Cargill’s Petty Politics

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Lance’s Lege Begins

Oklahoma House Speaker Lance Cargill’s petty move to ban a Norman legislator from serving on an important committee that is vital to his district shows again how Republicans consistently put politics above people in the state.

Cargill (R-Harrah) has denied a request by state Rep. Wallace Collins (D-Norman) to serve on the mental health subcommittee. Collins’ House District 45 is home to Griffin Memorial Hospital, a mental health facility. Traditionally, legislators from the district serve on mental health committees, according to Collins, who has complained publicly about Cargill's action.

But this doesn’t matter to Cargill, of course. Collins beat Thad Balkman, a religious extremist who wants to force Oklahomans to live under his narrow-minded views, for the House seat last November.

So here’s the kicker: Cargill and Balkman, two slick buddies, are operating the mysterious 100 Ideas initiative, which will not reveal its funding because government is secret in Oklahoma these days. The initiative seems designed to further Cargill’s and Balkman’s political careers and bolster the GOP chances to further dominate the Lege in years to come.

So Cargill and the Oklahoma power structure reward the religious fanatic and election loser Balkman but won’t even let Collins serve on a significant committee for his district. Collins won the election. Balkman lost. Essentially, it means secret individuals or corporations operate the political landscape here, not voters in Norman or elsewhere. What else is new?

Here’s an idea for your secret He-Man Woman Haters Club and its 100 big shot ideers, Cargill: Give Democracy a chance. Put Collins on the committee.

What’s The Secret Handshake, Lance?

Speaking of the He-Man Woman Haters Club, the 100 Ideas initiative announced its advisory board recently.

Its public relations firm, The Daily Oklahoman, said this about the secret funding issue in its release about the big event: “Funding for the project is still unknown, as private donations made to the initiative have not been made public” (“Advisors selected to sift 100 ideas for legislation,” February 10, 2007).

What a joke. People and organizations throughout the state, including the Muskogee Phoenix newspaper, have called on the initiative to reveal its funding, but The Oklahoman declines to recognize this reality because it’s a biased, right-wing, propagandistic tool of big corporations and religious fanatics.

(Update: According to a Feb. 14 story in The Daily Oklahoman, Balkman says he will start to release donor information at the end of March in the form of a quarterly report. But this is just more politics. Why wait? And why are the people funding this organization so reticent to step forward and identify themselves?)