Oklahoma State Questions - 2010 Election
Our Oklahoma legislature has managed to put some pretty silly ballot measures up for a vote this coming Tuesday. Unfortunately, Oklahomans will swallow the bait hook, line and sinker. Here is a look at those ballot measures and some reasons to oppose or support them.
SQ 746 - Voter ID - NO - This measure would require identification to vote. Republican lawmakers insist that if you need an ID at Wal-Mart to cash a check, then you should have ID to vote and it would prevent voter fraud. First, there is absolutely no evidence of voter fraud. People pretending to be someone else and voting for them just has not happened. Second, this measure would disenfranchise people. It sets up an additional barrier to voting. I think of my grandmother who did not drive for nearly the last twenty years of her life. She would have been required to obtain another identification in order to vote. Voter turnout is already low without having to throw up this obstacle.
But herein lies the true purpose behind this measure. It is meant to disenfranchise voters! Republicans realize that the people who are most likely to not have ID (in addition to seniors) are the poor who do not drive. These people tend to vote democratic. Unfortunately, minorities (African-Americans, Native-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans) make up a disproportionate number of the poor so this will be a way to set up an obstacle to them voting as well. Again, these votes tend to lean strongly Democratic and Republicans KNOW THIS. This measure is Jim Crow, Literacy Test and Poll Tax all over again. But most Oklahomans are not aware of this history.
SQ 751 - English Official Language - NO! - This measure is the most important to me. Unfortunately, a poll in the Tulsa World today shows 79% of Oklahomans support this measure! This measure is simply racist. It is an attack on Hispanics by nativist and tea party groups that do not like them. The measure show ignorance on two counts. First, supporters fail to appreciate the contribution that immigrants bring to the United States. Second, supporters do not understand the ever changing nature of our language. They can pass all the laws they want to but Spanglish will inevitably become a part of our language as it changes and adapts.
Back to the racist issue. I have really enjoyed reading of Cherokee Chief Chad Smith's opposition to this measure. Several years ago he called the author of similar legislation to object. He pointed out that this measure makes no room for Native American languages and reminded us all of the history of assimilation that was forced upon Native American groups. The Republican author replied that he certainly was not targeting Native Americans, no, he said, this bill was meant for the Mexicans. This is a clear racist agenda and the author did not even hide from it.
Chief Smith went on to speak of how we need to teach more languages, not fewer. The world is becoming more interconnected than ever so why would we try to shut ourselves in? Smith called the measure myopic and I could not agree more.
Unfortunately, Oklahomans hear people speaking Spanish at the local Wal-Mart and their fear and paranoia tell them that these people are speaking ugly things about them. Damn Mexicans, they will say, need to go back to where they came from. So Oklahoma will continue to proudly be the reddest and most ignorant state in the Union.
SQ 755 - Ban on Shariah Law (and international law) - NO! - Oh, yes, we fear and hate Muslims too. Nevermind that most of our law comes from the British common law. Could we be anymore ethnocentric.
SQ 756 - Obama Healthcare Opt Out - NO! - The hate toward anything Obama in Oklahoma is palpable. I also believe that this is race based and most of these people do not even recognize this prejudice in themselves. Without even getting into the merits of the Healthcare legislation, the simple fact of the matter is that this is unconstitutional. South Carolina and the rest of the South should have learned the hard way that state law does not trump federal law. But despite this Civil War 'whippin', the South still has not learned this lesson. Vote however you want to, but the measure will not stand up in court.
SQ 744 - Education Spending - YES! - David Boren and Brad Henry have come out against this measure and it looks now to go down to defeat. The fact of the matter is that Oklahoma is now going to swing even more Republican than ever. Where the rest of the country swings from liberal to moderate to conservative, Oklahoma swings from conservative to fascist to conservative. This conservativism that will be in charge of the legislature and now the governor's office will absolutely oppose and increase in education funding. They are against public education and for private education. They will deny any funding increase and channel money to private schools that are more Godly. Governor Henry and others can talk all they want to about how this is bad legislation because it takes money from other departments and that there is no oversight but the fact remains that if 744 does not pass (and it won't), then there will not be major education funding increases for at least a decade. As a teacher, this prospect has me seriously looking at opportunities in other states.
Locally, I see Brannon defeating Mark Allen. There is still just enough Blue Dog Democrat in Leflore County to get Brannon in and he certainly has towed the conservative line during his tenure in the legislature. Allen's mean spirited attacks will backfire. How can Allen claim to be such a good Christian man and then so blatently violate the Golden Rule??
Mattox appears to have a shot at Lockhart. But then again, I have been wrong many times before.
Finally, why do people so dislike Marion Fry? And the attacks on him that he is somehow unqualified to be a judge because he does not have a family are ludicrous. If that is how is opponents judge Marion Fry, maybe they are unworthy to become judges themselves. I'd hate to be judged suitable or unsuitable for a job because of my marital or parental status.
SQ 746 - Voter ID - NO - This measure would require identification to vote. Republican lawmakers insist that if you need an ID at Wal-Mart to cash a check, then you should have ID to vote and it would prevent voter fraud. First, there is absolutely no evidence of voter fraud. People pretending to be someone else and voting for them just has not happened. Second, this measure would disenfranchise people. It sets up an additional barrier to voting. I think of my grandmother who did not drive for nearly the last twenty years of her life. She would have been required to obtain another identification in order to vote. Voter turnout is already low without having to throw up this obstacle.
But herein lies the true purpose behind this measure. It is meant to disenfranchise voters! Republicans realize that the people who are most likely to not have ID (in addition to seniors) are the poor who do not drive. These people tend to vote democratic. Unfortunately, minorities (African-Americans, Native-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans) make up a disproportionate number of the poor so this will be a way to set up an obstacle to them voting as well. Again, these votes tend to lean strongly Democratic and Republicans KNOW THIS. This measure is Jim Crow, Literacy Test and Poll Tax all over again. But most Oklahomans are not aware of this history.
SQ 751 - English Official Language - NO! - This measure is the most important to me. Unfortunately, a poll in the Tulsa World today shows 79% of Oklahomans support this measure! This measure is simply racist. It is an attack on Hispanics by nativist and tea party groups that do not like them. The measure show ignorance on two counts. First, supporters fail to appreciate the contribution that immigrants bring to the United States. Second, supporters do not understand the ever changing nature of our language. They can pass all the laws they want to but Spanglish will inevitably become a part of our language as it changes and adapts.
Back to the racist issue. I have really enjoyed reading of Cherokee Chief Chad Smith's opposition to this measure. Several years ago he called the author of similar legislation to object. He pointed out that this measure makes no room for Native American languages and reminded us all of the history of assimilation that was forced upon Native American groups. The Republican author replied that he certainly was not targeting Native Americans, no, he said, this bill was meant for the Mexicans. This is a clear racist agenda and the author did not even hide from it.
Chief Smith went on to speak of how we need to teach more languages, not fewer. The world is becoming more interconnected than ever so why would we try to shut ourselves in? Smith called the measure myopic and I could not agree more.
Unfortunately, Oklahomans hear people speaking Spanish at the local Wal-Mart and their fear and paranoia tell them that these people are speaking ugly things about them. Damn Mexicans, they will say, need to go back to where they came from. So Oklahoma will continue to proudly be the reddest and most ignorant state in the Union.
SQ 755 - Ban on Shariah Law (and international law) - NO! - Oh, yes, we fear and hate Muslims too. Nevermind that most of our law comes from the British common law. Could we be anymore ethnocentric.
SQ 756 - Obama Healthcare Opt Out - NO! - The hate toward anything Obama in Oklahoma is palpable. I also believe that this is race based and most of these people do not even recognize this prejudice in themselves. Without even getting into the merits of the Healthcare legislation, the simple fact of the matter is that this is unconstitutional. South Carolina and the rest of the South should have learned the hard way that state law does not trump federal law. But despite this Civil War 'whippin', the South still has not learned this lesson. Vote however you want to, but the measure will not stand up in court.
SQ 744 - Education Spending - YES! - David Boren and Brad Henry have come out against this measure and it looks now to go down to defeat. The fact of the matter is that Oklahoma is now going to swing even more Republican than ever. Where the rest of the country swings from liberal to moderate to conservative, Oklahoma swings from conservative to fascist to conservative. This conservativism that will be in charge of the legislature and now the governor's office will absolutely oppose and increase in education funding. They are against public education and for private education. They will deny any funding increase and channel money to private schools that are more Godly. Governor Henry and others can talk all they want to about how this is bad legislation because it takes money from other departments and that there is no oversight but the fact remains that if 744 does not pass (and it won't), then there will not be major education funding increases for at least a decade. As a teacher, this prospect has me seriously looking at opportunities in other states.
Locally, I see Brannon defeating Mark Allen. There is still just enough Blue Dog Democrat in Leflore County to get Brannon in and he certainly has towed the conservative line during his tenure in the legislature. Allen's mean spirited attacks will backfire. How can Allen claim to be such a good Christian man and then so blatently violate the Golden Rule??
Mattox appears to have a shot at Lockhart. But then again, I have been wrong many times before.
Finally, why do people so dislike Marion Fry? And the attacks on him that he is somehow unqualified to be a judge because he does not have a family are ludicrous. If that is how is opponents judge Marion Fry, maybe they are unworthy to become judges themselves. I'd hate to be judged suitable or unsuitable for a job because of my marital or parental status.
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