Thin-skinned Legislator Sounds Off: Enemy Media 'Hate Everything We Represent'

It's only February, but we may have a winner in the contest for the Most Thin-skinned Oklahoma Politician award.

The hands-down winner this year is Rep. Don Armes, a hyperbolic Republican from Faxon, and one of the legislators recently warned by the Oklahoma Tax Commission for not filing his state income state returns.

But the real problem lies elsewhere, Armes told the Oklahoman. It is—we shoulda known—"the liberal media." "We are all under the microscope, and the media will stop at nothing to tear us apart," Armes added.

This may be news to most Oklahomans, people who may read the Daily Oklahoman and the Tulsa World, papers not exactly in the mold of the Daily Worker.

But no matter. Armes knows there's an Oklahoma liberal media conspiracy out there somewhere.

Notably, Armes cites no specific example of a liberal media outlet nor any link between the embarrassing tax news and a partisan attack on Oklahoma Republicans. As it happens, a number of Democrats have been named in the tax stories as well.

Finally, Armes seems unaware of who pays his salary and the fact that democracy, open government, and a free press include the idea of legislators actually standing for office as public servants (not private citizens) who are expected to set a good example and live by the same rules the rest of us have to follow.

But maybe that's too complex for Rep. Armes, a politician so lame and helpless that he blames his problems on a cliche.