What's Wrong with Oklahoma?

[FOTD]

What's Wrong with Oklahoma?

By Richard L. Fricker
May 28, 2008


Democrats – divided into warring camps behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton – might want to take a look at Oklahoma to see what the future could hold if their party fails to unite, letting right-wing evangelicals and neoconservatives have their way.


The Republican-dominated Oklahoma legislature is defining the frontier of xenophobic immigration laws, anti-Muslim bigotry, gay bashing and encouragement of gun-toting students – with Democratic legislators often too timid to resist.

Rep. Randy Terrill, Republican chairman of the Revenue and Taxation Committee, has emerged as a hero of the "protect our borders" crowd by authoring a law – known as HB1804 – that makes it a felony even to give an illegal immigrant a ride.

You also can't provide education, healthcare and many other services to undocumented immigrants, including infants. And, police are required to check the immigration status of anyone "suspected" of being in this country illegally.

If you thought such a draconian measure might face stiff opposition – or at least a drawn-out political battle – you'd be wrong. The bill sailed through the Oklahoma House, 88-9, with 35 of the 44 Democrats joining the Republicans, and then passed the Senate on a 41-6 vote with two-thirds of the Democrats lining up with Republicans.

After the law's passage, its extreme – one might say unchristian – features prompted virtual declarations of civil disobedience from the Southern Baptist Convention and the Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches, which announced they would not curtail aid to anyone.

Terrill then attacked Roman Catholic Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa as "misguided," accusing Catholics of opposing the law out fear that it would curtail a growth in population and thus revenues for the church.

Terrill followed up his legislative victory by floating a "son of 1804," a bill that would forbid the issuance of birth certificates to a child if one parent was an illegal alien. That bill also sought confiscation of property for anyone caught violating HB1804.

The property-confiscation idea, however, was deemed too radical by the Oklahoma business community, which saw it as a threat to corporate owners. So, the follow-up bill got sidetracked.

Undeterred, Terrill proposed another anti-immigrant bill to make English the official language of Oklahoma.

When that bill died on a procedural vote in the Senate, Terrill enlisted the Washington lobby group ProEnglish, whose specialty is robo-calling, to make constituency calls to state senators.

One senator took umbrage and forwarded his calls to Terrill's office. Furious at this "cowardly act," Terrill crossed the rotunda threatening to "whip his donkey."

Though Terrill's pressure tactics failed to revive the bill, it is expected to become a hot-button election issue this fall.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma business community, which mostly sat on the sidelines as HB1804 was passed, is now having second thoughts, worrying that the new law has cut into the labor force and thus corporate profits.
A significant number of Mexicans, both legal and illegal, have left the state to avoid harassment, while other laborers are living in fear.

The Gay Threat

As Terrill and his supporters mounted legal assaults against non-English-speaking immigrants, Republican colleague Rep. Sally Kern focused on what she viewed as an even graver danger – gays and lesbians. In April, she went before a local GOP meeting and labeled that threat worse than the one from al-Qaeda:

"Studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it's the death knell of this country. I honestly think it's the biggest threat our nation has, even more than terrorism or Islam. ... which I think is a big threat. Okay?

"'Cause what's happening now is they are going after, in schools, two year olds ... and this stuff is deadly, and it's spreading, and it will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation."

When her comments showed up on YouTube, Kern claimed her comments had been taken out of context and expressed outrage that they would be posted on the Internet. However, she referenced the Bible and refused to apologize.

Despite complaints from around the country, Kern and Oklahoma's Republican leaders held fast behind her anti-gay positions. Reports from inside the GOP caucus described Kern receiving a standing ovation from the party faithful a couple of days after her statements were made public.

Kern's supporters also staged two rallies at the Capital Building, with one drawing nearly 2,000 people.

"I told the people when I was running for this office that I was a Christian candidate and that I believed we were in a cultural war for the very existence of our Judeo-Christian values," Kern declared.

In a similar vein, Republican Rep. Rex Duncan concentrated on the threat from Islam, rebuffing a gesture of multicultural goodwill when American Muslims on the Ethnic American Advisory Council sent each legislator a copy of the Quran in honor of Oklahoma's centennial celebration.

Duncan refused to accept his copy saying, "Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology." Seventeen other House Republicans joined Duncan in spurning copies of Islam's holy book.

However, Duncan's rationale – decrying Islam as a uniquely violent religion – flew in the face of historical and Biblical evidence that implicated Jewish and Christian communities in horrendous violence against the innocent as well.

For instance, the Old Testament's Book of Numbers recounts Moses's destruction of the Midians, including the slaughter of boys and the enslavement of girls. During the Crusades, Christian forces famously butchered the Muslim inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Indeed, the history of Christianity – a religion based on the peaceful teachings of Jesus – has been remarkable in its bloodletting against non-Christians, from the Inquisition and anti-Jewish pogroms in Europe to the genocide against the "heathen" natives living in the New World and the barbarities against African slaves brought to the New World.

Though several interfaith groups expressed dismay at Duncan's denunciation of Islam, the Rev. Anthony Jordan, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, said he did not fault the legislators for their action repudiating the Quran.

The Oklahoma legislature also responded to concerns about mass shootings on campuses by deliberating on a proposal advocated by extreme elements of the gun lobby, to permit all university students to carry guns to classes so they could defend themselves in case a mad gunman went on a rampage.

However, the idea of turning colleges into a modern version of the Wild West died in a fit of sobriety.

Still, the question remains: Why have these sorts of comments and such legislation gained traction in Oklahoma and other parts of the United States?

Some political analysts suggest part of the reason is that Democrats so dread coming under attack from the evangelical Right that they stay silent or acquiesce to proposals that otherwise might be transformed into campaign attack ads against them.

Election 2008 could be a moment when this surge of theocracy tinged with white racialism might finally be turned back. But, then again, enough Democrats may find it more appealing to nurse their grievances from the bruising Obama-Clinton race than to find some common ground.

Richard L. Fricker is a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based freelance reporter/writer and two-time winner of the American Business Press Editors Award for Investigative Journalism. Fricker can be reached at rlfricker@hotmail.com .
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/052708b.html

I suspect our state is out of step with most the rest of the country.

[TheArtist]

We have been through all this before.  Whats wrong is the same thing thats causing Oklahoma to have some of the highest rates of,,,, poverty, hunger, obesity, poor health, drug abuse, highest divorce rates, child abuse and neglect, homicides, suicudes, tobacco use, school drop outs, etc. etc. etc.

But we have a great quality of life, low taxes, and its very inexpensive to live here... Oh really?

[waterboy]

Careful Artist. You'll be asked to leave the city/state if you are too accurate at assessing our conditions. Kern and Terril are embarassments but not nearly so much as their supporters. I know education is the key, but even then it becomes controversial as to what is taught to our residents and where. I doubt we're much different than any other rural dominated state.

[jamesrage]

Being against illegal immigration does not make one against legal immigration.So it is dishonest of the author to paint those who are against illegal immigration as being against legal immigration.Of course pro-illegals are dishonest to be begin with.They always attempt to blur the lines between legal and illegal,they use speach that hides the fact someone is an illegal alien and spread lies that illegal immigration is not a crime when it is a crime.English only does not make one against legal immigrants.We do not want our state to turn in to Miami,or parts of California were residents have to learn spanish because the scum that live there refuse to learn our language.

And the reason why the majority of democrats sided with the republicans on the issue of illegal immigration is because illegal immigration is a issue that crosses party lines and it even crosses the liberal conservative lines.Those that do support illegal immigration do so because they want cheap votes or because they want people to work for wages(not jobs as many pro-illegals like to state)that Americans will not or can not work for.

If the democrats are loosing their seats to the republicans in this state it is because democrats are hopping on the pinko commie socialist anti-2nd amendment homosexual/tranny band wagon that many democrats across the country are doing.Oklahoma is not Sanfransicko,Massachusetts or New York and Oklahomans do not appreciate people trying to turn this state into such.

[FOTD]

quote:Originally posted by jamesrage

If the democrats are loosing their seats to the republicans in this state it is because democrats are hopping on the pinko commie socialist anti-2nd amendment homosexual/tranny band wagon that many democrats across the country are doing.Oklahoma is not Sanfransicko,Massachusetts or New York and Oklahomans do not appreciate people trying to turn this state into such.

No. Really? Lucifer told me to blow off the assault on the devils by the unappreciative (mostly fright wing fundamentalmidgets)and keep trying.....We did get to liquor by the drink.

[we vs us]

quote:Originally posted by jamesrage



. . . democrats are hopping on the pinko commie socialist anti-2nd amendment homosexual/tranny band wagon that many democrats across the country are doing . . .

Damn.  I hate getting called out like that.  It's the homosexual/tranny part that stings the most.

Rage, how do I get signed up for whatever political party you belong to?  Do you have a phone number?  A website?  Do we all just meet up in the park after sundown?  Seriously. Hook me up, yo.

[waterboy]

That was mouthful James. Thanks for the, uh, heads up on what good Okies want.

There are 4 anecdotes that 'splain what's wrong with Oklahoma. I relate them to you as a native Okie who never left but knows there is another way of life outside our confines.

1. 1960. Everyone in my gradeschool, Kendall, ran around yelling that if Kennedy was elected the Pope would run the country. These kids didn't think that up themselves.

2. 1963. Jaime Mitchell runs down the hallways of Wilson Jr. High at 1pm on November 22 yelling "The country is saved!! Kennedy has been assassinated!!" No counselors or teachers respond to stop him. Kids at that age don't generally harbor political hate like that unless their parents did.

3. 1968. Riots are erupting in Watts and other hot spots across the nation. The word spreads in the only integrated high school in Tulsa, Central, that the ******s all have guns and are massing up to attack everyone else. Carloads of whites attack kids based on those stupid rumors. Same kids from 1&2 above probably started them.

4. 1971. In the wake of Kent State shootings the previous year and anti-war protests on campuses across the nation the Governor of Oklahoma sends in riot geared highway patrolmen to the campus of OU to "quell" the student uprising that included about a hundred hippies peacefully carrying banners and chanting. Sensational Tulsa newspaper headlines scare the bejesus out of parents who frantically call them and threaten to pull their kids out permanently. Holloman, the president who had dared to actually acknowledge and speak with the students was summarily fired.

Now these kids are adults and in our legislature. Hard to be surprised at what they support.

[TheArtist]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

That was mouthful James. Thanks for the, uh, heads up on what good Okies want.

There are 4 anecdotes that 'splain what's wrong with Oklahoma. I relate them to you as a native Okie who never left but knows there is another way of life outside our confines.

1. 1960. Everyone in my gradeschool, Kendall, ran around yelling that if Kennedy was elected the Pope would run the country. These kids didn't think that up themselves.

2. 1963. Jaime Mitchell runs down the hallways of Wilson Jr. High at 1pm on November 22 yelling "The country is saved!! Kennedy has been assassinated!!" No counselors or teachers respond to stop him. Kids at that age don't generally harbor political hate like that unless their parents did.

3. 1968. Riots are erupting in Watts and other hot spots across the nation. The word spreads in the only integrated high school in Tulsa, Central, that the ******s all have guns and are massing up to attack everyone else. Carloads of whites attack kids based on those stupid rumors. Same kids from 1&2 above probably started them.

4. 1971. In the wake of Kent State shootings the previous year and anti-war protests on campuses across the nation the Governor of Oklahoma sends in riot geared highway patrolmen to the campus of OU to "quell" the student uprising that included about a hundred hippies peacefully carrying banners and chanting. Sensational Tulsa newspaper headlines scare the bejesus out of parents who frantically call them and threaten to pull their kids out permanently. Holloman, the president who had dared to actually acknowledge and speak with the students was summarily fired.

Now these kids are adults and in our legislature. Hard to be surprised at what they support.

But why, following your timeline, are even the parents or their parents that way? Why are these people that way? Sure its taught, but good people are taught as well.

The interesting question is not so much why, but what specifically are we even talking about?... Narrow mindedness? not open to new ideas and thoughts? lack of education? mean spiritedness? Insecurety? magical thinking? Poor reasoning skills? What, is it?




I heard something quite interesting the other day when someone on the news was talking about the Obama campaign and "blue collar workers" and his inability to connect with them. They were saying that his message of "hope" didnt ring with a large group of people.

I have noticed something similar here in our city,,, even on this forum.

It seems to me that there is a group of people who: dream, imagine, have hope, figure out ways to better themselves, who have an attitude that things will get better, that they can make their lives better, who actively seek out and make changes in their lives to do so.

Then there seem to be a group of people who almost stand in one spot, this is their life and changes that happen around them affects them and often negatively, they dont look towards a better future and take actions towards that but try to figure out how to make sure bad things dont happen. Rather than getting a different job, they complain about the one they have. They worry about where they are at. Rather than seeing how something could make things better and how they could make more money. They see how it will make things worse and take money from them. This shows that they have no expectation that they will make more money in the future. Rather than figuring out how to make thousands of dollars more in the future, they cry about losing a hundred in the future. Seems they have no hope and dont see the world through that lense.

I do not believe its because of how much money they have. I was plenty poor once but had hope and dreams and have worked to achieve them. Some people are in a spot and stay there. I know other people who dont have a lot of money but who have hope in a better future. People who have this mindset dont see minor expenses and troubles as a lifelong trial, but as a temporary sitiuation that will pass as they make their lives get better and better. Others see things as making their lives as steadily worse and worse.


I was at Woodward Park the other day walking along the trail in back of a young black lady and her child. They passed in front of a white lady and her 2 children who were about 3 and 4 years old. Just as the black lady and her daughter had passed a bit and I was coming up to the spot I heard one of the little white girls caugh "N!@@er".  I was stunned, I couldnt believe it. The mother did nothing. I could just get a feeling from them that they were petty and selfish. That if I had said hello and smiled the little girl would have sneered. Just a bitter little group.  Why put down other people?   Why not act to lift them up?

I got the impression that they were not people with hope, who did not themselves act to lift themselves up. If you dont see that for yourself, its likely that you dont see it in others, or the world, either.

Hope is not about bringing others down, its about bringing yourself and others up. Some people do not connect with that. They do not have that habit of thought.

[bugo]

quote:Originally posted by jamesrage

Being against illegal immigration does not make one against legal immigration.So it is dishonest of the author to paint those who are against illegal immigration as being against legal immigration.Of course pro-illegals are dishonest to be begin with.They always attempt to blur the lines between legal and illegal,they use speach that hides the fact someone is an illegal alien and spread lies that illegal immigration is not a crime when it is a crime.English only does not make one against legal immigrants.We do not want our state to turn in to Miami,or parts of California were residents have to learn spanish because the scum that live there refuse to learn our language.

And the reason why the majority of democrats sided with the republicans on the issue of illegal immigration is because illegal immigration is a issue that crosses party lines and it even crosses the liberal conservative lines.Those that do support illegal immigration do so because they want cheap votes or because they want people to work for wages(not jobs as many pro-illegals like to state)that Americans will not or can not work for.

I agree with much of the above.  However...

quote:
If the democrats are loosing their seats to the republicans in this state it is because democrats are hopping on the pinko commie socialist anti-2nd amendment homosexual/tranny band wagon that many democrats across the country are doing.Oklahoma is not Sanfransicko,Massachusetts or New York and Oklahomans do not appreciate people trying to turn this state into such.

Then you rush into this tirade.  This is why Republicans are losing (not "loosing") ground on the Dems and are about to lose the White House.  Because every time they make a statement that makes sense, they follow it up by kooking out, calling Democrats "communists", "leebruls" or "traitors."  Keep it up, the Dems will appreciate the votes.

[bugo]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy
2. 1963. Jaime Mitchell runs down the hallways of Wilson Jr. High at 1pm on November 22 yelling "The country is saved!! Kennedy has been assassinated!!" No counselors or teachers respond to stop him. Kids at that age don't generally harbor political hate like that unless their parents did.
at what they support.

Seriously?  I assume Mitchell must have been a teacher or principal or other authority figure.  What a jackass.  Should have been fired immediately.  Ah, the 60s.  Makes me glad I was born in the 1970s.

Your entire post is very true.  Bigotry breeds bigotry which translates into ridiculous laws and ignorant aggies running the state.

[bugo]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist
I heard something quite interesting the other day when someone on the news was talking about the Obama campaign and "blue collar workers" and his inability to connect with them. They were saying that his message of "hope" didnt ring with a large group of people.

I have noticed something similar here in our city,,, even on this forum.

It seems to me that there is a group of people who: dream, imagine, have hope, figure out ways to better themselves, who have an attitude that things will get better, that they can make their lives better, who actively seek out and make changes in their lives to do so.

Then there seem to be a group of people who almost stand in one spot, this is their life and changes that happen around them affects them and often negatively, they dont look towards a better future and take actions towards that but try to figure out how to make sure bad things dont happen. Rather than getting a different job, they complain about the one they have. They worry about where they are at. Rather than seeing how something could make things better and how they could make more money. They see how it will make things worse and take money from them. This shows that they have no expectation that they will make more money in the future. Rather than figuring out how to make thousands of dollars more in the future, they cry about losing a hundred in the future. Seems they have no hope and dont see the world through that lense.

I do not believe its because of how much money they have. I was plenty poor once but had hope and dreams and have worked to achieve them. Some people are in a spot and stay there. I know other people who dont have a lot of money but who have hope in a better future. People who have this mindset dont see minor expenses and troubles as a lifelong trial, but as a temporary sitiuation that will pass as they make their lives get better and better. Others see things as making their lives as steadily worse and worse.


I was at Woodward Park the other day walking along the trail in back of a young black lady and her child. They passed in front of a white lady and her 2 children who were about 3 and 4 years old. Just as the black lady and her daughter had passed a bit and I was coming up to the spot I heard one of the little white girls caugh "N!@@er".  I was stunned, I couldnt believe it. The mother did nothing. I could just get a feeling from them that they were petty and selfish. That if I had said hello and smiled the little girl would have sneered. Just a bitter little group.  Why put down other people?   Why not act to lift them up?

I got the impression that they were not people with hope, who did not themselves act to lift themselves up. If you dont see that for yourself, its likely that you dont see it in others, or the world, either.

Hope is not about bringing others down, its about bringing yourself and others up. Some people do not connect with that. They do not have that habit of thought.

I think it is at least, partially, a result of almost 8 years of failed policies and a country that has actually declined.  I've noticed the same thing you do, and I didn't notice it until starting around 2002-2003, and it has gotten far worse in the last few years.  I've certainly been less hopeful about things in the last few years.

[waterboy]

I think you both got my drift. Not to be too campy but "you have to be carefully taught" a lyric from South Pacific which was a controversial play in the 1950's. It was one we often fail to realize the significance of now.

Jaime was a student and a fairly bright one. His parents though soured his attitude with hate towards a president during controversial times (I loved the sixties btw). Seventh grade kids just don't care that much about politics.

Cynicism in Tulsa is hereditary but is often covered up by our polite southern charms. We say "yes ma'am and thank yew" but thats just clothing. Somewhere I read that we have more natives than most cities our size which might explain the inbred attitudes. But the better question, Artist, is not why we are this way, but rather how do we interrupt the process. Education appears to be the obvious answer, but we are not an illiterate population. In fact we're pretty smart compared with say, our neighbor to the west about 100 miles[].

My feeling is that it is fundamental bible philosphies. We are sinners, we are unworthy, we must suffer, etc. But if so, there is no way to change the cycle. For instance Carlton Pearson was a great man (still is) till he strayed from core beliefs in this area. Then he was ostracized. The bible should be construed as  a message of hope and salvation but here it seems to be about end times and damnation.
Just a thought.

[TulsaFan-inTexas]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

That was mouthful James. Thanks for the, uh, heads up on what good Okies want.

There are 4 anecdotes that 'splain what's wrong with Oklahoma. I relate them to you as a native Okie who never left but knows there is another way of life outside our confines.

1. 1960. Everyone in my gradeschool, Kendall, ran around yelling that if Kennedy was elected the Pope would run the country. These kids didn't think that up themselves.

2. 1963. Jaime Mitchell runs down the hallways of Wilson Jr. High at 1pm on November 22 yelling "The country is saved!! Kennedy has been assassinated!!" No counselors or teachers respond to stop him. Kids at that age don't generally harbor political hate like that unless their parents did.

3. 1968. Riots are erupting in Watts and other hot spots across the nation. The word spreads in the only integrated high school in Tulsa, Central, that the ******s all have guns and are massing up to attack everyone else. Carloads of whites attack kids based on those stupid rumors. Same kids from 1&2 above probably started them.

4. 1971. In the wake of Kent State shootings the previous year and anti-war protests on campuses across the nation the Governor of Oklahoma sends in riot geared highway patrolmen to the campus of OU to "quell" the student uprising that included about a hundred hippies peacefully carrying banners and chanting. Sensational Tulsa newspaper headlines scare the bejesus out of parents who frantically call them and threaten to pull their kids out permanently. Holloman, the president who had dared to actually acknowledge and speak with the students was summarily fired.

Now these kids are adults and in our legislature. Hard to be surprised at what they support.

But why, following your timeline, are even the parents or their parents that way? Why are these people that way? Sure its taught, but good people are taught as well.

The interesting question is not so much why, but what specifically are we even talking about?... Narrow mindedness? not open to new ideas and thoughts? lack of education? mean spiritedness? Insecurety? magical thinking? Poor reasoning skills? What, is it?




I heard something quite interesting the other day when someone on the news was talking about the Obama campaign and "blue collar workers" and his inability to connect with them. They were saying that his message of "hope" didnt ring with a large group of people.

I have noticed something similar here in our city,,, even on this forum.

It seems to me that there is a group of people who: dream, imagine, have hope, figure out ways to better themselves, who have an attitude that things will get better, that they can make their lives better, who actively seek out and make changes in their lives to do so.

Then there seem to be a group of people who almost stand in one spot, this is their life and changes that happen around them affects them and often negatively, they dont look towards a better future and take actions towards that but try to figure out how to make sure bad things dont happen. Rather than getting a different job, they complain about the one they have. They worry about where they are at. Rather than seeing how something could make things better and how they could make more money. They see how it will make things worse and take money from them. This shows that they have no expectation that they will make more money in the future. Rather than figuring out how to make thousands of dollars more in the future, they cry about losing a hundred in the future. Seems they have no hope and dont see the world through that lense.

I do not believe its because of how much money they have. I was plenty poor once but had hope and dreams and have worked to achieve them. Some people are in a spot and stay there. I know other people who dont have a lot of money but who have hope in a better future. People who have this mindset dont see minor expenses and troubles as a lifelong trial, but as a temporary sitiuation that will pass as they make their lives get better and better. Others see things as making their lives as steadily worse and worse.


I was at Woodward Park the other day walking along the trail in back of a young black lady and her child. They passed in front of a white lady and her 2 children who were about 3 and 4 years old. Just as the black lady and her daughter had passed a bit and I was coming up to the spot I heard one of the little white girls caugh "N!@@er".  I was stunned, I couldnt believe it. The mother did nothing. I could just get a feeling from them that they were petty and selfish. That if I had said hello and smiled the little girl would have sneered. Just a bitter little group.  Why put down other people?   Why not act to lift them up?

I got the impression that they were not people with hope, who did not themselves act to lift themselves up. If you dont see that for yourself, its likely that you dont see it in others, or the world, either.

Hope is not about bringing others down, its about bringing yourself and others up. Some people do not connect with that. They do not have that habit of thought.

That is REALLY sad regarding the incident with the little girl and race. I've not seen anything like that in quite some time and if I did I would most assuredly say something in defense of the black lady and her child to reassure them that they were not alone.

[FOTD]

No brakes! The scandals must take a back seat to all the mistakes.

"A one-time top aide to former Oklahoma Rep. Ernest Istook pleaded guilty Monday to a conspiracy to defraud the House as part of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

John Albaugh admitted in federal court in Washington that he accepted meals and sports and concert tickets, along with other perks, from lobbyists in exchange for official favors.

Albaugh, 41, is the latest in a string of more than a dozen former government officials and lobbyists to plead guilty in the scandal involving members of Congress, their aides and Bush administration officials. He faces 18 to 24 months in prison, but that sentence could be reduced based on his continued cooperation with the government's investigation.

"Mr. Albaugh decided to accept the government's proposal and move on with his life," his attorney Jeffrey Jacobovitz said after the hearing before U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle. "He deeply regrets and accepts full responsibility for his involvement in these matters and their impact upon his family and the community."

During the eight years Albaugh worked as chief of staff to Istook, the congressman accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Abramoff and his associates. Istook has not been charged with any wrongdoing and is now a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington.

Istook said Monday he was "as surprised and as shocked as anyone" at the case." NOW THAT'S FUNNY!!!!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/8/32530/31654/843/532075


Shameful that this news is reported by Kos.....did anyone see this in the local or state MSM?

Istook needs prison to mend his ways and send a message to those that manipulate our government to suit their own agenda....

Looks to me like there's gonna be a whole lot of legal mess unraveled without Dumbya being able to Libbyate the wingnuts and abusers with pardons.....

[rwarn17588]

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

No brakes! The scandals must take a back seat to all the mistakes.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/8/32530/31654/843/532075


Shameful that this news is reported by Kos.....did anyone see this in the local or state MSM?

Yes. Did you bother to look?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080603_13_A7_spancl666663

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080602_16_WASHI73577

http://www.newsok.com/article/keyword/3252163/

http://www.newsok.com/article/keyword/3252011/