Steele vs. Terrill: The caged death-match continues under the methane gas filled dome between Speaker Steele and uber-conservative Randy Terrill and there seems to be no end in sight. With the exception of perhaps the conclusion of the legislative session itself, the conservative wing of the House GOP continues to push forward an agenda that includes a return to the Constitution while the Chamber crowd on the left have seen victory after victory. The real test will be whether or not the cause d'jour of the GOP (tort reform) will reach the Governor's desk. Terrill isn't one to back down and has been in the ring with the big guns previously. Pretty much owning his House District, Terrill will have his seat in the House for as long as he wants to keep it. The fight with Steele and the charges leveled by Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater put on hold any plans for Terrill's supporters to encourage him to run for Lt. Governor, but Terrill is far from finished.
City Council Races: The Chamber has spoken and has endorsed their candidate, but the grassroots and Senator Andrew Rice have entered the debate and will be knocking doors all weekend to slow the tide of mailers from the Chamber crowd. Shadid and Swinton look to be in the midst of a fight of their lives - and all of it for an Oklahoma City Council seat. It makes you wonder just what is at stake and why the power structure is so interested in this race.
Nuclear Japan: The tragedy continues to worsen and the death toll will soar before it's all over. The nuclear cloud has traveled already to the United States, some reports showing up in trace amounts in milk from California and even Spokane, Washington. Nuclear power supporters are reeling from the negative press, the difficulty in justifying a continued push for this type of energy. Conversely, alternative energy supporters are gearing up for a huge push to show that wind power and solar power is the answer to these disastrous problems.
Morgan Mess: Former Democratic Senate Leader Mike Morgan is facing indictments for accepting payments of up to $400,000. Everyone is upset about this - justifiably so - but how is this different than taking campaign contributions from wealthy donors, and then appointing them to various posts across the state of Oklahoma? What is the aggregate value of being placed on the Board of Regents, for example? Politics in Oklahoma has reached an all-time low of corruption. The Gene Stipe era was supposed to be over, but it lingers doesn't it? Don't be surprised with there are more corruption charges and investigations into the Republican power structure as well. Republicans will do well to remember that the ebb and flow of politics means that they will not stay in power forever and human nature being what it is, when the Democrats take over again, there will be retribution.
Libya, Liberal Hypocrisy: When former President Bush put troops in harms way going into Iraq and Afghanistan, there was gnashing of teeth and wailing by the Left in this country. Now, this President is putting boots on the ground in Libya and it is now somehow a good thing. I don't get it. Our troops are stretched, our military capacity has reached maximum density and all the talk of bringing home our heroes is faded into a distant memory. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
And the hits just keep coming...
