Tulsa Gold's Revival

Interesting Analogy

2005-10-29T21:38:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, David Brooks will have a column in The New York Times questioning the Democrat conspiracy theories in the Plame/Miller/Wilson/Libby/Rove affair. He will quote an essay from Richard Hofstadter entitled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics":

"Why are these people so compulsively overheated?.. Why do they
have to slather on wild, unsupported charges that do little more than make them look unhinged?Brooks quotes from an essay written 40 years ago by Richard Hofstadter called "The Paranoid Style in American Politics." Hofstadter argued that sometimes people who are dispossessed, who feel their country has been taken away from them and their kind, develop an angry, suspicious and conspiratorial frame of mind. It is never enough to believe their opponents have
committed honest mistakes or have legitimate purposes; they insist on believing in malicious conspiracies."The paranoid spokesman," Hofstadter wrote, "sees the fate of conspiracy in apocalyptic terms -- he traffics in the birth and death of whole worlds, whole political orders, whole systems of human values. He is always manning the barricades of civilization." Because his opponents are so evil, the conspiracy monger is never content with anything but their total destruction."

This sounds an awful lot like another group of local politicians and political wannabes. To have a fruitful discussion or debate, one has to believe that the other side isn't evil -- you have to believe they are rational and that they present their ideas in good faith. At that point, and only at that point, can you have discourse. Medlock, Delgiorno, and Bates would do well to learn this lesson. Time and again, they call their opponents names and make up conspiracies where none exist. They fail to serve the public and their ultimate goal of making Tulsa a better place at that point.

Citizen Medlock

2005-10-12T19:08:00.000-05:00

Chris Medlock recently made the qualification "I was a citizen at that point" in a City Council meeting on 10/6/05, in regards to his discussion of the airport investigation.

Chris, when did you stop being a citizen? Are you saying that because you're now on City Council (for the time being), you have some sort of different understanding or role than citizens? Is that what allows you to endorse hate speech and feed on the fear and ignorance of Oklahoma?

A good politician is always a citizen. You lost whatever credibility you might have had when you decided that you were above the rest of us. Maybe that explains the claim about the MBA and your own conspiracy theories about the World; you think you're better than the rest of us...

Oh what you can learn on OSCN

2005-10-03T01:47:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, the Oklahoma courts have a wonderful site, OSCN.net, full of useful info on people you may or may not like.

One recent revelation is that Doug Dodd is representing Michael DelGiorno/KFAQ inthe defamation/IED case brought by Bill Christiansen. I initially wanted to be angry at Doug for this one -- I expect more from him -- but then I realized that one can't really fault him for representing even the lowest of lowlives. Everyone deserves legal representation.

What I find interesting is that I'm sure MGD regularly trashed Doug for years... because he was an attorney.

Politics makes strange bedfellows. Here, you have to wonder though... does politics make strange lawyer/client relationships as well? Maybe MGD cab get rid of some of that fat campaign debt.

And, while Doug an't be faulted as an attorney here... you have to wonder if bizarre decisions like this kept him out of office to begin with -- like his decision to replace his campaign director with his wife. Or the decision to run a third time without money. Or the decision to not come up with credible answers and policy ideas...

2005-10-03T01:39:00.000-05:00

If you haven't done so already, check out the World's article on Sunday, Oct. 2, regarding Chris Medlock. Seems this airport investigation really was much ado about nothing... other than Medlock trying to get his political "career" going. Busby, the investigator that Medlock coaxed into resigning, tells all.

Chris, get out before the water gets too warm. You're playing with the big boys now and they'll ruin you... your past is just too shady.

Tom Coburn's Greatest Hits

2005-09-15T00:54:00.000-05:00

Here's a greatest hits list:You have a bunch of crapheads in Oklahoma City that have killed the vision of anybody wanting to invest in Oklahoma. My hope is that one day America will return to our historic standards which were to respect the life of the unborn. (Gold's point: Anyone who has studied the history of abortion knows that's just not true.)Lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go to the bathroom. Now think about it. Think about that issue. How is it that that's happened to us? I know the tribal issues. I was a congressman where most of the Indians are in this state. The problem is that most of them aren't Indians. The average Cherokee quantum is 1/512. (Gold's take: Ergo, Cherokees aren't Indians.)Those can be found at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/tom_coburn.html"And I thought I would just share with you what science says today about silicone breast implants. If you have them, you're healthier than if you don't. In fact, there's no science that shows that silicone breast implants are detrimental and, in fact, they make you healthier."http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/tom_coburn/"The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power ... That agenda is the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today. Why do you think we see the rationalization for abortion and multiple sexual partners? That's a gay agenda." http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/13/coburn/index_np.htmlCoburn has threatened to cause "all sorts of mischief" if the Senate actually makes him work at his elected job "five solid days a week."http://talkleft.com/new_archives/010260.html"I have on my desk a complete medical file of Terri Schiavo, and I would challenge the accuracy of many of the statements by people involved in that case in terms of her medical condition, and I would also challenge some of the autopsy findings based on what I have on my desk in Washington," Coburn said.Coburn is an obstetrician and gynecologist and is not trained as a pathologist or medical examiner. He said he had reviewed Schiavo's medical file but had not examined her body.http://www.waveflux.net/archives/001732.phpAt the same time, there is reason to fear that something has changed in the national climate when the chief of staff to a U.S. senator -- even if that senator is Tom Coburn of Oklahoma -- tells a public gathering, "I'm in favor of mass impeachment if that's what it takes." An "easier way," the aide, Michael Schwartz, said at last week's conference, would be to oust activist judges for bad behavior. "Then the judge's term has simply come to an end. The president gives them a call and says, 'Clean out your desk, the Capitol Police will be in to help you find your way home.' "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42691-2005Apr10.html(Gold: how the $%^@ can you impeach a federal judge?)Decades of judicial activism have created huge rifts in the social fabric of our country. Activist judges have usurped Federal and State legislators’ responsibility to make decisions on critically important issues. Ivory tower elites have decided that they can better make important decisions about our country’s social structure than the American people. http://coburn.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=News.PressReleases&month=9&year=2005&id=97.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning some Ten Commandments displays.“Today’s decision is yet another example of activist judges ignoring the Constitution and our founding principles. In an astonishing act of judicial hypocrisy, the Supreme Court outlawed some Ten Commandments displays as they sat beneath a display of the Ten Commandments. A future court may well decide that today the Supreme Court declared its own meeting chambers unconstitutional,” Dr. Coburn said.“This decision underscores the need for the Senate to confirm judges who will interpret, not rewrite, the Constitution. Far left academics and activists will celebrate this ruling because it demonstrates their success in enacting agendas through the courts that would fail at the ballot box,” Dr. Coburn said, adding that according to an Associated Press poll 76 percent of Americans support displaying the Ten Commandments on government ground.“The genius of our founders is that they recognized that individual rights derive from a Creator, not from a King or the State. Our founders were concerned that if our rights derived from the State – or a Court – they could be taken away by the State. This ruling contradicts our founders’ vision of democracy and freedom,” Dr. Coburn said. “Our entire system of government and belief in the rule of law is built on a foundation of religion, not irreligion. We should remind ourselves of a quote by Thomas Jefferson etched in the Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson asked in an argument today’s Supreme Court might treat as a dissenting opinion, ‘Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?’”.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning some Ten Commandments displays.“Today’s decision is yet another example of activist judges ignoring the Constitution and our founding principles. In an astonishing act of judicial hypocrisy, the Supreme Court outlawed some Ten Commandments displays as they sat beneath a display of the Ten Commandments. A future court may well decide that today the Supreme Court declared its own meeting chambers unconstitutional,” Dr. Coburn said.“This decision underscores the need for the Senate to confirm judges who will interpret, not rewrite, the Constitution. Far left academics and activists will celebrate this ruling because it demonstrates their success in enacting agendas through the courts that would fail at the ballot box,” Dr. Coburn said, adding that according to an Associated Press poll 76 percent of Americans support displaying the Ten Commandments on government ground.“The genius of our founders is that they recognized that individual rights derive from a Creator, not from a King or the State. Our founders were concerned that if our rights derived from the State – or a Court – they could be taken away by the State. This ruling contradicts our founders’ vision of democracy and freedom,” Dr. Coburn said. “Our entire system of government and belief in the rule of law is built on a foundation of religion, not irreligion. We should remind ourselves of a quote by Thomas Jefferson etched in the Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson asked in an argument today’s Supreme Court might treat as a dissenting opinion, ‘Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?’”.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning some Ten Commandments displays.“Today’s decision is yet another example of activist judges ignoring the Constitution and our founding principles. In an astonishing act of judicial hypocrisy, the Supreme Court outlawed some Ten Commandments displays as they sat beneath a display of the Ten Commandments. A future court may well decide that today the Supreme Court declared its own meeting chambers unconstitutional,” Dr. Coburn said.“This decision underscores the need for the Senate to confirm judges who will interpret, not rewrite, the Constitution. Far left academics and activists will celebrate this ruling because it demonstrates their success in enacting agendas through the courts that would fail at the ballot box,” Dr. Coburn said, adding that according to an Associated Press poll 76 percent of Americans support displaying the Ten Commandments on government ground.“The genius of our founders is that they recognized that individual rights derive from a Creator, not from a King or the State. Our founders were concerned that if our rights derived from the State – or a Court – they could be taken away by the State. This ruling contradicts our founders’ vision of democracy and freedom,” Dr. Coburn said. “Our entire system of government and belief in the rule of law is built on a foundation of religion, not irreligion. We should remind ourselves of a quote by Thomas Jefferson etched in the Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson asked in an argument today’s Supreme Court might treat as a dissenting opinion, ‘Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?’”http://coburn.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=News.PressReleases&month=6&year=2005&id=8Michael Schwartz must have thought I was just another attendee of the"Confronting the Judicial War on Faith" conference. I approached thechief of staff of Oklahoma's GOP Senator Tom Coburn outside theconference in downtown Washington last Thursday afternoon after hespoke there. Before I could introduce myself, he turned to me andanother observer with a crooked smile and exclaimed, "I'm a radical!I'm a real extremist. I don't want to impeach judges. I want to impalethem!"http://okimc.org/newswire.php?story_id=711From tonight's senate debate between Brad Carson (D) and Tom Coburn (R). Coburn, asked "Why do you argue for privitization of Social Security?", answered:If you die... If you're an African American male in this country, you die before the average... your average life expectancy is less than the retirement age of social security. How, what kind of plan is that that we're gonna take from those because they had a genetic predisposition to have less of a life expectancy. You're gonna steal from them and give it to somebody else. The fact is that we can solve the problem. We can't solve it if we won't talk about it. And we can do with what Albert Einstein said was the most powerful force on earth, which is compound interest. Get it out of the hands of the politicians. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/28/0407/7549Coburn favors "the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life," explaining his ardent opposition by noting how his great-grandmother was raped by a territorial sheriffhttp://www.thenation.com/blogs/outrage?pid=1985Finally, I'll close with an article you just have to read for yourself. He represents us so well.Link: Washington Post profile Posted on 9/14 5:46 PM IP: Logged

And now for something completely different...

2005-05-09T01:03:00.000-05:00

Something that really irks me is the frequent assertion by the Far Right/ south Tulsa wacko minority group, represented by Michael Delgiorno (hereinafter "MDG") and Chris Medlock (hereinafter "the Morlock"), that there is a group of oligarchs that controls everything in Tulsa. Batesline (hereinafter "Hatesline") refers to them as "cockroaches" and Delgiorno, when he's making sense (which is of course very rare), uses similar pet names.

Let me first clarify that there certainly are powerful people in Tulsa that play politics and (gasp) happen to own institutions like the Tulsa World and operate banks and other corporations. Believe it or not, there are people with similar power pedigrees all over the world. And, it may come as a suprise to those who did not graduate from an accredited college, like Morlock, that those actors act in their own self-interest. Certainly, there is a concerted power play to get the Morlock out of office. From my vantage point, they are giving him choices, hoping that he resigns before the Recall -- if he "wins" the Recall, my bet is that they'll reveal more information about him -- this time worse than the MBA debacle. At some point, it's going to become too expensive for him to stay in office and he'll be out.

The gang of losers, -- like MDG, Morelock, and Hatesline -- want you to believe there is some sort of mafia in town that prevents any other political voice from being heard. That is patently false. If it was true, you wouldn't be able to hear MDG's on-air excriment every morning. These buffoons are so desperate that they'll go to extreme measures to get their "message" heard and gain whatever fledgling support that might be out there. They are so desperate that they'll stoop to unprofessional namecalling and create a fable whenever it suits their purpose.

There are a couple of reasons for that desperation. First and foremost, they have to know that Morelock is going to lose or resign at some point -- they want to get points with potential future supporters while the iron is still hot. Second, of course, is that there is an effort to get MDG off the radio (check out michaeldelgiornosucks.com when you get a chance). Finally, it's that Morelock, et al, are well aware that they have no agenda for the city and that they need to make crap up until the voters forget that point.

Please don't buy into the hysteria. You're better off making your own decisions about the "truth." Don't quit reading the World because of what they say -- read it with the realization that it is owned by people with a bias (like any other newspaper in the world), but that it is the best source for information in this city. Finally, don't buy into the hate-politics of these lunatics.

More to come soon ...

A New Voice in a Time of (Make Belive) Peril

2005-05-01T23:32:00.000-05:00

Hi Folks,

More will come when finals rap up. Given some of the contentiousness in the Tulsa area and the world at large, I thought I'd start my own little molehill. Come back for some actual insight in a few weeks.

Gold