Changing Course

February 24, 2017June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 4 Comments

Sometimes you have to admit you’re not where you should be. Not doing what you wish you were doing. Or, if you are, it’s not working.

Blue Cereal spent the better part of 2016 desperately trying to impact state elections in a way that would promote public education. The “teacher caucus,” other pro-thinking-and-learning candidates, rational budget policies, and even a few state questions – completely out of my element and in over my head, I joined those of you trying desperately to wake up the rest of the household as the arsonists poured their gasoline and compared fancy lighters.

And, as you know, we lost.

Bigly.

Like, embarrassing, what-were-you-even-thinking lost. “F*** You!” lost. Why-the-hell-would-we-give-up-one-iota-of-twisted-ignorance-and-willful-destruction-it’s-worked-so-well-for-us lost.

You may have picked up on my bitterness.

So I announced my intention to get out of Oklahoma. I no longer feel like part of the solution, but part of the problem. Every time we take a deep breath and go back into the classroom to make the best of it, we’re saying “Hey, you know what? Keep doing what you’re doing up there. There will be NO consequences. NO downside for you or your fiscal overlords. We’ll cover for you as best we can, as long as we can.”

And I couldn’t anymore.

I don’t have a job yet, but I’m now certified in Indiana (yeah, I know – long story) and only lack returning some sort of fingerprint kit to Ohio (again – story). I hope to be gone in June, shortly after the legislative session ends, the fifteenth revenue failure is announced, and – big shocker, here – it’s finally clear that YOU’RE NOT GETTING A RAISE BECAUSE THE “BETTER PLAN” IS FOR YOU TO SHUT UP AND KEEP ENABLING THE ABUSE OF YOUR KIDS BY THOSE IN POWER.

After a week or two of licking our wounds last November, I fully intended to get back to the stuff I actually like writing about. History stuff. Teaching stuff. Some political issues or current events, sure – but mostly the kinds of things that let us all believe for brief, delusional moments that something we’re doing might make a positive difference.

Unlike, say… political advocacy. Calling your state legislators. Educating the public. Voting.

*sigh*

Like I said – there’s still some bitterness. And apparently I’m “whiney.”

That’s OK. Maybe I am sometimes. I’m not always fair (although I try to be), or balanced, or rational, or calm. Hell, I’m not even always right – I’ve had to backtrack on several individuals and issues once I had more information.

But I do try to be genuine. Every opinion, every commentary, every stupid question I ask – totes for realsies. The pomp and snark and vanity – all legit. And my eternal, internal struggle between tortured self-loathing and being a pompous ass finds a perfect metaphor in Tornado Country.

When the 2017 legislative session started, I knew better than to pay attention. This was no longer my fight. But no one else was keeping up with the weekly onslaught of bills and discussions and votes and inanity. So I broke down and started detailing agendas for various committees that deal with edu-slation. I started pouring through the language, trying to make sense of statutes and amendments and the striking of titles. Posts like that take longer to write than just about any other kind, and the analytics say very few people even read them.

Obviously. Because election results.

Besides, they’re no fun to write. I’ve established a decent rapport with several legislators, but other than that the hours invested leave me with little more than a dirty feeling inside and a sense that I’ve sold out after swearing this stuff off on November 9th.

So it’s time to reboot. Again. That’s also OK – this was never about getting everything right the first time or pretending I have a coherent plan. I have enough style and damn sexy swagger that a few course corrections won’t stifle the overall mojo. Still, I thought the #11FF deserved some explanation – which is what this is.

For anyone who cares. Which you do. I love that about us.

For the next few weeks, I’ll be revisiting and reposting a few favorites of mine from past years, and trying to add a few more bits to other sections of the website. I’d also like to get back to shining light on the amazing edu-bloggery going on in #OklaEd and beyond – some of it heralded, much of it un.

Those of you who care what the Oklahoma Legislature is doing to your profession and your kids are likely already following OKEducationTruths, A View From The Edge, and Fourth Generation Teacher. You should also be reading For The Love, This Teacher Sings, and Teaching From Here. If OK Education Journal is back to stay, you should add them to that list as well.

Anyone who cares about education or anything else of lasting value in Oklahoma should be subscribed to the Tulsa World, and maybe even The Oklahoman, despite their abysmal editorial board. Also essential are Oklahoma Watch, OK Policy Institute, and The Frontier. These last three are free, but they need your financial support anyway. You’d be surprised how much internal warm-fuzzy you get supporting quality local journalism, so suck it up.

One last thing…

I may not be the only one who should be changing course. Many of you have contacted me privately to tell me about the jobs you’re pursuing outside of public education, or in the classroom but outside of the state. I applaud you for drawing those lines and saying “No more. I will not be an enabler of a system which is willfully, intentionally bad for kids immediately and for everyone else sooner than they realize.”

For the rest of you – the ones who are still teaching in Oklahoma – please understand that I do not judge you for following your calling or recognizing your commitments to family or logistics or whatever keeps you here. We do what we gotta do – I get it and I love you.

But please consider doing something, even if it seems crazy at the moment.

Go ahead and update your resume – you know, just in case something unexpected comes up. Take an hour or two over the weekend, then set aside a few days during Spring Break to pick a few states. Google their departments of education. Look for databases of job openings for which you may be at least partly qualified.

Talk to your spouse, or family, or besties, about options – you know, if you were to move. I’m not suggesting you turn in your keys with nowhere to go, just that you look at a few options. Just to be informed.

What would it take to get certified elsewhere? It might even be worth a few bucks to submit those forms, take those tests, just to know you have actual options come April. Don’t sell your house just yet – but maybe contact your realtor and ask what he or she thinks it’s worth these days.

It’s just preparation. Information. Foundation. In case you decide to change course. Keep in mind that kids in THOSE schools and THOSE states need a good teacher who knows their subject and cares about their lives ALSO. There’s no shortage of fields ripe for the harvest – you don’t have to stay on THIS plantation.

You’re not abandoning your calling if you do it somewhere else while forcing positive change here. And you’re not helping your kids by enabling the state to keep going the direction it’s going while you cover for them more and more each year, desperately wishing that THIS time you could explain to them why it matters or THIS time you’ll change them with your love or THIS time you’ll vote them out even though you know you won’t, you can’t, and that no matter how many signs you paint or how many chants you chant, the only real consequences being experienced are by you, and by your kids, because you’ll just keep trying to make it work so that they can just keep trying to make it not.

And they have all the money and power and popular support, because no one else sees it anymore except you and me, babe.

I’m still here, and I still adore you. But I’m changing course.

What about you?

The People Have Spoken, #OklaEd

November 9, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

Well, that didn’t go well.

I’m not even going to talk about the national elections, other than to note we sent back to the U.S. Congress – by wide margins – the exact sorts of people I’m regularly criticized for assuming the majority of Oklahomans support. So… I’ll let you work that out.

But the state elections. I just…

I really thought they’d go better.

Not well. I didn’t expect them to go well. I was no longer hoping for a dozen seats flipped from “entrenched radical ed-hater” to “teacher running for the first time.” I’d resigned myself to the idea that there might not be much to celebrate.

But I thought we’d get something.

I don’t wish to disparage the accomplishments of the handful of winning edu-slators yesterday. Several incumbents historically supportive of public education kept their seats – David Perryman (D) of HD56, John Montgomery (R) in HD62, Jadine Nollan (R) for HD66, Katie Henke (R) in HD71, and Cyndi Munson (D) of Lake Hefner.

New candidate Mickey Dollens (D) took HD93, no doubt through his genuine commitment to the district and his unmatched work ethic. (His opponent’s ability to personally alienate and horrify almost everyone in the district over the past decade probably didn’t hurt, either.) Forrest Bennett (D) won HD92 and Chris Kidd (R) SD31. So… that’s something.

But dozens of others went down in flames. Not even close in most cases. Even candidates like John Waldron and Lloyd Snow were defeated, while far too many other voices passionate for positive change were simply crushed.

SQ779, after polling well for months, was soundly defeated as well. There were good reasons to vote against it, but added to the rest of the night, it rubbed enough rock salt into the wounds of public education to keep our highways clear for another decade, were it ever to snow again – which of course it won’t, but-don’t-say-climate-change-because-Inhofe-once-had-a-snowball.

It sends a pretty strong message. One I think it’s time we embrace. This is a democracy, after all, and when the people issue this sort of mandate, it’s our civic and professional duty to respect it.

So… I quit.

Not the profession, necessarily. I mean, maybe – it depends on what else I can do at 50 years old. I’m reasonably intelligent and gregarious, though, and despite my shifting politics I’m still an angry old straight white guy – that gives me some leverage in Trump’s America, yes?

But it’s time for #OklaEd to get the message. You are not wanted here. The vast majority does not think you’re worth even what you make now, and they certainly don’t think most of your kids deserve any better. Strong percentages say “we could fix education if only these teachers weren’t in the way” or “those damned districts have been given too much without accountability.” And they believe it. To paraphrase their patron saint, “Public education is not the solution to the problem; public education is the problem.”

I know what many of you will say:

“We’ll just regroup and do even better for our kids!”

“It’s not just a job; it’s a calling!”

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint!”

Like Boxer, you are sure if you only work harder, eventually Animal Farm will prosper. Your convictions about how things should work and what most people must believe become your Napoleon, and no matter how desperately reality tries to get your attention, you remain darned and determined to build that windmill – the better to tilt at, my dear.

That’s noble, in a way, but like Boxer, you’re wrong. Not just “how sad for you” wrong, but “you’ve become part of the problem” wrong. You’re the wife buying her alcoholic husband beer then complaining about how he treats you. You’re the friend doing everyone else’s homework so they won’t get a bad grade, unwittingly condemning them in the long run by enabling their bad choices.

Denial is a powerful sedative – it allows us to tell ourselves all sorts of deluded stories. But it only perpetuates and strengthens the problems we’re trying to avoid.

Oklahoma doesn’t want you here. They don’t like you, and they openly despise many of your kids. If you stay, and keep doing what you’re doing, you’re supporting that – willingly or not. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Don’t get careless in your martyrdom – there are kids in other states who need good teachers. There are other meaningful ways to make a living.

It’s not just about a pay raise – I’d easily support a plan to fund public education and pay young teachers and provide for students that carried a provision denying veteran educators more than a little cost-of-living bump here or there. It’s about a decade of single-party rule with one theme: “You are the problem. If only we could get rid of greedy superintendents and lazy teachers and useless support positions, we could fix it all. But… you know those teachers’ unions and their entitlement mentality…”

We’re largely to blame. We’ve proven year after year that we don’t vote in meaningful numbers, or if we do, we vote our fears instead of our ideals. We jump and bark and pee on their legs every time they dangle “Pay raise! Pay raise! We’ve really got a plan for a Pay Raise! Come get it, boy! That’s a good constituency!”

It’s embarrassing.

The party in unmoderated power could have addressed this any damn time they wished over the past decade. And it’s already starting again. Sitting legislators who’ve just watched the state reject all things education by historic margins are setting up that football and asking us to take another run at it because this time they’re totally certain for REALSIES going to hook us up!

Dance, you pathetic monkeys – dance!

The 2017 Oklahoma State Legislature would be foolish to pass actual teacher raises. They’d be crazy not to ram through the voucher bills so long sought after by their out-of-state fiscal overlords, mandate consolidation across the board, and change all the state standards yet again just to prove they can. Elections have consequences. Legislators don’t do things to be nice; they do things because it gets them elected, and re-elected.

Supporting public ed is a losing issue in Oklahoma. Like, WAY losing. “And-your-little-dog-too” losing.

This past February, I wrote what many assumed was a hyperbolic call for all of #OklaEd to simply turn in their keys and go. I wasn’t being hyperbolic, and I’m feeling great internal pressure to stand by it today. If I had the power, I’d set Winter Break as the ideal time to get a real job – or a teaching gig elsewhere. Classroom teachers, para-professionals, administrators, bus drivers, lunch ladies, school secretaries – just sign the pink slip over to the victors and wish them well.

I don’t have that power, so do what you will. If you stay, however, spare us the noble platitudes. I’m all for sacrificing yourself when it serves a purpose, but the only thing you’re accomplishing here and now is to perpetuate the conviction of those in power that they’re on the right course and should keep it up. Anything that doesn’t work, you’ll cover for them whatever the cost to yourself, your family, and your kids.

And it’s wrong.

I realize I’ll be accused of being a “sore loser” – of taking my blog and going home. There’s probably some truth in that, but not enough to put the house up for sale (nice 3-bedroom, Union schools, glorious breakfast nook, if you’re interested). I think I’m being quite reasonable – Obama won’t be strapping himself to the desk in the Oval Office, desperately clutching his favorite pen, yelling that he’s staying “for the children!” He’ll politely pack up a few personal items, and call a cab.

I’ve been too vocal to back down at this point. It may take a few months, but I don’t see any way out of it without selling out everything for which I’ve fought – albeit unsuccessfully – over the past year. I’ll be reworking the website to focus more on general content and teacher issues, washing my hands of state politics once the moving van is loaded.

I appreciate those of you who worked so hard and did so much over the past few years trying to change things in Oklahoma. I’m sorry we accomplished so little to assist you. I wish you better.

My Response to the Lankford/Lamb Editorial On SQ790

November 2, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 2 Comments

Election season brings out the worst in many of us. Oklahoma is certainly no exception – which is somewhat ironic, given that historically only about four people in the entire state actually bother to vote most years.

This election, though, there’s an unusually high number of contested seats in the state legislature. The “teacher caucus” has made national news. Spittle – both literal and figurative – has been flinging all ‘bouts.

And then there’s those state questions! My god, there must be eleventeen hundred of them! The penny sales tax for education is probably the most controversial, but coming in a close second is SQ790 – repeal of the Blaine Amendment. This one has been a long time coming, and emotions are high on both sides.

It’s possible there are rational arguments to be made for repealing Article II, Section 5 of the Oklahoma Constitution. I’m not sure what they’d be, but surely they exist. One place you will not find them is in the recent editorial by Senator James Lankford and Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb. It first appeared in the Tulsa World late last week, and is now making the rounds on Facebook via something called the Baptist Messenger.

If this organization is indeed associated with Baptists proper, that’s a shame. Jefferson’s famous letter coining the phrase “wall of separation between church and state” was written in response to Baptist concerns that the new Constitution didn’t do enough to keep government out of their religious business.

This editorial makes a wonderful study in reading with your brain on. Let’s take a gander, shall we?

On Nov. 8, by voting Yes on State Question 790, Oklahomans will have the chance to directly increase their religious freedom, a rare opportunity in this age when liberal courts and governments are actively seeking to narrow religious liberties.

Definitions are everything in socio-political debate. Most Americans, for example, are big fans of “fairness,” “accountability,” or “equality.” The difficulty comes when we have to decide what exactly those things mean in practice – suddenly my idea of “fair” and your idea of “fair” can crash into one another rather unpleasantly.

Lankford/Lamb open their editorial with the bold assertion that “religious freedom” is in danger, and that more government spending on religious symbols is the solution. I’m not clear on what they base their conviction that religious liberty is being “narrowed” – it’s difficult to imagine a time in American History when an individual was more free to believe (or not) pretty much anything they chose, and to act on it with greater latitude.

Unless, of course, you assume “narrowing religious liberties” means something very different – for example, “chipping away at the privileged positions certain flavors of Christianity have held for centuries.” If you define “increasing religious freedom” as “reducing the religious freedoms of others”, this assertion suddenly makes sense. Of course we’re seeing “narrowed” religious liberties – because religious liberty is being dramatically expanded for people who are not us. Ours feels smaller in comparison.

The Blaine Amendment prevents government from taking my money to promote your religious ideas. Only by defining “religious freedom” as “using political power to prop up selected beliefs” does the argument that eliminating Blaine will increase anyone’s “liberty” make any sense.

We support SQ 790 because it would remove from Oklahoma’s Constitution the “Blaine Amendment” a provision added in the 19th century during a time of anti-Catholic prejudice for the primary purpose of preventing Catholic schools – and Catholic orphanages, hospitals and charities – from receiving any government benefits.

This is technically and historically correct. But are Lankford/Lamb seriously suggesting that Oklahoma – over a century later – has been oppressing Catholics? Or are they suggesting we go back through every statute and amendment since ratification and weed out those whose motives may have been misguided or whose original purpose is outdated?

Seems like if we’re going to urgently push a “solution,” there should be a problem somewhere to which we can attach it. Bring forth the state-abused Catholics of 2016, please!

These provisions, were at one time present in the Constitutions of nearly every state, and their history steeped in bigotry has never been in dispute. As the United States Supreme Court noted in Mitchell v. Helms (2000), Blaine Amendments have a “shameful pedigree” rooted in “pervasive hostility to the Catholic Church and to Catholics in general.”

The Republican Senator from Oklahoma, who enthusiastically supports Donald Trump for President, is heartbroken over our history of theoretical bigotry – so much so that he’s quoting Supreme Court decisions to add some completely irrelevant color.

Blaine hasn’t changed in over a century, and no one’s discriminated against Catholics as a result. That’s an awful lot of emotion over a problem no one’s even pretending actually exists.

Over time, these provisions have gone beyond bigotry against Catholics and been used to curtail religious freedom of all kinds.

What a setup! Over time, they tell us, things have gotten SO much worse! Blaine has been used to curtail religious freedoms of ALL KINDS! So many kinds. All the kinds. Kinds above and beyond that theoretical Catholic thing that never actually happened.

For example…

Oklahoma’s Blaine Amendment was cited by the state Supreme Court in 2015 when it ruled that the provision prohibited the display of a Ten Commandments monument at the state Capitol, even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Van Orden v. Perry (2005) that a display of Ten Commandments on public property does not necessarily violate the U.S. Constitution.

That’s the entire list of curtailed religious freedoms. One thing. THEY WOULDN’T LET US HAVE OUR STATUE EXACTLY WHERE WE WANTED IT AND WE HAD TO MOVE IT, LIKE, NINETY FEET!

That must have been horrible for them, this long list of curtailed freedoms they’ve had to endure.

Lankford/Lamb neglect to mention that on the exact same day the Court announced its decision in Van Orden, it also announced the results of McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky (2005) – a very similar case in which displays of the Commandments on government property were found to be unconstitutional. McCreary was just as big as the Texas case, and its circumstances far more similar to those unfolding in Oklahoma. It’s just that in this other major case about the exact same issue, the Court refuted the idea that states can go around throwing up religious statues just to make a point.

Lankford/Lamb know this. It’s not hidden knowledge available only to the Illuminati or anything. They chose to lie via omission in order to pretend their argument is stronger than it is. Both men are successful politicians – they count on the ignorance of the masses for their livelihood. Perhaps if they’re so concerned about the survival of their faith, though, they could help it out by not using deception and half-truths just to get their way?

Under our state Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Blaine Amendment, hundreds of millions of state and federal dollars being expended annually for Medicaid patients at nonprofit but religious-based hospitals are being spent in violation of our state Constitution.

Read that again.

As currently applied, they write, the Blaine Amendment – which has been part of our state constitution since statehood – has caused absolutely no problems for Medicaid patients or religious-based hospitals. But if the state Supreme Court ever chose to inexplicably challenge these non-problems, and declared a bunch of stuff unconstitutional, then OMG – a bunch of other stuff would then be unconstitutional!

Also, Medicaid! Grandma – did you hear that? Old people, panic!

If read too broadly, church groups could even be prohibited from using state parks, engaging in after-school tutoring, helping solve our foster care crisis, working with prison ministries and a myriad of other partnerships which benefit the state.

“If this section of the Constitution were read incorrectly, it might even lead to a host of other theoretical problems which have never happened here or anywhere else as a result of the Blaine Amendment.”

Well, yes. It would also be bad if mom accidentally used human blood instead of ketchup next time she makes meatloaf, so maybe we should outlaw the Red Cross while we’re solving potential problems that will probably never happen.

Or am I reading their editorial “too broadly”?

Not only does our Blaine Amendment prohibit the display of the Ten Commandments on public property – but it also prohibits parents from making decisions about their children’s education that they believe are best.

Ah, here we go. It took several paragraphs of balderdash and faux crises, but they finally got to… vouchers.

If you want to make the voucher argument, that’s fine. I’ve written about them several times, as have numerous others smarter than me. But of all the folks who argue in favor of spending public money to resegregate our schools by race and socio-economic status, none have buried their case so deeply in deception and demagoguery as Lankford/Lamb here.

It’s really quite horrifying. Unless I’m reading it too broadly.

It has been used for lawsuits aimed at stopping parents of special needs students from using state scholarships to better educate their children.

This fabricated image of high-needs kids presenting their golden voucher to Word-of-Faith-of-Hope-of-Grace and finding the acceptance and attention they’ve so long been denied is complete nonsense. But again – the whole voucher argument is well-trod territory elsewhere.

For now, the weird reality is that Lankford/Lamb are arguing that the constitution as it currently stands has been determined by the courts to be totally fine the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship to which they refer. They won that case without changing the constitution.

They’re demanding a change to the constitution because what if the case had been decided differently – like if it were heard on Opposite Day? Wouldn’t that have been unfortunate?

If a student used this as a supporting argument in class, I’d circle it in red pen and tell them not to make their opponent’s case for them.

It has been used in other states to stop Education Savings Accounts programs which help those stuck in poverty take advantage of educational opportunities.

Such as… where? The lovely community of Theoryville?

And it has been used to try to prohibit even student-led prayers before high school sporting events.

Oh please.

Yeah, I’m sure there’s a story somewhere in which this almost kind of happened. Thanks to the internet, you can find examples of pretty much anything. But seriously? It’s been “used to try to prevent” student-led prayer?

In other words, it didn’t prevent student-led prayer?

Another enormous peril based on what mighta-coulda-happened-this-once but didn’t because unfortunately, everything’s working just the way it’s supposed to, constitutionally speaking.

They’ve saved the best for last:

Like the “Jim Crow” laws that promoted segregation, the Blaine Amendment is a discriminatory provision in our Constitution that flies in the face of many of the Oklahoma values we cherish – love of neighbor, reverence for humanity and respect for the right to express religious freedom.

Jim. Crow. Laws.

The Blaine Amendment is like Jim Crow Laws.

We can’t have our statue where we want it and we have to pay for our own kids’ schooling if we want them in church school. In the world of Lankford/Lamb, they are experiencing almost EXACTLY what happened to Blacks for a century after the Civil War – segregation, second-class citizenship, denial of the right to vote, sharecropping, poverty, cross-burning, and lynching.

But the white privilege version. The one with happier music and no actual suffering of any kind.

And by the way… if you can’t “love your neighbor” without altering the state constitution, you’re doing it wrong.

Our hope is that Oklahomans will exercise their compassion for others

Well, their compassion for us, at least. The rich white evangelical males suffering from Jim Crow. Or am I reading that too broadly?

and expand religious freedom for everyone

Again – definitions, people!

on Nov. 8 by voting “Yes” on SQ 790.

You should be offended that two such prominent and powerful Oklahomans consider you – and your faith – unworthy of a more honest or thoughtful argument.

To Get Better Republicans (You Might Have To Vote For Some Democrats)

October 13, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

I haven’t done a very good job being diplomatic this election season. I’ve been too annoyed, too frustrated, and at times a bit too idealistic. It feels like we have the best chance in a generation to make a real difference in state elections this November, and…

We won’t. I’m pretty sure we won’t.

I don’t even know what counts as success in my mind. I’m certainly happy that a few of the crazier options were eliminated in primaries. Several existing problems termed out. The activism and commitment of #OklaEd has already made a difference, right?

Just… agree. Please.

Along the way I’ve been accused of being all kinds of things – some with elements of truth, others simply bizarre. My favorite, though, is being called a socialist. A crazy godless liberal, out to destroy American culture and undermine the One True Faith along the way.

Because those are the two options, apparently – borderline fascist, or jobless hippie reprobate.

The thing is, as I communicate with various legislators and edu-candidates in my efforts to brainwash the masses for #OKElections16, the majority of them don’t really fit their respective party’s supposed mold. There are few true progressives in the mix – Representative Emily Virgin would proudly wear that moniker, I suspect. Candidates Paul Sullivan and Jason Lowe might fit that description. But they’re in the minority.

But most of our Democratic candidates have strong ratings from the NRA. Several are pro-life and pro-traditional family. Very few are running on social issues – the handful who want to legalize marijuana are far more interested in its potential as a revenue source than freeing anyone’s minds and hoping the rest will follow. Most simply want the legislature to meet its basic obligations under the Oklahoma Constitution and stop telling people what they can and can’t believe or who they can and can’t fall in love with.

Asking the government to stick to the constitution and stay out of people’s business used to be a conservative position, didn’t it?

As much as it pains me to admit, there are also more sensible Republicans out there than you’d think. Some currently hold office, others are running – or were, until primaries were settled.

The GOP currently holds substantial power at the state level, and the pressure can be brutal for anyone unwilling to fall into goosestep. Some, like Lisa Kramer and Tom McCloud, were defeated in primaries – essentially at the bidding of their own parties. Their sins weren’t letting gay people have a place to pee, or taking anyone’s guns. They were both pro-life, pro-capitalism, pro-fiscal responsibility candidates… they simply refused to fall into line with ALEC and OCPA marching orders regarding manufactured austerity and elitist, destructive policies towards public education and basic government services.

They let reality and the good of the whole interfere with ideology and the will of their out-of-state fiscal overlords.

I look at other Republican candidates who don’t seem like bad people, or sitting legislators who seem to genuinely want what’s best for Oklahoma and all of its citizens, and I catch glimpses of the sorts of pressures they’re under to swing further and fuhrer towards the Cliff of the True Believers. Some don’t survive challenges from their own parties, while others jerk to the right repeatedly – like a bad shopping cart – in order to save their capital for a handful of issue they consider most essential.

This strategy on the part of the GOP works for several reasons. First and foremost, the extremists have all the money. People with interests far beyond the 4-day school week or whether or not SoonerCare should cover single mothers write big, big checks for scary platforms. Second, primaries – and thus elections in general – are largely controlled by the extremes. Primary voters tend to be the most involved, and they vote at every opportunity.

But it’s the third reason that has me most discombobulated at the moment. And, my Republican friends, I’d like your help recombobulating – together, perhaps.

Tell me if this pattern sounds familiar:

Several Republicans run for the same office – state legislator, governor, whatever. One is crazy right-extreme, one is fairly average as Oklahoma Republicans go, and one is relatively moderate by state standards.

Because it’s primaries – where extremes tend to win out – the candidate running furthest to the right wins the nomination. He or she may represent a very small percentage of Republicans in their realm, but the rest didn’t vote. They have jobs, or don’t like to think about politics because it’s depressing, or otherwise simply don’t get involved. If they DO get involved, it’s not until the “real” elections.

Between the money and the nature of primaries, average or moderate candidates are destroyed – and not just in terms of tallied votes. Their character is maligned, their qualifications belittled, and their right to absorb oxygen the rest of us could be breathing severely questioned.

Soon, most decent Oklahomans not interested in spending tens of thousands of dollars just to have their families strained, years of their lives exhausted, and their character and qualifications assassinated, quickly learn not to get involved in politics.

Leave it to the crazies, in other words.

Then, come November – when a slightly larger percentage of the potential voting population is starting to pay attention – voters are left without moderate choices. Many will show up and mark (R) without a second thought, then turn around and vent on social media about THOSE IDIOTS IN CHARGE OMG WHO ELECTS THESE PEOPLE?!

Ask from whom this hell polls, friend – it polls from thee.

Others will pay slightly more attention and realize they are left with two options – a right-winger they may not really like, and who they don’t believe represents their attitude or goals, and someone with a (D) next to their name who they can only assume wants to initiate state-wide orgies, legalize heroin, make everyone use the same restrooms, and open our borders to any terrorists willing to immediately apply for welfare.

They’ll hold their nose and vote for the guy on the far right. It’s not that much different from what we hear in Presidential elections every year – “I’m not voting FOR X; I’m voting AGAINST Y.”

How do we change this?

First, we need to get involved in state level elections at the earliest possible stages. As soon as candidates file in April, we should be researching, writing, and then volunteering and donating. At the very least, we need to consistently vote in primaries, and get our friends, co-workers, and loved ones to vote as well – even in those damned runoffs, if they happen in our district.

In other words, if you want better choices, you need to do something about it.

Second, and more radically, we need to be willing to vote for that scary (D) person on the ballot if the alternative is more of the same. I assure you, the Left is NOT taking over Oklahoma if you do. I doubt they’ll even be able to muster a good pagan orgy or two in their first term.

More Democrats would merely put some drag on the more extreme behavior of the state GOP. It would be slightly harder to pass blatantly unconstitutional, red-meat bills. It would require slightly more compromise to cut basic services. It wouldn’t be a true balance, but there’d at least be a few more voices at the table.

More Democrats would make it slightly more difficult for the state to do those crazy things you said weren’t your idea and stop-blaming-me-we’re-not-all-like-that-I-don’t-know-who-elects-these-people. A few unexpected (D) wins would say to the powers-that-be that you demand better options if you’re to remain loyal to your party. More reasonable options. People more like… you.

Pay attention to your choices on November 8th, starting now. There’s a good chance that “other” choice on your ballot isn’t the lefty nightmare you picture, but a rational, educated individual. He or she may not believe exactly as you do, but then again – neither do the people you’ve BEEN voting for. The question is, which one is more likely to lead to positive change?

The Republicans used to be the party of facts, even if they hurt your feelings, and accountability, even if it proved uncomfortable to assert. You want a better Republican Party? Expect more of it, starting November 8th.

I Don’t Care Who You Vote For (For President)

October 11, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

This year’s Presidential Elections demonstrate historic clusterfoolery, no doubt. Passions run high on all sides, and while your options are certainly not similar, all are severely flawed.

I’m asking you to look past that for a moment. Something more important needs your attention.

In Oklahoma, as in most states, every single seat in the State House of Representatives is up for grabs. There are even fewer incumbents than usual due to term limits instituted 24 years ago which restrict individuals to 12 total years in the state legislature.

Unless you’re Preston Doerflinger, the math is obvious.

Half of the State Senate seats are being decided as well. In Oklahoma, Senators serve four years, with half up for election every two. That means this November 8th, somewhere in the area of 125 legislative positions across Oklahoma will be decided.

That matters.

It matters to you, your kids, your communities, your pocketbook, your workplace, and your state’s reputation across the rest of the globe.

Most of you are unhappy with the way our state is being run. We’re not all unhappy for the same reasons, and we don’t share the same ideas as to solutions, but I meet very few people who think the economy is rolling along just swimmingly, that earthquakes are awesome, public schools are doing great, overall health and happiness is hitting a zenith, and they wouldn’t so much as tweak it if they could.

I know of virtually no one hoping our legislators ignore the economy even better this coming session, or roll out even more legislation clearly designed to burn through hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal challenges before being overthrown due to blatant unconstitutionality. Again, I realize we don’t agree on the solutions. We may not even see the problems the same way. But most you recognize things aren’t going well.

That’s why I need you to vote.

Go to the Oklahoma State Election Board website and make sure you’re registered. If not, you have until Friday, October 14th to GET REGISTERED. And dammit, get registered. Quit crybabying about the system – or worse, ignoring it altogether – and do your part.

A few simple clicks will tell you your State House District and your State Senate District, as well as your Polling Place – the location at which you will vote on November 8th.

If Sample Ballots aren’t posted, they will be soon – usually about two weeks before the actual elections. That means you can preview them online or print them out so you can research or clarify anything of which you’re not certain ahead of time.

I promise you this is time well spent. However cynically you may be feeling about politics, wondering if you actually influence anything or whether or not your voice can possibly matter, please understand that – at the state level – YOU DO and IT DOES. I do not accept that most Oklahomans want things to be going this way. I contend that we have irresponsible, ideology-driven government because of voter ignorance and voter apathy. My solution is not to tell you what to think or how to vote, but to insist that you DO think and DO vote.

If democracy works even a little, that should improve things considerably.

Take 15 minutes to research your options for the state legislature. The Facebook Group “Oklahoma Parents and Educators for Public Education” has a complete list of races and their recommendations on Facebook. On days the interwebs are happy, you can even access it directly with this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxK1BFvY6f0KM1YtWDFUMFVqSHc/view

I’m covering as many races and issues as I can at #OKElections16. And of course you can always visit candidates’ campaign websites and Facebook pages or Google them all by your lil’ self.

If public education isn’t your main priority, search for information on each candidate related to whatever is. If they don’t address your issues, that by itself probably tells you something. And don’t forget YouTube as an option. Not every candidate has a speech or a promo video posted, but you’d be surprised what you come across searching local politics there. Good times, to be sure.

By which I mean hours of boring hell broken up by moments of great insight or entertainment.

If you’re still feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all, that only means you’re paying attention even though you maybe haven’t so much before. Welcome – we need you, and we’re glad you’re here now. For serious. Have a cookie.

There are, of course, many other things on whatever ballot you’ll see on November 8th. They won’t look the same in every district, but you can get a very good idea what to expect with this 2016 Oklahoma Voter Guide, put together by the League of Women Voters and a variety of other informative entities across the state. It’s non-partisan and full color!

PLEASE DO NOT VOTE STRAIGHT PARTY TICKET when it’s time to fill out your ballot. I’d not presume to tell you who to vote for nationally (well, I would – but not right this second), but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pay attention to individual races and individual names at home.

Politics in Oklahoma aren’t the same as politics everywhere else. An Oklahoma Democrat isn’t necessarily the same creature as a California Democrat or a Massachusetts Democrat. Our ‘lefties’ often have strong approval ratings from the NRA, conservative social values, or other traits which would count as ‘crazy right-winger’ in other parts of the country.

Even Oklahoma Republicans cover quite a range. Some of them are the sorts of bile-spewing demagogues who brand the entire party as haters and nut-jobs, but many are smart people genuinely trying to guide the state along the right path as they see it. I’ve been hard on the state GOP, but I like more Republicans than I don’t. You may feel differently, but that’s the whole point – you simply must educate yourself a bit ahead of time.

If you’re voting for Trump in November, please be thoughtful and educated about the rest of your options on the ballot. It’s not always safe to assume everything will have an (R) or a (D) next to it, or that everything with an (R) will automatically support what you support.

If you’re voting for Clinton in November, please be thoughtful and educated about the rest of your options on the ballot. It’s not always safe to assume everything will have a (D) or an (R) next to it, or that everything with a (D) will automatically support what you support.

If you’re voting for Johnson in November, please be thoughtful and educated about the rest of your options on the ballot. Few of your remaining choices will have an (L) or an (I), so you’ll have to know who and what comes closest to the positions you support.

Finally – and this is a biggie – you may not be planning to vote for President at all come November 8th. You may be one of those so disgusted with the system or your choices that you’ve chosen “a pox on all their houses.” That’s fine – I won’t argue with you about that right now.

Please register, show up, and vote on the other things. Just leave the Presidential part blank. If you write anything in on that part, it will invalidate your entire ballot – a crap law, to be sure, and one I vigorously abhor, but that’s the current reality.

You CAN, however, just not choose a Presidential candidate, and skip to the stuff that matters – the State Questions, your State Legislators, etc. Those races matter, and in those races, every vote matters. For realsies.

Please.