This morning, prior to the vote on health care reform, the GOP orchestrated, in the now world-renowned teabagger style, an ugly disruption of the Democratic Women’s Caucus statements for the record (which had already been shortened by agreement between the two parties. The Dem leadership persists in making these agreements [...]
Here’s a fun way to learn some GLBT history.
Modeled after Black and Women’s History Months, GLBT History Month highlights annually the achievements of 31 gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender Icons—one each day—with a free video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources.
How It Works
Beginning October 1, 2009, a [...]
This is the most blatent display of our craptacular media as you are likely to find. The “journalists” on CNN’s Situation Room, after a summer of “birther” “deathers” and myriad other radical Right fringe lies about Obama and the Democratic health care reform efforts — each one uglier than the [...]
Got this email this afternoon from Batch at the Peace House.
LATE-BREAKING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT:
PROGRAM: Nuclear Disarmament in Congress & around USA
Sunday, October 4th
4:30 pm – - – - – Gather: Snacks, Refreshments, Solidarity
4:45-6:00 pm – PROGRAM: speakers, power-point, short video
COMMUNITY HALL: Church [...]
In what may prove to be the most interesting House race in Oklahoma next year, local attorney Brittany Novotny announced her campaign to challange uber-wingnut Sally Kern.
The voters of House [...]
(Click on box to get a bigger version.)
Quite a good turnout for a weekday. And it wouldn’t be complete without teabagger counter-protesters. They were relatively well behaved, compared to the townhall outbursts.
[...]… at cruel, corrupt “Christian” “conservative” Republicans on full display across America. Hell, even the original Republican fearmonger Ronald Reagan is weeping, if the opinon of Nancy on the matter is any indication.
Add the following example to the list of suffering people being dismissed, mocked and condemned by their [...]
… on health care and everything else.
Edward Kennedy wanted all Americans to have access to the kind of health care he had and to make sure everyone had a safety net in place that allowed them to take the kind of risks necessary to become a millionaire if that’s what [...]
The House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Henry Waxman, is one of the House committees that has produced a bill to address health care reform. Waxman is a fierce advocate of real reform, and he and his committee staff have come up with a great way to demonstrate the [...]
Really, what does he do all day, besides kissing the butts of the big oil lobbyists?
In response to this fine example of Oklahoma crude, the Oklahoma Democratic Party has a petition to demand that Inhofe “read the bill!”
Here’s what I posted as a comment as I [...]
I know you all will be shocked by this, but The Oklahoman has used the occasion of Ted Kennedy’s death to question his political contributions to the nation and bash liberals.
“…estimating Kennedy’s historic imprint is difficult — and not just because we and millions of Americans not living [...]
This is the now famous clip of Oklahoma’s cruel doctor, Senator Coburn, responding to a constituent’s suffering with such utterly cold political pandering that even after years of Republican meanness on full display, most of the nation gasped in shock.
Which is it, Senator, is she on her own like the [...]
I don’t know if this really qualifies as THE ugliest in the entire state, but I think it’s a serious contender in the crowded Government category.
The screen shot below really doesn’t do this inside page of the Canadian County web site justice. All those state flags are waving!
[...]
I got the following email from MoveOn.org this morning, but I’m always getting grandiose action items from them that don’t take into account that Oklahoma has completely hopeless representation in DC. So I wondered if there really would be such an event in OK.
Dear MoveOn member,
August is [...]
Several developments in this short-lived trial.
The most serious is that the feed produces hotlinked photos. If read in a feedreader, that’d be fine, but even with my minuscule readership, this is not acceptable practice for a blogger. I could use CSS to keep the images from displaying [...]
I’ve seen versions of this before. Now actual old ladies at these brownshirt infested town halls are screaming “No government run health care, and don’t touch my Medicare.” So I have a hard time laughing at it, since it’s all too daily an occurance — and they don’t even try [...]
[Update: well, you can tell I'm not religious. It's the 23rd Psalm, not the Lord's Prayer, which is being rewritten here. I won't change the title because it will screw up the URL. If it matters to you, me being so stupid, you'll just have to forgive me, because that's [...]
We are very excited to be hosting a workshop on teaching peace in Oklahoma public schools, and with that workshop kicking off a program to provide alternatives to the pro-war messages and limited options offered to young people by recruiters in schools, malls and just about everywhere [...]
An open letter to the OKC Council & mayor:
Dear Oklahoma City Council members and Mayor Mick Cornett:
“Pity the members of the Oklahoma City Council.” Thus began an editorial, stunning in its contempt for democracy, published today in The Oklahoman, which decreed that the location of the Crosstown is a [...]
Documentary video explores the hidden wounds of war
Date: Wednesday, 7/21
Time: 6:30 pm
Place: Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th, OKC
The Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline invite you to a screening of the film [...]
Introductory training session for anyone seeking to help GIs know their legal options
Sunday, June 21, 4:30-6:30
Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th, OKC
A workshop entitled AWOL No More: (Relatively) Painless Processing Out of the Army will be offered on Sunday June 21 at 4:30 pm. [...]
… Open Secrets shared a truly repulsive open secret this morning when they revealed the immense sums of special interest money going to candidates who will be voting on their legislative priorities. On a day when many of us have been feeling badly for Iranians who saw their dreams [...]
With apologies for the last minute nature of this event, you are invited to join us to support an Oklahoma man who is one of the Iraq war resisters in Canada who is facing deportation. Let’s show support for one of our own.
[And please pass this info [...]
Marking the 70th anniversary of the publication of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, today The Oklahoman had a story — front page — about the evolution of the term “Okie” from slur (intentional or perceived) to proud label of strength against adversity. A sidebar story looked at reactions [...]
Had a great time tonight going to the Amy Goodman talk in Lawton, sponsored by KCCU. Drove down with a vanful of interesting activists of various backgrounds and experiences, had a rushed dinner at Garfields (because the burgers were way overdone, not ‘carefully cooked to perfect medium well’ or whatever [...]
Oh Lordy, Jed Lewison the vid genius of Daily Kos TV was on fire today, providing us off mic revelations from Fox News employees. In this clip, Fox News’ John Gibson (he now has a radio gig, but used to have a TV show), who was in Tulsa [...]
My friend David attended and got some pics and other impressions, which I posted earlier.
But he also was brave enough to do an interview with the local event organizer and challenge on his (David’s) premise that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh would feel right at home with the [...]
Update: Click on photo above to see album of the OKC tea party. Wrapping up his reporting and posting the album, David says 5000+ were in attendance.
Check out a progressive doing live coverage from the so-called teabag revolution event at the Oklahoma capitol:
Twitter
[...]
On April 14, 1939, The Grapes of Wrath was released, to immediate public and critical success. And to immediate controversy. In Oklahoma, the book was sometimes misunderstood, or perhaps understood all too well, and thus maligned for craven political purposes. Anyone who reads the book with even a [...]
On Sunday, March 22, Oklahoma City peace activists, veterans and military families marked the 6 year anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War and occupation.
Several moving speeches were given, including by Gold Star fathers Warren Henthorn and John Scripsick, who lost their sons in Iraq. The Oklahoma Eyes [...]
One of Keith’s better “Special Comment” rants.
Visit [...]
Later today, I plan to head down to Grandfield Oklahoma, just this side of the Texas border, to join some students in a counter demo against the Phelps/Westboro Baptist/Gods Hates Fags nutjobs from Kansas.
A week ago I had never even heard of Grandfield, Oklahoma, and maybe you hadn’t [...]
Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War, the night George W. Bush got on TV and told the American people that he was going to save us from Saddam Hussein’s plans to obliterate the US with his nuclear weapons and we had to stop him before [...]
I’m playing catch up on my blogging and photo album uploads. Here are my photos from some recent events I’ve attended.
Winter Soldier Austin Richard Dawkins at OU CAIR 2009 Fundraiser Banquet Americans United’s Grassroots Organizing Training [...]Religiosity is waning in the U.S. Non-belief has almost doubled since 1990.
A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say [...]
“Unhelpful” could be very helpful indeed.
Did the U.S. Secretary of State actually criticize Israel? At a joint press conference with Mahmoud Abbas? That’s new:
If so, then hooray, it’s about time for some balance in our thinking and policies regarding Israel and the Palestinians.
[...]So, Oklahoma progressive thinker, did you think you could not possibly be more embarrassed by duly elected representatives in your state, after the Sally Kerns affair of last year, and the Scott Jones/gay prayer protest last month? Oh, ye of little imagination — the authoritarian right is running rings around [...]
The summer peace camps program offered by The Peace Education Institute is now in its third year of providing young people an opportunity to explore ideas and issues, to expand their knowledge of history, and to develop cooperative, community-building skills that will serve them throughout life.
* Peace Challenge Camp (for [...]
Gah! I have so much to post, and time just flies by and I get so little done, especially here.
I have managed to keep fairly up to date with the calendar of progressive events in Central OK that I maintain, so if the front page [...]
I get tons of email from progressive organizations every day, all that I’ve opted into but can’ really keep up with. Most I don’t pass on in toto here, especially when it’s an appeal for money, as a lot of it is ( I don’t degrudge them that, I just [...]
Calvin Rees of the Democrats of Oklahoma Forum has obtained and posted the contents of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) newsletter written and distributed by one Charlie Meadows.
A section deals with the recent flap at the Oklahoma state capitol over a prayer said by an openly gay pastor, [...]
Email from the OKC chapter organizer about Oklahoma’s participation in the lively liberal social networking group.
Any Tulsa readers want to get this going over there? There are resources and a basic how to over on the web site.
Hi All,
There is a blog post on the National Drinking Liberally site [...]
Did you know that
… if Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had just asked King George over for tea, instead of those pesky radicals dumping his tea in the harbor, then the crown would totally have reduced their taxes?
… if Gandhi had just asked real nice, and burned [...]
Turns out I’m a big meanie because I won’t open my so-called liberal heart to loving bipartisan accord with Sally Kern and her anti-gay Christian Taliban brigade (see, I just did it again!).
So I was thinking, what mean things could I do, now that my cover is blown?
How about [...]
I don’t want to pre-judge history or anything, but you know how all the holidays for notable presidents and civil rights leaders are all scrunched together at the beginning of the year, right after all those other holidays, for religious leaders and man-made counting turnovers?
You know how, in mid-February, everyone [...]
It’s Darwin Day, and time to celebrate science and the beauty of observable, provable reality. But, yet, old myths, and bad policy on based on them, seem as strong as ever — at least in my neck of the woods.
Though I love science, I’m tired and uninspired at the moment, [...]
The Rev. Dr. Scott Jones of Oklahoma City, pastor of Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ, is certainly having an interesting week.
The Oklahoma Gazette of 2/11/2009 has a column written by Jones, The real ‘gay agenda’ in which he responds to the latest nonsense by [...]
Keith Olberman referred to this list tonight on his show. So I Googled and found a version, here.
Bitchin’ Bush Ice Cream FlavorsJay Hazen sent us this list of flavor names supposedly submitted to Ben & Jerry’s for a Bush themed ice cream. Comment with your favorite one or submit [...]
Democratic Party = party of governing, or occasional stabs at it during moments of crisis, with good and not so good members and policy positions.
Republican Party = party of obstruction to efforts at actual governance, with varying levels of skill and shamelessness. But all are, to borrow an observation [...]
Yesterday’s news out of the Justice Department in which it indicated support for Bush’s rendition program (i.e. exit visa for torture outside of US) was horrifying. I really don’t know what to make of it. I’m not a lawyer, so was kinda hoping it wasn’t as bad as it sounded.
But [...]
This morning I got a phone call from an activist friend because her Internet service provider was not letting her send out emails to 200 addresses at a time from within her own personal email account.
Um, yeah they do that, because, as far as they are concerned you are spamming! [...]
John Cole at Balloon Juice may have found the silver lining in the economic disaster looming down on us:
The main purpose of the Republican party is to support the interests of big business (this is also one of the primary purposes of the Democratic party). I’ve always thought, though, [...]
Wow, this is amazing to me. First of all, not to sound like a cliche, but being nominated is so validating, especially since most of the time a I alternate between feeling that no one even reads [...]
If you are an Oklahoma Blogger, you can vote, and should. And now, because it’s the last day you can.
I happen to be nominated, for Best Political Blog, but even if you don’t vote for me, vote for your favorites in each category. It’s a [...]
So much for “change we can believe in.” Torturers will not be punished by the American government, and that means that those who ordered them to do so cannot be held accountable, unless the World Court does the job.
Today in his hearing for CIA director before the Senate Intelligence Committee, [...]
Well, it’s good to know that the phishers are keeping up with world events.
I think.
Hi,
I know you would be surprised to read from someone relatively unknown to
you before now. My name is Sgt. Denzel Woods of the 1st Battalion,
18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division [...]
Formal Petition to Attorney General-Designate Eric Holder to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in War Crimes.
Sponsored by Docudharma.com and Democrats.com.
[...]OCC is thrilled to be working with IVAW and the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild to help organize and promote Winter Soldier Austin, hearings using testimony from soldiers to tell the realities of the war in Iraq. Several of our members will be participating, either by providing [...]
Four civil rights groups are asking Obama to let them in to Guantánamo to survey the situation at the facility that is now a synonym for torture and report their findings, to open the infamous site to the light of truth, accountability and justice.
I know that I would trust [...]
This sounds like an interesting project:
During the January ice storm, Twitter served as a powerful reporting tool - crowdsourced news. What if we had used it to find people who needed help, then organized to help them? So, I’m proposing that Central Oklahoma Twitter-ers think about how we can [...]
Wow, it’s that time again already, that time when all the little people of the Netroots rise up against their oppressors, the big people of the Netroots who won’t link to them (the bastards!).
So we link to each other — freely, wildly, irresponsibly, like the [...]
Seriously, who deserves that baby more than Pete Seeger, who has literally taught the world to sing, and created much harmony, tonal and otherwise.
The goal is to get the American Friends Service Committee, which is a rad outfit that won the prize in 1918 [...]
The company that knowingly screwed Lilly Ledbetter out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, then spent hundreds of thousands to “defend” itself from her discrimination lawsuit all the way to the Supreme Court, was Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Please remember that the next time you are in [...]
There is a great op-ed, Counting Out Women, by Melissa McEwan published today in the Guardian (UK) about Chris Matthews and the general idiocy in the US media (not to mention a huge hunk of the blogosphere) about some parts of the original economic stimulus package, in which she [...]
Recently while being interviewed by Leslie Stahl (of 60 Minutes, she wants you to know), Rachel Maddow tried to explain to her that Chris Matthews is not a liberal. Stahl was adament that he was, pushing it to Maddow like she was an idiot not to realize something so [...]
Well, that didn’t take long, did it?
I can’t believe that President Obama is ALREADY letting the Republicans run (i.e. ruin) his plan for an economic stimulus. Here’s an idea for putting his eloquence and now ownership of a big fat bully pulpit to use: explain to the American people [...]
Sterlin Harjo, an Oklahoma filmmaker, had his latest movie, Barking Water, premiere at Sundance on Jan. 17. Here’s the synopsis:
Before Oklahoma was a red state, it was known as the Land of the Red People, described by the Choctaw phrase Okla Humma. In his sophomore film, Sterlin Harjo takes [...]
Ah, now that Sen. Inhofe has been re-elected, we can look forward to six more years of his silly yet dangerous shenanigans in the Senate. Even the Tulsa World reporter can’t resist a not so subtle poke at Oklahoma’s very own drama queen in D.C. as he reacts to [...]
Several upcoming events are designed to help citizens do their civic duty of participation during the 2009 session of the Oklahoma Legislature. These are some that focus on progressive issues (content copied from emails and online sources). If you can, please participate in one of these activities to hone [...]
I did my first interview with my new Flip camera on Thursday, talking to Daniel Sandate, who was just released from Ft. Sill on Tuesday. He was accompanied by James M. Branum, “G.I. Rights Lawyer,” who was co-counsel for Sandate’s court martial at Ft. Carson, and of course whom [...]
I had two meetings today, have two paying (!) jobs on my plate, one of them with a tight deadline, and Mom is feeling better and want to get back to car shopping. So don’t be surprised if I don’t post much for the next few days — if I [...]
Those sober, staid folks in the diplomatic corps — you just never can tell what they’re really thinking.
h/t americablog
This is cool. That populist gesture was not spontaneous as many watchers might have thought, but the location for it was thoughtfully chosen to be symbolic on many levels.
The most obvious symbolism is the fact that the National Archives contains the Constitution, and Obama plans [...]
Join us to celebrate release of war resister Daniel Sandate on his release from Ft. Sill & welcome him to OKC, Thursday, Jan. 22 at 6 pm (after 5 pm press conference)
The Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Joy Mennonite Church would like to invite you to help us celebrate the [...]
If it was good enough for #1, it oughta be good enough for #39, #41, #42 and #43.
There could only be one president of the United States at a time, he reasoned, as our newest president also observed during the transition period. But there could be more than one [...]
This day embodied everything truly great and inspiring about the United States of America. The rule of law, equal opportunity, goofy optimism, goofier commercialism. Even though it also included lots of gratuitous religiosity, Obama in his inaugural address actually recognized the existence and worth of “nonbelievers.” So diversity and inclusiveness [...]
Ha ha — Look how the Google Goodbye Bush countdown gadget closes:
Bush countdown created by James Miller
Seeing the (banned on YouTube) video of Pete Seeger singing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Sunday made me think about how I first heard about him. It’s a pretty weird way, I think.
I was a typical 60s teenybopper — I loved the Monkees and read Tiger Beat [...]
No one knows how many people are in Washington for the inauguration (or even how to count them) but let’s just say, MANY.
The pundits, a cynical lot, are tripping over themselves describing the crowds they are seeing, not to mention the vibe of said crowds. People are excited, [...]
A video of folk legend Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen singing Woody Guthrie’s socialist-tinged “The Land is Your Land,” was removed by the Google-owned service after HBO complained about its exclusive rights to the event had been violated.
Oh, the irony. The song contains these often-ignored stanzas, which were [...]
[Updates below.]
I’m oddly compelled to stare at the countdown clock that currently sits in the left sidebar of this site. In less than 24 hours now, we will be rid of the nightmare of having George W. Bush leading and destroying the free world simultaneously.
This time tomorrow we’ll know who [...]
I got all responsible and shit and posted the bleeped version. Hardcore Bush Buh-Bye here.
[...]According to the official inaugural website, Oklahoma groups marching in the Inaugural Parade are Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office and Union High School Air Force JROTC, though the latter story seems to indicated that the JROTC is only going because “the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office couldn’t raise the [...]
Can you help out a local activist whose home was completely lost to a fire two days before Christmas?
This note from local peace activist Moses and Sadie Mast explains.
Here’s a chance for you to help a local activist for peace and justice.
The evening of December 23, Camille Landry’s house [...]
The plane comes in from the left at about 2:00 and by 9:50 everyone’s on the boats.
All the professionals involved were just spectacular. As emptywheel noted, it was a “a miracle brought to you by America’s unions.”
video h/t to Jean Warner
[...]If you get tired of the inaugural coverage, but still want a fix of historic presidencies, some of this week’s History Channel programming may fit the bill. I plan to watch as many of these as possible, but then I’m a history geek.
The usual caveat about History Channel broadcasts [...]
Who would you pick as the 50 most loathsome people in America last year?
Saving us considerably in disgust and time, The Beast gets it about right with a list that starts with Obama at #50 and ends with Sarah Palin getting the big honor — no Miss Congeniality for [...]
Finally, it is about over. Just two days, and we can watch watch his chickenhawk ass get out of our White House and our Capital City. Bush and his accomplices will continue to try to whitewash his “legacy” but they will fail. The best George W. Bush can hope from [...]
I’m pretty bummed about the Oklahoma Netroots losing two bloggers in one week.
John Sutter of Concrete Buffalo (formerly of the Oklahoman and its Go Green blog — which apparently has been deleted) got a gig in Atlanta is already on his way. He also did some [...]
“Every year, more than 28,000 acres of Oklahoma’s prime farmland is lost to development.”
[...]STATE HIGHLIGHTS
Number of Farms 83,300
Number of Government Subsidy Recipients 40,249
Oklahoma’s Share of U.S. Agricultural Production 2%
Oklahoma’s Share of U.S. Subsidy Payments 2%
Conservation Funding Shortfall $125,965,212
Bill Holloway, Texas peace and justice activist, passed away yesterday
Bill lived in Austin, but I believe he was from Oklahoma. He was very active with the Texas Green Party, and I met him in Crawford in August [...]
Democracy Now! is finally airing in Oklahoma, though many residents will not be in a area where they can pick up the signal on a radio. For them, there is a live stream on KCCU’s site.
KCCU is a non-profit station run out of Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, [...]
All sides should stop the violence and meet to work out a diplomatic and political compromise. But aggression, oppression, invasion, killing and wounding of civilians cannot be allowed and must be condemned.
Pray, if you pray. Contact your representatives, and especially President-Elect Obama. I’ll post analysis and action alerts later. [...]
The award is presented to Rachel Maddow.
I think Rachel is eclipsed only by Obama in meteoric rise from relative obscurity during 2008. She first got national attention in 2004 on Air America Radio. In 2005, she started providing occasional commentary on Tucker Carlson’s old show (the [...]
Here’s a story that reveal the real person inside Obama’s new BFF, Rick Warren.
It’s gotta be more than donuts and a soul-less hug, Rick. Reach down and find that Christ-centeredness you claim to promote — if you’ve got it in you. A little humility wouldn’t hurt either.
[...]
