GOP Race for Governor: The Brogdon Train Hasn't Left the Station

It's hardly a big surprise, but Rep. Mary Fallin is primed to the be next governor of Oklahoma. Recent polls suggest that Fallin, a Republican, can beat any Democratic challengers. 

Fallin is also a huge favorite over State Sen. Randy Brogdon of Owasso, a Tenth Amendment true believer and Tea Party type who wants to take the state back to the glory days of the 1930s.

Brogdon has fans in the Tulsa area, including Tulsa blogger Michael Bates. But Brogdon is a long shot at best, as the NewsOn6 has noticed. They put the GOP race this way:

Fallin looks like a shoo-in in the Republican primary, leading her nearest challenger, State Senator Randy Brogdon, by almost 50 points.

So Fallin has a mere 50-point lead in the polls. Looks like Brogdon has a lot of work to do before the primary.

Good luck, Randy. You'll need it.

Annals of Not-So-Compassionate Christian Behavior: Count the Weeks, Fire the Teacher

Check out this story of holier-than-thou "Christian" behavior in Florida. We're just so glad that these school folks never, ever committed any sins of any kind. Never. Could not happen.

Why? Because they are perfect and, well, everybody else is not. They (that is, everybody else) are sinners who have to be punished.

Here's the report:

Newlywed Jarretta Hamilton, an elementary school teacher in her late 30s at Southland Christian School in Florida, went to her supervisors last year to be congratulated on her pregnancy and request maternity leave. But things took an unexpected turn when administrators asked just when, exactly, did she conceive? Refusing to bear false witnesses, Hamilton admitted to the prying busybodies that she had become pregnant three weeks before her wedding day.

In response, Hamilton was fired for engaging in "fornication." Conveniently, this also meant that the school was off the hook for paying maternity leave. Then, in an added insult and violation of Hamilton's privacy, her premarital conception was made public to others in the school and parents.

Doing What's Right: Tulsa Councilor Bynum Offers Support for Gay Employees

Tulsa councilor G. T. Bynum, a conservative Republican, has gone out on a limb, but he's doing the right thing. The limb we are speaking of is Bynum's proposal for the city of Tulsa to protect the rights of the city's gay employees.

This is brave stuff here in T-town, which has a long and dishonorable tradition of discriminating against gay folks.

Tulsa World columnist Wayne Green weighed in on the topic in yesterday's paper, offering a thoughtful review of the issue and giving Bynum credit for doing the right thing. 

We second Green's views and commend Bynum for his fair-minded attitude and and political courage. Read Green's column here.

Tea Party Squabbles: The Movement Loses Steam

We never put much stock in the Tea Party movement. More than anything, it seemed, the Tea Party gang was opposed to so much of modern life that it didn't have a clear sense of what it wanted or how to get there.

It was, we thought, more noise than substance.

Now we learn that the Tea Party crowd is divided and losing steam. Its members are squabbling in Nevada, Virginia and other states.

It's not pretty, but it is interesting to see the so-called mavericks fall apart before they've achieved much of anything.

The Washington Post has taken a look the the Tea Party in light of Tuesday's election. The full story here.

Cloud Coo-Coo Land: Rep. Rex Duncan Loses His Mind

Leave it to intrepid state legislator Rex Duncan to protect us from the evils of foreign law.

It's real and its scary—so says Rep. Duncan. Why those danged old liberal judges are bound to make us follow foreign laws any minute now.

Right. And I've got some pristine land on the Gulf coast you can buy for $100 an acre.

The entire silly story here.

Cash or Fries? Tulsa Robber Gets Food, not Money

Sometimes you just want a good french fry.

So maybe it's no surprise that a Tulsa robber accepted french fries early Thursday instead of the cash he demanded.

A quick-thinking Whataburger employee made the suggestion—and it worked. The Tulsa World story is here.

Sen. Reid's Big Break: Nevada's GOP Candidate Has Far-Right Radical Ties

 Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid got a big boost last night when Republican voters put Sharron Angle, certified Tea Party wacko, on the Nevada ballot.

Angle's views go off the deep end, not a good way to get elected even in Nevada. Here's a summary:

The peculiar ideology of Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee challenging Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada, is perhaps no better illustrated than by her embrace of the patriot group Oath Keepers, whose membership of uniformed soldiers and police take an oath to refuse orders they see as unconstitutional -- including enforcement of gun laws, violations of states' sovereignty, and "any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps."

"We support what the organization stands for," Angle's husband, Ted, told Talking Points Memo DC in a phone interview Monday. "Sharron does."

 The Oath Keepers, by the way, are paranoid in a number of ways, especially in their views that secret detention camps are just around the corner.

Wingnut Watch: Father, Son Charged with Threats to Rep. Stupak

Words have power, of course, especially when the words are crazy enough to inspire actual violence against a public official.

That's why AltTulsa appreciates logic, argument and reason. We want debate and discussion, not bullets and blood.

Unfortunately, a fair number of wingnut conservatives think that it's just fine to whip up hysteria against people they don't like, the consequences be damned.

Except that such anti-everything hysteria can lead to this:

Two men face federal charges for threatening Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) during the healthcare reform debate.

Two men face federal charges for threatening Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) after he voted for healthcare reform.

The U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Michigan on Monday charged Russell Hesch, 73, and his son David Hesch, 50, with conspiring to threaten, assault, kidnap or murder a U.S. official.

Now Open: Philbrook's Egyptian Treasures Show

Critic James Watts has published an illuminating review of the new Egyptian show now at Tulsa's Philbrook Museum.

The show incorporates big themes, especially the desire for immortality, as its title indicates: "To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum."

Read the Tulsa World story here. The go to the Philbrook and see the amazing Egyptian objects.

What Are We Composting? The Onion Reports

Following the tradition of meaningless statistics pioneered by the fine folks at USA Today, we present The Onion's idiotic chart of America's composting habits.

See the publication's ridiculous StatShot here.

Lyin' Again: Daily Show's Video Footage Proves Beck's Cluelessness

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Glenn Beck Airs Israeli Raid Footage
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

South Carolina's Enlightened GOP Leadership: Too Many 'Ragheads'

 AT would like to think that political discourse in this country was civil and even thoughtful.

But no. We're hopelessly naive. 

As evidence, we cite this story from the Great State of South Carolina:

On a talk show tonight in South Carolina, State Senator Jake Knotts told listeners "we already have one raghead in the White House, we don't need a raghead in the governor's mansion." Obama is ... well, Obama and "raghead" number two is gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley, who is the child of Sikh immigrants from the Punjab.

Photos from the Gulf: Pictures BP Doesn't Want Americans to See

An AP photographer has taken some disturbing photos of oil-covered wildlife along the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. It's bad, worse that we imagined.

Think Progress has posted the photos here.

Egyptian Treasures Opening at Tulsa's Philbrook Museum

A show of Egyptian artifacts is coming to T-town. The Philbrook's new show will open Sunday.

The Egyptian art and artifacts—120 in all—are from the Brooklyn Museum but they will be on display in Tulsa all summer long.

The Tulsa World has the report. A link to the story is here.

Latest from the Conspiracy Front: Survivalists Use BP Disaster to Predict FEMA Camps

The Conspiracy Theorists never stop. They don't even slow down—there's always a new and bizarre plot out there to enslave hard-working Americans.

The latest, detailed by the good folks at Mother Jones—is the secret plot to round up Gulf Coast citizens and put them in FEMA trailer camps, all in the name of public safety.

There's no actual evidence for this plan, of course, but this never stops the True Believers. Using the Internet and other forms of publicity, they have pushed this new and oh-so-devious secret plan.

Before long, Right-wingers everywhere will be demanding Obama to stop the (imaginary) madness. Yawn.

The full—and completely nutty—story here.

GOP Follies: Ethically Challenged Ensign Establishes Legal Defense Fund

Conservative Republicans like to claim that they have strong core principles and they stick to these principles.  

The record shows otherwise. 

Nevada's conservative GOP senator, John Ensign, is a case in point. Ensign claims to be a Christian and a True Blue Right-winger, but he hasn't lived that way. There was that sexual relationship with the wife of a former staffer.

Now, seeking reelection, Sen. Ensign has started a fund to cover his legal fees, expenses he wouldn't have if he had lived up to his own principles.

Read the story here.