummins, politics is not getting dirtier as some claim. In his book, Anything for a Vote, Cummins says, “a rough rule of thumb is that incumbent parties tend to play the most dirty tricks, perhaps because they have the ways and means to do so." Cummins says the dirtiest presidential race was not the Jackson/Adams race, but the Johnson/Goldwater race in 1964. “President Lyndon Johnson, seeking his first elective term after taking over for the assassinated JFK, set out not just to defeat Goldwater, but to destroy him and create a huge mandate for himself.” Cummins says that Johnson had a top-secret after-hours team that planned the dirty tricks. “There were sixteen political operatives, in close contact with the White House, who set out to influence the perception of Goldwater in America’s popular culture.” “They put out a Goldwater joke book entitled You Can Die Laughing.” “ They even created a children’s coloring book, in which your little one could happily color pictures of Goldwater dressed in the robes of the Ku Klux Klan.” So dirty politics is nothing new- it’s been around since the beginning of the Republic. And it happens at all levels of politics- not just at the national level. When campaigning begins to include signs, opponents begin using dirty tricks to keep the other guy’s name out of the public eye.  The recent primary runoff elections in the Sooner state included some ‘dirty’ politics, but the mudslingers didn’t fare well at the polls.  Three observations:

     First, attack politics works.  Political operatives like to say they only work when you are behind, ahead or even- in other words- all the time.  Voters like a good scandal.  They love sensualism. Puffery and hyperbole appeal to our base nature.  Policy is boring, so personality becomes the focus in most races.   Until voters refocus their focus, mailboxes will continue to be filled with attack pieces.

     Second, anonymous attack pieces should be largely ignored.  With the expansion of ‘dark money’ groups, funding can come from anonymous/non disclosed donors.  That namelessness and obscurity shields the money source of the attack, fueling unsubstantiated claims, caricaturing and distorting of policy positions, personal attacks and downright lies. Those pieces of trash should be promptly thrown in the round file.  It does appear voters in the primary runoff were not swayed by the dark money pieces.  If voters continue to ignore them, the money will dry up.

     Third, dirty politics is used to distract.  Campaigns and groups that stoop to slinging mud lack the confidence to run on policy- or they often have something to hide.  When a candidate paints themselves as a committed Christian, but violate fundamental principles in God’s Word, their sanctimonious, hypocritical spirit is exposed.  True believers don’t lie, cheat and steal to win an election. 

     It’s difficult to cut through the rhetoric and self-promotion in politics.  Discerning who is an able, honest, selfless person who wants to serve and not be served requires work.  Do the work!

AMERICA NEEDS TO GO BACK!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

PEOPLE LIKE REFORM!

by Steve Fair

     During an annual performance evaluation with their supervisor, a salesperson is told they have failed to achieve the agreed upon results for the past 3 ½ years.  It is pointed out they failed in virtually every area and their lack of productivity was unacceptable.  In fact, the territory is in worse shape since it was assigned to them.  The salesperson doesn’t argue with their superior’s gauging, but instead brazenly asks for a promotion.  “If you will promote me, reward me with a more prestigious position and title, I promise to fix everything I have messed up,” they promise.  The boss gives them high marks for boldness and arrogance, but low ones for accomplishment, perception and discernment.  They are not promoted, but terminated.  Those scenarios play out every day in the business world.  Low-productive employees don’t get promoted in the real world- they get fired.  That is seldom the case in politics.

     In a well delivered 37 ½ minute speech on Thursday evening at the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her Parties’ nomination and loudly proclaimed, “We are not going back, America!” She promised to give the middle class a tax cut (Trump idea), stop illegal immigration at the southern border (Trump did that), and get inflation under control.  In her speech, she hammered former President Donald Trump’s policy positions in some areas and pilfered others as her own.   Three observations:

     First, most Americans want to go back.  Four years ago, the southern border was secure.  Americans were paying 20% less for groceries and 40% less for gasoline.  The prime interest rate was less than half of what it is today.  Businesses were expanding.  Jobs were being created.  Manufacturing was returning to America.  Fast forward to 2024 and 75% of Americans say they are worse off economically than they were four years ago.  The majority of Americans would happily go back to when the border was secure and inflation wasn’t out of control.    

     Second, Harris has huge blind spots.  A personality blind spot is a trait or aspect of a person that they are unaware of but that can affect their behavior, thoughts, and actions. Blind spots can be attitudes, beliefs, emotions, or habits. They can limit a person's effectiveness and make it difficult to grow personally or professionally.  Everyone has blind spots but how a person deals with them defines their character and values.  Blind spots can cause major damage if not acknowledged. 

     Harris’s blind spot is her inability or unwillingness to accept responsibility for her own actions.  She wants America to promote her when she failed in the job she was hired to do.  Like an arrogant, clueless, unperceptive salesperson who wants to be rewarded for poor performance and ineffectiveness, Harris can not honestly evaluate her own performance. 

     Three, Harris can still win.  America is a divided country.  The Democrats appear to be energized and united around their nominee.  Republicans are infighting and feuding.  Elections are about who votes.  Harris will have a strong get out to vote effort.   Republicans should be prepared to be as effective at getting their infrequent voters to the polls.

     In the movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou,” Junior tells his daddy, Governor Pappy ODaniel the reason their reelection campaign is languishing is because their opponent is a ‘reform’ candidate.  Junior notes: “People like that reform.  Maybe we should get some of that reform daddy.”  Pappy hits him in the head with his hat and says “I’ll reform you, you soft headed dufus- we’re the incumbent.” 

     Elected officials have a track record and they either run on that record or from it.  Harris is running from her record.  Her campaign strategy is to borrow Trump’s most popular policy positions, use clever slogans and hyperbole to deflect attention from that track record.  Junior Odaniel must be Harris’ political strategist, because she is running as the ‘reform’ candidate and she is the incumbent. 

SKILLED MANIPULATORS GET ELECTED!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

CUT & PASTE

By Steve Fair

     Years ago, there were three Republican candidates for county sheriff.  Two were experienced law enforcement officers- the third a perennial candidate for office.  At a GOP booth at a major outdoor event, all three candidates campaign material was laid out on the table.  The two viable candidates had well written, well produced, slick campaign push cards to distribute.  The third candidate took the other two candidate’s push cards, cut and pasted what he agreed with, and put his name at the top.  He didn’t bother to retype.  When confronted by his opponents, he explained he agreed with what they stood for.  Voters didn’t buy the plagiarist’s story and he received less than 40 votes in the primary election. Three observations:

     First, Vice President Harris is cut and pasting President Trump policy.    This week, Harris announced she supports exempting tips from personal income taxation for service workers.  Trump has been touting that concept for months.  Trump has endorsed a $5,000 per child tax credit to help struggling families.  This week, Harris announced she supports a $6,000 one.  Harris claims to now support hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a drilling technique that involves injecting pressurized liquid into a well to extract oil and gas.  Trump has consistently supported fracking.  Harris says she supports private health care, walking back her long-time support of national health care.  Trump has consistently said Americans should manage their own health care. 

     Harris is not just borrowing Trump’s policies.  She supports price controls, similar to those enacted by President Nixon to control the inflation the Biden/Harris administration created.  She wants to empower the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorney generals, “to investigate and fine food companies that violate the federal ban.”  

     For those too young to remember, Nixon’s price controls were an utter disaster.  They simply delayed the inevitable and created shortages.  The price controls resulted in the demise of many food processors and ingredient providers.  Unable to pass along real price increases in a reasonable period of time drove many out of business.  The end result was the American consumer paying more for food.  Government rarely fixes anything with regulation and interference.  It helps when it gets out of the way.

     Second, will the real Kamala Harris stand up?  Is her recent conversion to conservative policy real or it just a ploy to get votes?  Consider Harris’ track record of the aforementioned issues: (1) Biden/Harris expanded the reach of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to hire more IRS agents specifically to target ‘tipped workers.’  (2) During the 2020 presidential campaign, Harris said: ‘there is no question, I’m in favor of banning fracking.’  But energy exploration (drilling) is a big issue in battleground Pennsylvania, so now she supports fracking? (3) Harris has consistently supported a single payer health care system ran by the government since she was in elective office.  So now she doesn’t? 

     Harris has contradicted the Biden/Harris administration policy and unless Harris was converted on the road to Damascus(unlikely), this looks like the ultimate confidence game.

     Third, skilled manipulators get elected.  Because such a low percentage of American voters pay any attention to public policy, all too often connivers finagle and beguile the naïve to get into office.  Once there, these public servants abandon their campaign promises and govern to help their true constituency- their donors.  That’s why America has record inflation, an out-of-control national debt, and a huge government footprint.  Until voters hold their elected officials accountable, it will be the same old same old.

     Solomon said in Ecclesiastes there was nothing new under the sun, meaning no matter how things seem new to us, in their essence they are the same.  Voters need to recognize the ‘cut and paste.’

LIBERALS CAN BE FOLKSY AND RADICAL!

Weekly Opinion Editorial 

WALZ IS RADICAL!

by Steve Fair

      Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.  Walz, 60, is a former high school coach, who served 12 years in Congress after defeating a six term Republican.   In Congress, Walz was considered a political moderate, likely because he was reflecting his district.  Walz was elected Minnesota governor in 2018, but moved to the far left after Democrats won full control of Gopher state government in 2022.  Since then, Walz’s policies have become increasingly liberal. 

     Walz was an unexpected pick for VP.  According to polling, only 21% of Americans know who he is.  Walz is a liberal and his selection was lauded by the most liberal Democrats like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-NY) and IIhan Omar, (D-MN).  Walz has received 100% ratings from Planned Parenthood, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), AFL-CIO, and the National Organization for Women (NOW).   Three observations:

     First, the VP pick seldom determines who wins.  It made a difference in 1960 when Senator John F. Kennedy picked Senator Lyndon Johnson as his running mate.  Johnson’s barnstorming ‘delivered the south’ for JFK in a very close race, that was likely stolen from VP Richard Nixon.  Can Walz ‘deliver the rust belt,’ like LBJ did in 1960?  That is what Harris is hoping.

     Second, the Harris/Walz ticket is the most liberal in U.S. history.  More liberal than McGovern/Eagleton/Shriver- more liberal than Carter/Mondale, Clinton/Gore, and Obama/Biden.  Harris/Walz policy positions are next level liberal. Redistribution of income and wealth is their stated goal.  Using tools like taxation, welfare, public services and monetary policies, they punish those who produce and reward those who don’t.  Their fiscal policies are more communist than socialist.  Their social policies are even more to the left.

     Third, liberals can be folksy.  Walz has been described as sociable and friendly.  He wears Carhart and camo.  He looks and talks like a guy you would run into at the local co-op or elevator.   His nickname is Uncle Tim.  

     Some voters will see Walz’s wardrobe and demeanor as a reflection of traditional Midwestern values from his rural Nebraska roots.  Nothing is further from the truth.  Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Walz- and Harris- are radicals. 

     Walz’s fiscal policy has delighted progressives(liberals) across the country.  With a $72 billion state budget package chock full of social programs that Democrats on the national level have only dreamed of, Walz has made Minnesota the envy of liberal states.  Free meals for school kids, free college tuition, and free medical leave, are all programs passed by the state legislature this year. 

     The problem is free doesn’t exist in any economic system.  Someone is always paying the bill.  When an economy has more who don’t produce than those who do produce, their days are numbered.  That is where we are in America.  Government takes from the needy and gives to the greedy.  Voters this year need to look past the folksy, sympathetic, affable persona Harris and Walz are trying to project to what they really want to do- move America to a socialist state.

America could use some mutual weirdness in politics!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

WEIRD

by Steve Fair

     I never set out to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird. ―Frank Zappa.

     Webster defines weird as: strange, extraordinary, odd, bizarre eccentric, queer or unusual.  Democrats are using the word ‘weird’ to describe President Trump and Vice-Presidential candidate J.D. Vance.  This is a deliberate shift from their painting Trump as ‘a fundamental threat to democracy.’  Seems that message was too complicated- and false- for most voters to absorb.    “Weird is a word regular people use in their everyday lives,” Democratic operative Martha McKenna claims.  A simple message for low information voters.   Three observations:

     First, weird isn’t always bad.   There is a difference between being creepy/strange weird and just being quirky or different than everyone else.  Very often, those branded ‘weird’ are creative, intelligent, innovative game changers.  Those weirdos refuse to follow the crowd, run with the pack, go with the flow or play the game.  Because of their non-conforming attitude, they change the world.  Jesus was branded ‘weird’ by the Pharisees.  Edison was considered quirky.  Mozart unorthodox and strange.  Zappa was a musical genius, but eccentric. What the world called ‘weird,’ God used to change the world.

     Second, the weird strategy is weird.  The Democratic Party has more unconventional, unorthodox people in it than the Republicans.  Biden’s Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, is openly gay.  Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine is transgender.  Many Americans, conservative and liberal, see their lifestyle as ‘weird.’     The risk of alienating like-minded voters by calling their views ‘weird,’ is one McKenna says Democrats are willing to take to win the election.   

     When a person uses the word ‘weird’ to describe another person, they are judging the values of that person as compared to their own- aka value judgment.  Democrats have said for years no one has the right to ‘value judge’ another, but they are practicing it by calling another’s values ‘weird.’   

     Third, calling Trump/Vance ‘weird’ avoids policy debate.  That is the real strategy.  Politicos of all stripes create a diversion when they can’t run on their track record. So, the opponent becomes ‘weird,’ and often the public buys it.  Google searches for ‘weird’ in association with MAGA/GOP/Vance are up +32% in the past week from three months ago, so curiosity is being piqued. 

     But the real end game of labeling Trump/Vance ‘weird’ is to distract voters from checking past performance.  i.e.: Biden/Harris economic policy isn’t working.  July marked the highest jobless rate in the U.S. since October 2021.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 600 points lower in the July.  Inflation has Americans paying +20% more for gasoline and groceries than they were four years ago.  In battleground states, President Trump continues to poll 15 points higher than Vice President Harris on economic issues.  If voters get weirded out with the ‘weird’ distraction strategy, Harris wins.

     Dr. Seuss said, “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone, whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”  America could use some mutual weirdness in politics.