Wildlife in T-town: The Return of the Red Fox

The red fox is back—and living in Tulsa.

The Tulsa World published a report Monday on the return of the red fox, once rare in Oklahoma. Reporter Jarrel Wade says that the fox has returned and some of them live in the middle of T-town.

We can testify to the fox's return. We've seen them more than once crossing the River Parks trail near downtown Tulsa. We've also seen them in Brookside.

According to the World, foxes aren't especially dangerous to people, though they aren't pets and should not be touched. Foxes feed off of rodents such as mice, rats, and rabbits.

If you're out early or late in mid-town Tulsa, look for red foxes and their distinctive bushy tails. They're pretty amazing just to watch.

Oops! False Tulsa TV Refinery Report Causes Oil Price Spike

A Tulsa television's station's erroneous report about a fire at the Wynnewood refinery in south central Oklahoma caused a brief spike in oil prices today, according to wire reports.

Reuters reported that "oil prices jumped briefly on Wednesday after a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma -- the No. 62 U.S. media market -- posted an erroneous story about a refinery fire on its Web site."

According to the wire service, KOTV Channel 6 reported this morning that a lightning strike had caused a fire at the Oklahoma refinery. The report, Reuters said, sparked "a flurry of excitement among energy traders and boosting U.S. crude prices 40 cents."

Only one tiny problem: There was no fire at the refinery today. The station has corrected the story.

Update: Sen. Coburn's White House Speculation Nixed for Now

As we noted yesterday, The American Spectator published an unattributed piece that Oklahoma's Tom Coburn might be considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination.

Today, thanks to the Tulsa World, we learn that the magazine's speculation is simply, well, speculation. The World is reporting that Sen. Coburn is absolutely not "mulling" a run for the White House.

The World's report makes sense to us. As we said yesterday, Sen. Coburn's chances in a national political campaign are slim to none. Besides, we see today that television star and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson is making serious noises about running for the GOP nomination.

Unlike Sen. Coburn, Thompson has name recognition. After all, he's an actor—just like the patron saint of modern American conservatism, Ronald Reagan.

Is Coburn Planning a White House Bid? Conservative Magazine Speculates That He Might

The "Washington Prowler" column in today's The American Spectator magazine says that Sen. Tom Coburn is "mulling an entry" into the Republican presidential race.

According to the magazine, Coburn is "receiving encouragement from a small group of wealthy businessmen and philanthropists in the Oklahoma-Kansas-Texas region of the country."

The Spectator quotes an unidentified Coburn adviser who says the senator has no timetable or "fundraising imperative" now, but is considering entering the race. "What's important for him is that there is no other true, Reagan conservative in the race, and he thinks he can fill that void," the adviser told the magazine.

"He's all about faith, lower taxes, and staying the course in Iraq," the adviser said.

Could it be? Could Oklahoma's junior senator really make it to the White House?

In a word: No.

Coburn's name recognition is nil outside of Oklahoma and certain conservative circles. And even with some high-rolling supporters in this region, the senator would face major fundraising obstacles as well. Beyond that, there are also a number of statements the senator has made and positions he's staked out over the years that won't serve him well in a national election.

For starters, as noted above, he's for staying the course in Iraq, something opposed by about 70 percent of American voters today.

Still, a Coburn candidacy could be interesting. Stay tuned.

Headlines We Wish Weren't True

A depressing headline we read today on The Huffington Post:

Ten GI Deaths On Memorial Day Make May Deadliest Month This Year In Iraq

Novelist Hosseini Coming to Tulsa Bookstore in June

We noted last week that novelist Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, was out with his new book, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Now we learn that the author will be making an appearance in Tulsa in late June to promote his new novel. Hosseini will be at the Barnes & Noble store on 41st Street (just east of Yale) on Thursday, June 28 at 7 p.m.

Put this event on your literary calendar. Fans of The Kite Runner—and there are many—will want to be there.

New in Print: Congressman Cunningham's Corruption Chronicled in 'The Wrong Stuff'

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham was a Vietnam war hero. On one amazing day as a Navy fighter pilot, he shot down three enemy airplanes.

Unfortunately for Duke Cunningham, this remarkable achievement will not be his legacy. Instead, Duke Cunningham will go down in history as one of the most corrupt congressman in history.

Cunningham's path from war hero to corrupt politician is chronicled in a new book by four San Diego reporters. The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Saga of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the Most Corrupt Congressman Ever Caught, was published earlier this month by Public Affairs.

In the book, reporters Marcus Stern, Jerry Kammer, Dean Calbreath, and George Condon explain how Cunningham funneled congressional "earmarks" to defense contractors of his own choosing. The contractors went on to "take care" of their favorite congressman, "care" that included a lavish million-dollar home, a yacht, expensive food and wine, and—yes!—women (prostitutes, in this case).

Did we mention that Cunningham is a proud California Republican?

Find out more about Cunningham and the whole culture of congressional corruption in The Wrong Stuff, available on line and at your local bookstore (we recommend Steve's Books on Harvard in midtown Tulsa).

Politicizing the Process: Partisanship Trumps Competence in Bushworld

Courtesy of today's Los Angeles Times, the latest example of the Bush Administration's commitment to Republican government instead of competence, experience or public service:

Immigration judges lack apt backgrounds: A growing number of the jurists have little or no experience in that area of law. Some have strong Republican resumes.

Heck of a job, Brownie.

Poet of the Day: Theodore Roethke

Today is the birthday of one of our favorite poets, Theodore Roethke. That fact prompted us to pull an old volume of Roethke poems off the shelf, where we were reminded of why we like this writer.

Our Roethke book, a paperback edition of The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, was published in 1975 by Doubleday Anchor, after the poet's death. The collection includes some wonderful work, including the haunting and lovely poem, "Elegy for Jane: My Student, Thrown by a Horse." Anyone who has children and fears for their safety, as all parents do, will be moved by Roethke's lines.

Then there's the beautiful poem called "The Waking." It's a poem that is so evocative that we've never forgotten its mysterious language.

Even the opening line suggests Roethke's lyrical power: "I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow."

Summer Reading: The Story of Carlisle's Indian Footballers

The AltTulsa team loves books and, with summer approaching, we've been scouring book reviews, bookstores and book websites in search of interesting summer reading.

One recent book that caught our attention is Sally Jenkins' new work on football and its significance at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. As history buffs may remember, Carlisle was a famous early football school, home of such famous players at Oklahoma's Jim Thorpe.

The Real All Americans: The Game that Changed a Game, a People, a Nation, published by Doubleday, recounts the story of a famous 1912 game between the Indians, led by Thorpe, and the West Point cadets, whose team included Dwight Eisenhower.

National Public Radio had an good interview with Jenkins and her book last weekend. Look for it at www.npr.org/ templates/story/story.php? storyId=10217979.

More News Headlines We Already Knew

A headline in today's New York Times:

Poll Shows Opposition to Iraq War at All Time High

Bush Bashers Draw Loud Honks In Brookside

Honk for impeachment.

That was the message this afternoon in Tulsa's Brookside neighborhood when a small group of anti-Bush demonstrators turned up with impeachment signs in front of Channel 2.

More surprising than the demonstrators was the number of honkers on South Peoria. In the time we were listening, the honks were coming fast and furious.

We know that anti-Bush honking is a poor measure of local political sentiment. But it's hardly a good sign for the Tulsa County Republicans when a few demonstrators can stir up a ruckus with a few anti-Bush signs.

Oklahoma's Ralph Ellison Explained in New Biography

The writer Ralph Ellison, a native Oklahoman, wrote one of the most acclaimed novels of the twentieth century, Invisible Man. But Ellison was a troubled and complex man, who never lived up to his potential after the the publication of Invisible Man in 1952.

We mention all this because of the buzz surrounding Arnold Rampersad's new biography of Ellison, in bookstores now. (We saw copies this week at the Border's on 21st Street). From the reviews we've seen, the book is not for the casual reader (it's 657 pages).

But serious students of Oklahoma's literary heritage will need to read this book. Both as a person and as a writer, Ellison was a paradox. Rampersad, a scholar whose previous biographies include Langston Hughes and Jackie Robinson, has peeled back the layers of Ellison's life.

Based on what we can tell from the reviews, Rampersad has revealed Ellison's strengths as well as his many demons and contradictions. The Nation's reviewer, Michael Anderson, calls the biography "compassionate yet devastating." As we said, serious Oklahoma readers will want to check it out.

Author Khaled Hosseini's New Novel Out Today

Khaled Hosseini, best-selling author of The Kite Runner, has published a new novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. It was officially published today.

We heard Hosseini earlier today on Tulsa's NPR station, KWGS, where he proved to be a gracious guest. And based on the many compliments he received from listeners who called in, The Kite Runner touched a lot of American readers.

We concur. The Kite Runner is an amazing story that moved us when we read it and has stayed with us ever since. It certainly provides a glimpse of what life was like for young men growing up in Afghanistan in the 1970s.

We don't know much about A Thousand Splendid Suns, but it it's anything like his first novel, American readers will find another powerful and moving story.

Tulsa World Calls for Gonzales to Go

With the report this week of his shameful and manipulative midnight visit to the sickbed of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales' reputation has sunk to a new low.

Today, for instance, the Tulsa World took the current AG to task in a tough-minded editorial. Not surprisingly, the World cited Gonzales' hospital visit to Ashcroft, an action in which Gonzales was trying to manipulate a sick and drugged-up Ashcroft into signing off on a warrantless domestic spying program that he knew to be illegal.

This revelation has caused Gonzales' support on Capitol Hill to erode. Slowly but surely, even Republican senators—including Oklahoma's Tom Coburn—are losing faith in the AG.

As the World correctly notes, "Gonzales has not covered himself in glory." It's time for him to go.

Republican Bad Behavior: McCain Drops the Ole 'F-Bomb'

Some Republican talking heads go on and on about the moral superiority of conservative philosophy. They call it "moral clarity."

Except that right-wing actions often fail that test.

The latest failure of moral clarity comes from Arizona Sen. John McCain, a leading Republican presidential candidate. In a heated exchange this week over immigration legislation with Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a fellow Republican, McCain told the Texan to "F*** off!" According to media reports we've seen, it's not the first time McCain has used this expression in public life.

Dropping the ole "F-Bomb." Apparently, it's not just for rappers and gang-bangers any more.