– AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our speaker this week will be Mr. Paul Jacob, President of Citizens in Charge, an organization headquartered in Lake Ridge, Virginia. Mr. Jacob will be speaking about what I believe are trumped-up charges by Oklahoma’s Attorney General Drew Edmondson, against the "Oklahoma Three." Mr. Jacob, along with 2 other folks, have been charged with criminal violations regarding one of our past petition efforts. Mr. Jacob believes Edmondson is seeking to frighten and intimidate citizens away from the initiative process that was designed to give us a check on our government. Mr. Jacob has indicated his intentions to meet Edmondson’s threat head-on by defeating his attack in court and restoring voice to the very process Edmondson seeks to silence. This case has received national attention and we are privileged to have Paul Jacob come and speak to us for a second time. For more information on this case before Wednesday’s meeting, log on to www.freepauljacob.com. In addition Mr. Jacob will be hosting a seminar this coming Saturday, titled: Reforming the Reform Process - How to Restore Oklahoma’s Voter Initiative. See the announcement section in this e-mail for time, location and the list of speakers. We will also recognize our veterans during our meeting this Wednesday in honor of Veterans Day which is Tuesday the 11th.
– ELECTION MUSINGS AND INFO
Oklahoma aside, it is clear a majority of the rest of the nation has lost its ability to elect good people, candidates who are capable of producing quality government. Our government schools have been remarkably successful in producing kids who are "dumbed down" to just the right amount while being indoctrinated into an un-American socialist/fascist agenda all at the same time. While most Oklahoman’s didn’t want to have anything to do with Obama, I don’t want to let Oklahoma Republicans completely off the hook as we voted for McCain in the primaries (ugh). Did anyone notice the recent article in the Oklahoman where Toby Keith announced he would be switching from the Democrat party to an independent? He became fed up with the vitriolic and intellectually dishonest attacks by Democrats throughout the campaign. In particular was his disgust in how Sarah Palin was treated. Of course since the election is over, some of the slime from within the McCain campaign are leaking (rumors, lies or truth ?) to the press in an attempt to blame Palin for the loss.
Personally, I really like Palin for her social conservatism, her communication skills, her courage, and her plain-spokenness and some of her ideological positions. While I sure don’t agree with some of her fiscal and foreign policy statements, I am not so sure we really know where she stands on some of those issues. After all, it was her duty as the VP candidate to support McCain’s positions and not stray too far out on her own.
I have an idea. We Okies ought to send a message to those snarky, arrogant Northeastern Republicans and the mainstream media types who so dislike Sarah Palin and have tried to destroy her. The message I am going to suggest would thank her for her hard work and extreme sacrifices during the campaign.
Here is my idea. Many people may have thought they were voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin, but they were not. In Oklahoma, those who voted for the Republican ticket were actually voting for 7 individuals known as "electors." They will attend the electoral college some time in the near future to cast their votes for the McCain/Palin choice. While they are pledged to vote For McCain, they actually can vote otherwise if they choose. It has happened before.
Therefore, I now give my permission as a citizen of Oklahoma for those electors to switch their vote from John McCain to Sarah Palin for President. Since McCain lost, it won’t matter other than to lower his vote count. But it would send a message that Oklahomans want someone more conservative than John McCain. It would say we want a person with strong Christian values and someone the establishment happens not to care for.
Congratulations to Dana Murphy for her victory over the sitting Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth, who was appointed to the position a little over a year and a half ago by Governor Henry. Even though the Oklahoman, the Tulsa World, the Edmond Sun, the Oklahoma Gazette and probably many more publications endorsed Roth and even though he raised about twice as much money as Dana Murphy (Dana spent nearly half of her money in the primary so she was outspent in the general election 4 to 1), Dana still managed a huge upset.
To that end a special thanks to the group, Mothers Organized for Moral Standards (M.O.M.S.) for their efforts to educate Oklahomans about Mr. Roth’s homosexual values and pose this question: Does Jim Roth represent your Oklahoma values? Oklahoma values always seem to be a part of election rhetoric. Of course anytime someone does that kind of an education effort and are willing to ask a question such as that, some people will answer yes and some will answer no.
In addition, a representative of M.O.M.S. asked if OCPAC members and friends could help to distribute any left over postcards for which they didn’t have the money to mail. To that end, many people helped to put several thousand postcards on vehicles in church parking lots on the two Sundays before the election. Some of the communities selected were Jones, Choctaw, Meeker, Seminole, Konawa, Shawnee, Tecumseh, Chandler, Stroud, Luther, Wellston, Seward, El Reno, Weatherford, Clinton, Chickasha, Anadarko, Lawton, Duncan, Wynewood, Pauls Valley, Purcell, Lexington, Ada, Broken Bow, Sallisaw, Manford, Terlton and a few other I probably missed or didn’t know about. A big thanks to everyone for your help.
OCPAC supported 22 candidates during this election cycle. Thirteen were elected to office for a 59% average. Over the past 5 election cycles we have now supported 72 different candidates with 35 of them having been elected to office. The members of OCPAC are not interested in just supporting someone who has a sure chance of winning. We are looking for people who are conservative with a reasonable chance of winning. Over the years we have taken some chances on candidates who were a long shot. Some of them have won and some have not. Of those that have won, they tend to be at the tope on the conservative index.
The members of OCPAC can be pleased with our efforts as I believe we are helping to move Oklahoma toward a more conservative state.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
– TULSA AREA –
Tuesday, November 11th U.S. Senator Tom Coburn will speak to the Republican Women’s Club of Tulsa at an 11:30 a.m. luncheon. The location will be the Holiday Inn Select at I-44 and Yale Ave. The meeting is open to the public and the cost is $12. For reservations call (918) 742-8822 or online, tulsarwc@cox.net.
– Wednesday, November 12th The Tulsa County Republican Mens Club will meet at 12 noon for the program with lunch earlier. The location will be the China King Restaurant, 1330 East 71st Street. The program will feature candidates from the recent election as well as lawmakers who will discuss the up-coming legislative session. For more information contact Bob McDowell at (918) 481-1051.
– OKC AREA –
Wednesday morning, November 12th will be the regular monthly meeting for the Business and Professional chapter of the John Birch Society. The location will be the Character First Training Center, 520 West Main in downtown OKC. Breakfast is served at 7:00 a.m. with the meeting beginning at 7:30. I have been asked to present a perspective on the recent elections and where we go from here.
– This Saturday morning, November the 15th, will be the conference I mentioned in the Agenda paragraph titled: Reforming the Reform Process
- How to Restore Oklahoma’s Voter Initiative. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. and last until noon. The location will be the Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center Hotel, 10 North Broadway in downtown OKC. There is no cost to attend.
Speakers will include State Senator Randy Brogdon (R-Owasso), City Sentinel Managing Editor Patrick McGuigan, former Republican candidate for governor, Bob Sullivan from Tulsa, Brandon Dutcher with the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), OCU law professor Andrew Spiropolous and former U.S. Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel. I urge folks to attend this seminar if at all possible as the ability to succeed in a petition drive so that citizens may be allowed to vote on an issue is at risk. That is unless the petition is about a subject the establishment is in approval.
– COMMENTS ABOUT LAST WEEK’S MEETING
I first want to thank Speaker Chris Benge and soon to be Senate President Pro-Tem Glen Coffee for taking the time on such an important day (first day after the election) to be our speakers at our OCPAC meeting. Senator Coffee has attended several OCPAC meetings over the years, but this was a first for Speaker Benge. We had some interesting discussion on "corporate welfare" an area that many members of OCPAC oppose and these two leaders have supported on some occasions.
Speaker Benge related information about a national meeting of state legislators he had attended where the discussion was why don’t we all quit corporate welfare, yet no one wanted to be the first to start.
Senator Coffee related the difficulties with various ideological differences from within the Republican ranks and his efforts to find that common ground to be able to move the best legislation forward as possible.
In my estimation, one of the great challenges for conservatives is to convince the people and business community in the state of Oklahoma about the superiority of free enterprise which would then not be burdened with heavy taxation or excessive regulations. To remove all business taxes and minimize regulations is economic incentive within itself.
Another challenge is to help people see that corporate welfare is actually redistribution of wealth, or in other words a certain level of socialism and is thus immoral. I would suggest that all re- distribution of wealth is immoral and is not the same thing as funding the proper functions of government. If the citizens of Oklahoma understand that issue as well as a majority of lawmakers, then Oklahoma will lead the way to restoring an economic system based on free markets and the entrepreneurial spirit. Just remember, when we remove business taxes and eliminate excessive regulations, we reduce the cost of producing goods and services. Thus we make anything produced in Oklahoma more competitive in the national and global economies.
There were actually 3 articles in last Thursday’s Oklahoman related to our meeting. The first two, on page 2, were reports on the comments by Speaker Benge and Senator Coffee. Then on page 5 there was a good article by Michael McNutt about our meeting. I want to comment on two points.
The article started off by implying I didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere by talking about the presidential election. The reason is fairly simple. While I sometimes comment about national politics and we sometimes have programs related to such, the main thrust of OCPAC is state government. In addition, Oklahoma’s performance for the Presidential election was easily predictable and the same held true for all the Congressional seats. It was a good observation by McNutt and while there was plenty of discussion about the national elections among our members and friends before the meeting started, I didn’t want to burn precious time with such discussion at our meeting.
The other thing I want to correct was the mention in the early part of the article about our "monthly" meeting. Just so no one is confused, our meetings are weekly, not monthly. Toward the end of the article when describing OCPAC, Mr. McNutt did mention we have met every Wednesday except once for the past 17 years. I will try to remember to bring the article and tape it on the wall for anyone wanting to read if you didn’t see it in the Oklahoman.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ON TUESDAY & OCPAC IN THE NEWS
– AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
We will have two speakers this Wednesday. Speaker of the House Chris Benge (R-Tulsa) and Senate Co-President Pro-Tem, Glen Coffee (R- Bethany, Warr Acres and West OKC). By Wednesday morning Senator Coffee may have dropped the "co" part of his title and he may be on the way to becoming the President Pro-Tem. I have asked these Republican leaders to give us a run-down on the elections and perhaps more importantly a glimpse into a legislative agenda for next year. If you have not met these men as yet this will be an excellent opportunity.
If you have questions or ideas for legislation, then come prepared for the Q&A session following their talks. You won’t want to miss this meeting.
– THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ON TUESDAY
Regardless of who wins this Tuesday, perhaps one of the best things to come out of this whole process is the discussion on "re- distribution"of tax dollars and its definition as "socialism." America has been trending toward an economic and political mixture of socialism, fascism and liberty for some time now. During this transition, socialism and fascism have been growing, with liberty and the ability to own and control your own private property on the wane.
Americans have been acting like the proverbial frog in a pan of water on top of a stove. Being a cold blooded animal, its body temperature adjusts to gradual temperature changes without regard to danger. Given enough time, the frog’s blood will eventually boil and kill the unwary creature. In the same way, socialism has been increasing thanks to our education industry which indoctrinates rather than educates and then of course Hollywood and the mainstream media which promotes such bilge, then ignores or attempts to destroy any contrarian information or opinion.
Whether you want to call it liberalism, socialism, fascism or communism, they are all closely related cousins which all lead toward tyranny. I have been saying for a long time now that Obama is a Marxist. I believe he made a determination as a young man and was helped along the way by various communists, socialists, environmentalists, feminists and others to eventually rise to a very prominent position.
The following description of Obama by the British journalist Melanie Philips of the Spectator (UK) perhaps best describes Obama: "You have to pinch yourself - a Marxist radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshiped with, befriended, endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprising black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marsixts, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters, is on the verge of becoming the President of the United States. Apparently it’s considered impolite to say so."
In the future, regardless of who wins, conservatives are going to have to attack the ugly twins of socialism and fasicm on an ideological and moral basis, or we will complete the loss of this nation as it was envisioned by our Founding Fathers. I can’t stand John McCain, but when it comes to the lesser of two evils, it is not even close. Obama, an out and out Marxist, is the most dangerous person to ever ascend to the candidacy of the President.
Based on the congressional results from 2 years ago, the expected further gains by Democrats in this election cycle as well as the fact that Obama is a possible winner, it just goes to show how much we Americans have lost the ability to choose good leaders. I know we Republicans governed too much like liberal Democrats rather than conservative Republicans for the 6 years we had control of the White House as well as congress. I also agree we Republicans should have been punished.
However, rather than strategic punishment by eliminating just a few of the most liberal Republicans, Americans turned control over to the Democrats. That is like saying, we are mad at those amateur, minor league mess-ups, so now we are going to give control to the professional, major league mess-ups to run things for a while. God help our stupidity and immorality.
To wrap up this segment, please go vote on the important races other than President like Jim Inhofe for Senate and Dana Murphy for Corporation Commission. I have heard some people say they may not even take the time to vote since they are confident the John McCain will win in Oklahoma.
– LAST MINUTE OUT OF STATE MONEY.
It appears there has been a huge sum of out of state money coming into Oklahoma at the last moment to pay for TV commercials to defeat Republicans. In central Oklahoma the main target appears to be Senator Jim Reynolds (R-Del City). I didn’t think this race would be close but perhaps internal polling shows Jim as being vulnerable. The only way this could be close is the NAME of the person the Democrats found to run against Senator Reynolds. His name is David Boren and yes, there will be voters so ill informed as to think it is the same David Boren who serves as the President of Oklahoma University of which he is not.
– OCPAC IN THE NEWS
For this election cycle OCPAC has raised around $33,000 for our efforts. Thirty thousand of that went to support conservative candidates, $2,000 of that went for a voter education effort and the final $1,000 went for an incumbent accountability project.
This past Wednesday, Michael McNutt of the Oklahoman broke a story about our accountability project as we mailed postcards into the district of Dr. Doug Cox (R-Grove). Representative Cox was selected by our members as the RINO (Republican In Name Only) of the year. We wanted to inform the Republican voters in his district as to just how liberal this pro-abortion Republican happens to be. The final paragraph on the post card states the following: "With a 57 to 44 majority, Republicans can well afford to give up this seat. If the good citizens of District 5 send Rep, Cox back home, it will send a signal to other Republicans to govern like conservatives and not liberal Democrats."
This is what could be called strategic punishment for Republicans straying too far from conservative principles and the tenants of the Republican Party platform. Twenty five (25) Democrats in the House and Senate scored higher than Representative Cox on this year’s Conservative Index published by the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper.
The Republican Party will never become an effective force for conservative change until we learn to clean our own house.
The other situation regarding OCPAC being in the news revolves around our relationship with M.O.M.S. (Mothers Organized for a Moral Society). There is a good article by Scott Cooper of the Oklahoma Gazette about the short term corporation commission race between Dana Murphy and Jim Roth. The article reports that we accepted a small fee from M.O.M.S. to share our P.O. Box so they could use as much of their money as possible to mail out the educational post cards about Jim Roth. The article also reveals that OCPAC contributed to M.O.M.S. The article is in the current issue of the Gazette which will be in your favorite restaurants until sometime on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Pick up a copy as it worth the read.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com.
We will have two speakers this Wednesday. Speaker of the House Chris Benge (R-Tulsa) and Senate Co-President Pro-Tem, Glen Coffee (R- Bethany, Warr Acres and West OKC). By Wednesday morning Senator Coffee may have dropped the "co" part of his title and he may be on the way to becoming the President Pro-Tem. I have asked these Republican leaders to give us a run-down on the elections and perhaps more importantly a glimpse into a legislative agenda for next year. If you have not met these men as yet this will be an excellent opportunity.
If you have questions or ideas for legislation, then come prepared for the Q&A session following their talks. You won’t want to miss this meeting.
– THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ON TUESDAY
Regardless of who wins this Tuesday, perhaps one of the best things to come out of this whole process is the discussion on "re- distribution"of tax dollars and its definition as "socialism." America has been trending toward an economic and political mixture of socialism, fascism and liberty for some time now. During this transition, socialism and fascism have been growing, with liberty and the ability to own and control your own private property on the wane.
Americans have been acting like the proverbial frog in a pan of water on top of a stove. Being a cold blooded animal, its body temperature adjusts to gradual temperature changes without regard to danger. Given enough time, the frog’s blood will eventually boil and kill the unwary creature. In the same way, socialism has been increasing thanks to our education industry which indoctrinates rather than educates and then of course Hollywood and the mainstream media which promotes such bilge, then ignores or attempts to destroy any contrarian information or opinion.
Whether you want to call it liberalism, socialism, fascism or communism, they are all closely related cousins which all lead toward tyranny. I have been saying for a long time now that Obama is a Marxist. I believe he made a determination as a young man and was helped along the way by various communists, socialists, environmentalists, feminists and others to eventually rise to a very prominent position.
The following description of Obama by the British journalist Melanie Philips of the Spectator (UK) perhaps best describes Obama: "You have to pinch yourself - a Marxist radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshiped with, befriended, endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprising black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marsixts, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters, is on the verge of becoming the President of the United States. Apparently it’s considered impolite to say so."
In the future, regardless of who wins, conservatives are going to have to attack the ugly twins of socialism and fasicm on an ideological and moral basis, or we will complete the loss of this nation as it was envisioned by our Founding Fathers. I can’t stand John McCain, but when it comes to the lesser of two evils, it is not even close. Obama, an out and out Marxist, is the most dangerous person to ever ascend to the candidacy of the President.
Based on the congressional results from 2 years ago, the expected further gains by Democrats in this election cycle as well as the fact that Obama is a possible winner, it just goes to show how much we Americans have lost the ability to choose good leaders. I know we Republicans governed too much like liberal Democrats rather than conservative Republicans for the 6 years we had control of the White House as well as congress. I also agree we Republicans should have been punished.
However, rather than strategic punishment by eliminating just a few of the most liberal Republicans, Americans turned control over to the Democrats. That is like saying, we are mad at those amateur, minor league mess-ups, so now we are going to give control to the professional, major league mess-ups to run things for a while. God help our stupidity and immorality.
To wrap up this segment, please go vote on the important races other than President like Jim Inhofe for Senate and Dana Murphy for Corporation Commission. I have heard some people say they may not even take the time to vote since they are confident the John McCain will win in Oklahoma.
– LAST MINUTE OUT OF STATE MONEY.
It appears there has been a huge sum of out of state money coming into Oklahoma at the last moment to pay for TV commercials to defeat Republicans. In central Oklahoma the main target appears to be Senator Jim Reynolds (R-Del City). I didn’t think this race would be close but perhaps internal polling shows Jim as being vulnerable. The only way this could be close is the NAME of the person the Democrats found to run against Senator Reynolds. His name is David Boren and yes, there will be voters so ill informed as to think it is the same David Boren who serves as the President of Oklahoma University of which he is not.
– OCPAC IN THE NEWS
For this election cycle OCPAC has raised around $33,000 for our efforts. Thirty thousand of that went to support conservative candidates, $2,000 of that went for a voter education effort and the final $1,000 went for an incumbent accountability project.
This past Wednesday, Michael McNutt of the Oklahoman broke a story about our accountability project as we mailed postcards into the district of Dr. Doug Cox (R-Grove). Representative Cox was selected by our members as the RINO (Republican In Name Only) of the year. We wanted to inform the Republican voters in his district as to just how liberal this pro-abortion Republican happens to be. The final paragraph on the post card states the following: "With a 57 to 44 majority, Republicans can well afford to give up this seat. If the good citizens of District 5 send Rep, Cox back home, it will send a signal to other Republicans to govern like conservatives and not liberal Democrats."
This is what could be called strategic punishment for Republicans straying too far from conservative principles and the tenants of the Republican Party platform. Twenty five (25) Democrats in the House and Senate scored higher than Representative Cox on this year’s Conservative Index published by the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper.
The Republican Party will never become an effective force for conservative change until we learn to clean our own house.
The other situation regarding OCPAC being in the news revolves around our relationship with M.O.M.S. (Mothers Organized for a Moral Society). There is a good article by Scott Cooper of the Oklahoma Gazette about the short term corporation commission race between Dana Murphy and Jim Roth. The article reports that we accepted a small fee from M.O.M.S. to share our P.O. Box so they could use as much of their money as possible to mail out the educational post cards about Jim Roth. The article also reveals that OCPAC contributed to M.O.M.S. The article is in the current issue of the Gazette which will be in your favorite restaurants until sometime on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Pick up a copy as it worth the read.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)