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. 

 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.

 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.

 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.

 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.