Mike asks the question, "Who is picking this fight and why?" Excellent question, but the answer is not easily identified. As for my involvement, I've never been a fan of Steele and it goes back to the Briggs death and if you look Steele in the eye and do a little research, you will probably come to the same conclusion I did about how Kelsey's Law came into play. Steele is not a conservative and simply does not represent the thoughts and passion of Oklahomans who voted strongly Republican in this last election cycle.
And then we turn to the puppeteer himself, Fred Morgan. Let's take a look at his commentary very closely. Mike has this quote from Fred Morgan, the head cheese whiz at the State Chamber of Commerce:
Steele said many business groups in the past have opposed such hot-button issues. 'Where it negatively impacts business, we will speak up,' said Fred Morgan, president of The State Chamber. 'We'll try to educate legislators on how something that while well intended might have some negative consequences to the business climate.'"Fred Morgan ran for Congress and lest we forget, his claim to fame was a "frivolous" bill to control video games in Oklahoma that was later found unconstitutional. And that was his calling card during the whole campaign - the fact that his wife is/was a judge, the fact that he tried desperately to make himself look conservative and the reality that Fred Morgan now wants to "educate legislators" is ridiculously offensive. The Oklahoman and Fred Morgan forget that the issue of illegal immigration and firearms are Constitutional - these are not feel-good social legislative issues. Unlike Fred Morgan's silly video game law that was ruled unconstitutional, the people of Oklahoma voted for Republicans to accomplish what they promised.
And remember, Fred Morgan was once on the list of nominees for OCPAC's RINO (Republican In Name Only) Award.
Treat, Morgan's Boy |
The goal of Steele, the Oklahoman, Fred Morgan and perhaps even the former Victory director, Greg Treat, has apparently been to make Oklahoma voters believe that the right thing to do was to vote Republican because they would get the whole package - conservative governance, a pro-business agenda and maybe, just maybe the hot issues Mary Fallin ran on such as illegal immigration and the 2nd Amendment would get some attention and the legislature would begin to turn to the Constitution for guidance.
Bamboozled, friends. We have been lied to.
There was a time when Republicans and conservatives from both parties said what they meant and meant what they said about the Constitution. Today, it's used as campaign fodder and cute little slogans for bumper stickers.
Fortunately, November 2012 Steele is term-limited and we can get rid of some of his lackeys and prepare for the big fight in 2014. That, my friends, is when things get very, very interesting.