February 1, 2008
Oklahoma, Where the Wind Comes Sweepin' Down the Plain
Bashing Gavin's plans to pay for his staff members (and lobbyists) from the MTA budget isn't just something us local folks can do. It's something everyone can do! Like a U.S. Senator. A Republican Senator. From Oklahoma.
Wha?
Oklahoma's Senator, often seen as one of the loopiest one, sent a letter to the to the U.S. Transportation Department wondering if any of those funds Gavin is using to give big fat raises to his flunkies is Federal. And if so, watch out Gavin 'cause here comes da Feds.
And Gavin's response? According to Nathan Ballard, the amount of federal funds being used is "Zero. Zip. Not a dime." As for why they're using the funds to pay for all the raises and lobbyists, Ballard said that there was nothing to see, just move ahead.
Ballard also pointed out that anything involving Coburn "should be taken with a grain of salt." Which it should. So, for sh-- and giggles, let's take a look at the Greatest Hits of Tom Coburn.
-Once claimed that he favored the death penalty for "abortionists and other people who take life."
-Wanted to block two bills that honored famed Environmentalist Rachel Carson and proclaimed her work "junk science."
-Said so many things about homosexuality that it's impossible to list every one but one of them involved rampant lesbianism in Oklahoma.
-Protested the showing of famed "Schindler's List" for being too Holocaust-y
-Called Global Warming "a lot of crap."
Graint of salt indeed.
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Ah yes, Tom Coburn, I remember him well. Reason #32,445,829,485,698,469,284,626 for leaving Oklahoma.
You expect the bible-thumping hicks in Oklahoma to put someone like this into office.
What's our excuse re Newsom, that's what I want to know?
Once this is all vetted, maybe he and Ed Jew can open a combo Tapioca/Flower/Wine shop at San Quentin.
Hooray for blanket statements about Oklahomans!
Now bluecanary's rants aginst Newsom make sense. He/She/it is an Okie neocon in disguise.
Neocon? Um, yeah, because Newsom is sooooooooooooo liberal.
If you think I'm a neocon, your reading comprehension skills need serious work.
I was always under the impression that Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) was by far the more bat-shit insane of the two.
Bluecanary-Your incoherent babble is beyond comprehension.
gee, i wonder who sicked this dog on gavin?
any wagers it was the angry inch?
I'm an Okie native, too, and determining who was more conservative between Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe was always a delight.
Coburn claimed the state's school system was overrun by lesbians. And after Sy Hersh exposed Abu Ghraib, Inhofe downplayed the conditions there arguing the prison didn't contain mere traffic violators. As the Pentagon itself later concluded, dozens of inmates at the facility had done nothing at all.
But Okie state legislators were the real conservatives. I wrote stories for an alt weekly newspaper there about one who attempted to ban happy hours and another who wanted to outlaw LGBT couples from moving their adopted children to the state.
Coburn at least tried to create a user-friendly database the public could use to view federal contracts; a wonderful, good-government proposal that was shot down by Congress. Anything else he may have accomplished has been overshadowed by his vicious crusades against reproductive rights and accompanying hilarious claims about the gay community.
Hmm, Coburn allegedly sterilized a woman without her consent. Went on record as saying women are healthier with silicone breast implants than women who don't have breast implants. Asserted that girls in Oklahoma could only go to the restrooms one at a time, lest they be attacked and converted by lesbians.
Inhofe is nutty, to be sure, but it's just your standard GOP-style nuttiness, calling global warming a hoax, defending Abu Ghraib torture, etc.
I think Coburn wins.