Commentary

T. Boone Pickens, legendary oilman and Oklahoma university benefactor, has a plan to relieve our oil addiction, that pesky substance abuse problem first identified by President Bush in January 2006. With crude oil prices hovering around $140 per barrel, Boone says payments for our nearly 70 percent import requirement represent “the greatest transfer of wealth […]

Oklahoma should be trying to make college affordable for as many of its residents as possible, yet the state continues to drastically raise tuition rates.  Virtually every leader in the state publicly agrees we cannot expand the economy and improve the quality of life without higher education. Why then does Oklahoma make it more difficult […]

Will common sense prevail in state government? It seems we have a good start. Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, held a public hearing July 9 to discuss the possibility of flexible or compressed work schedules ” essentially a four-day workweek ” for state employees. Shelton noted that employees of state agencies could cut their commuting […]

In no other area is the need for a John McCain presidency (and the risks of a Barack Obama presidency) more apparent than the war in Iraq. As the Donald Rumsfeld “small footprint” strategy became an obvious disaster, McCain called for a counterinsurgency strategy to deal with the realities on the ground. Meanwhile, fellow senator […]

Sen. Barack Obama represents the best hope we have of ending the disastrous war in Iraq. One can argue that in addition to his charisma, it was his public opposition to the war before it started that helped him to win the nomination over Hillary Clinton. Like all the other final candidates, she was in […]

The legislative session is behind us and sadly, the Oklahoma Legislature failed to pass meaningful ethics reform. Regardless of what you may have heard, the so-called ethics reform that passed and received the autograph of the governor was little more than window dressing. It failed to accomplish that which Oklahomans deserve and demand. The constitutionally […]

I’ve spent more than 30 years of my life in the public eye ” on television, as a candidate for governor, and as CEO and now dean of the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University. When it comes to business attire, I’m old-fashioned. I believe clothes can make the man (or woman). Like […]

Old-line Oklahoma residents didn’t enjoy the first two rounds of oil shocks that hit the U.S. in the Seventies and Eighties. The most recent round visited Oklahoma, and the reality of automotive and oil dependency is being driven home. The time is now to revisit mass transit. Oklahoma once upon a time had clean mass […]

Almost a decade ago, when my beloved Mayflower Congregational Church voted to become “open and affirming” (a United Church of Christ congregation that publicly and prayerfully welcomes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people into the full sacramental hospitality of the church), it was by unanimous decision. Not a single member of this predominately straight congregation […]

Nothing is more beautiful than a miracle. I’ve been watching one take place. The night after Christmas, my gentle, beloved greyhound Annie got into a fight with or was attacked by another dog. Whatever sparked the rage is unknown. The aftermath is unforgettable: Annie was missing fur and flesh. She had wounds of varying severity […]