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The 5th District Fur Is Flyin'

Kevin Calvey and James Lankford are taking off the gloves and putting on lighter gloves (not bare-fisted yet) and taking some shots at each other and the blogosphere, social networking pages and even the Edmond Sun are chiming in on the slap-fight. 

From the Edmond Sun (article here):

“We as a company do not have a problem when persons pull quotes from articles that we have reported in our newspaper and attribute them to us when they are verbatim. What we report becomes part of the public record,” said Steve Paterson, Edmond Sun publisher. “We as a company do have a problem, when they are used out of context and used to make a point or argument, which is not based on the information reported.

“What Mr. Calvey’s campaign has done is just that in two different incidences. They have structured quotes from our newspaper and interlaced their comments and thoughts then placed it on the postcard in such a way as to purport that this was a report made by The Edmond Sun. One has to just look at the dates the articles were published and review the stories to see that what was printed on the postcards is not what was published in our newspaper,” Paterson said.

“We want to assure our readers who will be voting in the Republican runoff that these were not quotes from this newspaper and do not in anyway reflect the opinion of this newspaper. We encourage our readers who will be participating in the Republican runoff to examine all the facts about the two candidates before they enter the polls,” he said. “One more thing I want to be totally clear on, we have never said in print that James Lankford is not ready to serve in Congress. That decision is made by individuals expressing their freedom to vote at the polls. They will always be the ones who will make that determination.”

The Sun attempted to get a direct comment Wednesday morning from Calvey on the issue but was deferred to Trebor Worthen of the Calvey campaign after The Sun left a message on Calvey’s cell phone.

From the McCarville Report (article here):

The battle escalated earlier this week as Calvey mounted his attack on Lankford, sending a postcard message to voters claiming Lankford disrespected his military record, a line that apparently has become Calvey's closer in his campaign.


Lankford released a statement in which he said Calvey "invented a story" as a straw man and is guilty of "deception."

Lankford's strongly-worded critique of Calvey came as their battle entered its final week.

McCarville quotes the Lankford "note" on Facebook where Lankford tells his faithful to "stay positive," but then goes on to rip Calvey himself.  From the Facebook note:

“If you do not have good character in Oklahoma, you will not gain better character when you go to Washington. Clearly, Kevin Calvey has demonstrated that he is willing to deceive the voters of the 5th District in order to gain a seat in Congress. If he will deceive us now for his personal gain, what will he do in Washington DC.?”

My question is how do either of these guys expect to survive Washington if they can't handle this little bit of heat.

No doubt, Calvey completely misinterpreted the Edmond Sun article in question and Lankford's statements but rather than do what the Scriptures would require of these two "good, Christian men" (If your brother sins against you, go to him...), they both use statements for political gain.  Calvey takes personally what Lankford supposedly said in an article, distorts it, and then goes after Lankford rather than simply calling him on the phone and simply asking, "What was your intention?" 

Lankford, the former Falls Creek Program Director, does exactly the same thing - rather than just calling Kevin on the telephone and asking him why he would do that and then go public with whatever response he received, he tries to portray himself as a victim  and uses it for political gain.  All the while, telling his flock to "be positive" while ripping Calvey a new one - very much a status quo political tactic.

Remember:  It is Lankford who is campaigning as a Christian man of high moral character...

Calvey believed early on that Lankford was "attacking" him by his statements in the March Edmond Sun article and simply waited until now to come forward with it.  Lankford, on the other hand, probably knew this was coming and was just waiting to paint himself as a victim.

On Tuesday, this mess comes to a close and the real race begins.  If you want to know why I'm supporting Dave White, just take a step back and look at this disaster and you'll understand.

 

Update: Ersland Trial Is On

The Oklahoman is reporting (again) that the update is Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater will, in fact, continue with the trial against Jerome Ersland.

Read the story and watch the video here.

Ersland Case...Charges To Be Dropped?

The Oklahoman reported today that Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater is re-evaluated the medical evidence on the Jerome Ersland case and that there is a distinct possibility that charges may be dropped.

Story is found here.

Ersland was charged after a group of thugs entered his pharmacy and he shot one, chased the others out of his location, came back, grabbed another gun and pumped more lead in the thug who was down from a shot to the head.  Ersland was charged with 1st degree murder.

Enter:  The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office.

The ME's office is a train wreck and as the story from the Oklahoman indicates, there are massive problems over there and it should be a priority for the state legislature this next session and we need voices to speak up.  Justice cannot be served when the system is prostituted and the very office created to review evidence from an objective standpoint fails to do what it was intended to do.

It's time to replace the whole lot of them.

What To Do With $2.7 Million?

According to the McCarville Report, Congresswoman Mary Fallin has raised a whopping $2.7 million in her race to be Oklahoma's first female governor and there is more money to come her way before it's all over with.

She presently has about $800,000 cash on hand, which should be just enough to cover the recent acquisition of American Majority's Trait Thompson, an A&M alum. But in all seriousness, Mary's opponent, Lt. Governor Jari Askins, has shown that she's not a bit afraid to cash in her chips and invest in her own campaign.

Which brings up another question - why would anyone frown upon a candidate willing to spend his/her own money on a campaign? In my estimation, many of the regular donors to campaigns are wore slick from the primaries. Energy companies and their executives were hammered by Thompson and Calvey as well as Fallin during the primaries and there is only so much revenue to go around.

Fallin has never had difficulty raising money for any of her campaigns and it is not unreasonable to expect that before November 2nd, Fallin will have had about $4 million in her coffers for this political seat. Will it be enough to beat Jari Askins? It's anyones guess but I have learned recently that Jari has taken a very different approach to campaigning...she was seen at the Watermelon Festival this week and the talk is that she's knocking doors with her team, precinct by precinct as she hits the events.
This is going to be fun to watch.

Support Jones for Auditor

Gary Jones and I go way back.  I met him the first time when I was on the air with the legendary first lady of Oklahoma radio, Carole Arnold on the station formerly known as KOMA 1520.  Gary and I have not agreed on everything political, neither have we agreed about how campaigns are to be run.  But there is one thing we do agree upon - that he would make an exceptional State Auditor and Inspector.

The Governor's appointee to the post hasn't really screwed anything up and in Oklahoma, that goes a long way, but the fact is that it was Gary who has consistently uncovered corruption and misuse of government resources. 

There are Republicans and Democrats alike who have grown sick and tired of the oligarchy in Oklahoma running the show and misusing taxpayer dollars and this November, people will be shocked at how Gary will have received bi-partisan support.

I highly recommend you take a long, hard look at Gary Jones for State Auditor.  It's not one of the "sexy" campaigns to be involved with, but it is an important one.

Gary's website.

The Endorsement That Explains It All

The Oklahoman has endorsed James Lankford and it should really come as no surprise.  The following statements say it all (emphasis, mine):

Last year, Calvey took a position on MAPS 3, joining an anti-progress chorus that failed to defeat the initiative. Calvey was on the wrong side of the issue and it was ill-advised for a congressional candidate to take any stand on MAPS 3.

Lankford believes local political issues should be left to local leaders and citizens, while a member of Congress concerns himself with national and international affairs. He appears well-versed on the major issues of our day and could become an excellent, hardworking congressman. The last leg of his journey from Falls Creek to Congress starts with the runoff against another good candidate. The Oklahoman recommends that Republicans choose Lankford and set the stage for his victory in November.

As I have said, the minute Lankford hired the Thompson team of SAGAC, he became the darling of the Chamber crowd and his reputation of being an "outsider" ceased to exist.

This endorsement comes from the same people who supported Jim Roth - a man who had no experience in the energy sector whatsoever, but was appointed to the Corporation Commission by Governor Brad Henry. 

Read the rest of the endorsement here.