Commentary

When last we visited, I discussed conservative Oklahoma blogs, how small and narrow their readership was, and how much blog conflict takes place in a largely empty echo chamber. I also observed that the fragmentation of the media allows readers to consume information narrowly, and allows writers to skip editorial control and publish “automatic to […]

There is a political storm coming, and the Democrats of this state have no storm shelter. Hurricane Obama is sweeping across these plains, and Oklahoma Republicans can’t wait until November. Obama is an unpopular president in this state, and the Democrats have no major candidates on the federal or statewide level. The national Democrats are […]

The Thunder basketball team has proven Oklahoma City is in the big leagues now, and MAPS 3 promises to keep the city’s momentum going for years to come. But there’s at least one thing holding the city back: Oklahoma’s antiquated, dysfunctional liquor laws. It’s the drunken, hypocritical elephant in the room often invisible to city […]

I felt empathy with Judy Gibbs Robinson as I read about The Oklahoma Daily‘s handling of a controversial editorial cartoon. Judy is editorial adviser of the student newspaper at the University of Oklahoma. Last week, several students and faculty complained to The Daily about a cartoon, a panel showing a man entering a dorm laundry […]

There’s an old saw in campaign politics that goes “politicians think everyone knows them because they only go to places where they know people.” Fragmentation allows readers to consume information narrowly. The Internet allows writers to skip editorial control and publish automatically to the people. In local politics, Web sites of ideological and journalistic diversity […]

In the fall 2009 issue of Christian Ethics Today, Mennonite theologian Tripp York published an article titled “The Subtle Atheism of Being Pro-Life.” A provocative title indeed. York’s thesis is that when some in the pro-life movement resort to the coercion of laws they are exhibiting a subtle atheism because they assume that the power […]

Oklahoma’s lottery, approved 2-to-1 by voters in 2004, promised it would fix a funding gap in the state’s K-12 educational system, conveniently deferring some of the difficult decisions legislators and state residents have not had the political will to confront. So instead, we got a state lottery, which further promised to bring back to Oklahoma […]

The 2010 Oklahoma legislative session, which began Feb. 1, could be bitter and contentious as leaders determine how the state will deal with its worst budget crisis since the Great Depression.It could get ugly on a historic level. With majorities in both the House and Senate, along with help from conservative Democrats up for re-election, […]