Commentary

Don’t you just love it when elected officials see themselves as so much better than the rest of us? The latest example of this is five “lawmakers/breakers” who are too busy to file their income taxes. Republican former Speaker of the House Lance Cargill owned up to the violation by blaming his accountant! It’s always […]

This column will appear more than a week after Super Tuesday, when Oklahomans voted for president in a closed primary. I am glad my preferred candidate (John McCain) won, if for no other reason than because my position cannot be cited as sour grapes: It would be a wise decision for Oklahoma Republicans to make […]

The wisdom of the “Tao Te Ching” captures the chaos and the energy of this remarkable political season: When you think you know, that is when you do not know. But when you know that you do not know, that is when you know. Pollsters and pundits beware. All the high-tech touch-screen maps and scientific […]

She arrives in her smart blue dress with sensible shoes, her face adorned with glasses created to provide an increased sense of credibility. Her British accent is disarming at first, but when she rolls up her sleeves and presents her “techniques” for child-rearing, it becomes painfully apparent that she has an agenda: to manage and […]

Oklahoma’s reputation as a state dominated by good ol’ boy politics and corruption lives on in the 21st century. This reputation is rooted in the state’s historical legacy of corruption.   This politics-as-usual in Oklahoma can seem highly entertaining as absurdist theater or deeply depressing depending on one’s particular cynicism level on any given day, […]

One can only wonder about the course of the many promises grabbing headlines now. In these days prior to Monday, the start of this session of the Legislature, platforms, caucus agendas and leadership priorities are a daily staple on our diet of television, print media and radio.   My own “aha!” experience concerning the vying […]

If you live in Oklahoma City, you owe Mick Cornett two pounds.   This isn’t a new MAPS tax in British currency. It’s more like a voluntary “FATS tax,” on behalf of the mayor’s “This City Is Going on a Diet” program, announced at the beginning of the year to make weight loss a consideration […]

The year was 1931, and Oklahoma City University was about to make history in a way long forgotten ” until now. Wiley College of Marshall, Texas, a small black liberal arts college established by the United Methodist Church, was on its way to winning the 1935 national debate championship ” against the long odds of […]

The Metropolitan Area Projects tax ” or MAPS ” passed in 1993, and the consequences are all around us: new stadiums including the $92 million Ford Center, a new library, a revitalized downtown, a tourist economy. The original tax expired in 1999.   “MAPS 2,” or MAPS for Kids, replaced the old MAPS tax in […]

I sat down to write a list of famous and distinguished people who have ties to Oklahoma. The list turned out to be too long to print.   The state has been a leader in energy for more than a century. Robert S. Kerr, Dean A. McGee, Frank Phillips and T. Boone Pickens have made […]