On Behalf of All Sensible Oklahomans
October 31st 2008 05:13
As much as I've always despised the way many people in my home state of Oklahoma have presented themselves, what I've seen in my state during this election has made me downright embarrassed to call myself an Oklahoma native.
The state of Oklahoma is clearly a "red" state. It will probably remain that way for some time.
But it seems more than that. It seems to go beyond just being a red state. Sometimes I think that I'm living in a cesspool of neoconservatism.
The commercials for the incumbent GOP jackasses John Sullivan and Jim Inhofe (both of whom are two of the most conservative members in the Senate) warn ominously that their Democratic challengers (Georgianna Oliver and Andrew Rice, respectively) are "tied to Barack Obama" or "share a campaign office with Barack Obama". Jim Inhofe's ad even goes so far as to assert that he knows how all of us Okies think by arguing that Andrew Rice doesn't think like Oklahomans. Oh really? Since when does Jackass Jim get to decide how Oklahomans think? Surely they can't think that everyone in Oklahoma considers it a bad thing to be tied with Barack Obama. But it doesn't matter, because most of the people in Oklahoma, especially the rural towns with triple-digit populations, buy straight into the redneck agenda that any candidate running for office in the state is required to subscribe to if they want a fighting chance at winning. You just can't run for office in this state without being endorsed by the NRA, and mentioning that endorsement with pride over and over again in your ads.
And that brings me to my point. A plea: please don't think that we're all like the politicians we elect. Please don't think that we all subscribe to their mindless right-wing agenda. Not everyone in Oklahoma is a bible-thumping, right-wing, gun-carrying homophobe. Many, sadly, are, but not all of us. When Jim Inhofe got up on the floor of the Senate with a large picture of his family and proudly declared that "in the recorded history of our family, we've never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship", it disgusted me, and made me embarrassed to be from the state that voted him into office, and has voted to keep him in office for 22 years, and will probably vote to keep him in office again.
I'm embarrassed by the fact that it is considered a bad thing if a candidate is supported by a gay activist group, or isn't endorsed by the NRA.
I'm embarrassed to be from a state where all you have to do is call your opponent a "liberal" and you've essentially sealed your victory. I'm embarrassed to be represented by people, and I use that term loosely, like Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, and John Sullivan. I'm embarrassed that these people take to the floors of Congress and represent our state with their idiocy.
Yes, its true that we have a Democratic governor. And its true that Tulsa, where I'm from, is more "hip". In fact, its probably as urban as it gets in Oklahoma. But its still a part of the redneck culture that defines this state. So please, the next time you see a news report about cows breaking loose or some redneck burning an effigy of Obama hanging from a tree, remember this: every state has their idiots. We just happen to have more per capita.
Also, we do not drive horses around, we do not live in tepees or carry our babies around in a papoose, and we're not all braindead bible-thumpers. Now back to your regularly-scheduled blogging.
The state of Oklahoma is clearly a "red" state. It will probably remain that way for some time.
But it seems more than that. It seems to go beyond just being a red state. Sometimes I think that I'm living in a cesspool of neoconservatism.
The commercials for the incumbent GOP jackasses John Sullivan and Jim Inhofe (both of whom are two of the most conservative members in the Senate) warn ominously that their Democratic challengers (Georgianna Oliver and Andrew Rice, respectively) are "tied to Barack Obama" or "share a campaign office with Barack Obama". Jim Inhofe's ad even goes so far as to assert that he knows how all of us Okies think by arguing that Andrew Rice doesn't think like Oklahomans. Oh really? Since when does Jackass Jim get to decide how Oklahomans think? Surely they can't think that everyone in Oklahoma considers it a bad thing to be tied with Barack Obama. But it doesn't matter, because most of the people in Oklahoma, especially the rural towns with triple-digit populations, buy straight into the redneck agenda that any candidate running for office in the state is required to subscribe to if they want a fighting chance at winning. You just can't run for office in this state without being endorsed by the NRA, and mentioning that endorsement with pride over and over again in your ads.
And that brings me to my point. A plea: please don't think that we're all like the politicians we elect. Please don't think that we all subscribe to their mindless right-wing agenda. Not everyone in Oklahoma is a bible-thumping, right-wing, gun-carrying homophobe. Many, sadly, are, but not all of us. When Jim Inhofe got up on the floor of the Senate with a large picture of his family and proudly declared that "in the recorded history of our family, we've never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship", it disgusted me, and made me embarrassed to be from the state that voted him into office, and has voted to keep him in office for 22 years, and will probably vote to keep him in office again.
I'm embarrassed by the fact that it is considered a bad thing if a candidate is supported by a gay activist group, or isn't endorsed by the NRA.
I'm embarrassed to be from a state where all you have to do is call your opponent a "liberal" and you've essentially sealed your victory. I'm embarrassed to be represented by people, and I use that term loosely, like Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, and John Sullivan. I'm embarrassed that these people take to the floors of Congress and represent our state with their idiocy.
Yes, its true that we have a Democratic governor. And its true that Tulsa, where I'm from, is more "hip". In fact, its probably as urban as it gets in Oklahoma. But its still a part of the redneck culture that defines this state. So please, the next time you see a news report about cows breaking loose or some redneck burning an effigy of Obama hanging from a tree, remember this: every state has their idiots. We just happen to have more per capita.
Also, we do not drive horses around, we do not live in tepees or carry our babies around in a papoose, and we're not all braindead bible-thumpers. Now back to your regularly-scheduled blogging.
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