Corporations aren’t people
Sen. Lankford’s article in the March 1 issue of Oklahoma Gazette (News, “Say what?,” Laura Eastes) addressed tax-exempt status of churches and other nonprofit organizations. He wants churches to be able to support candidates for public offices in word and funds but keep their tax-free exemption.
The tax exemption is for the organization. The organization is not a person and, therefore, it has no right of free speech conferred by the Bill of Rights.
One of the greatest of errors of rulings by the Supreme Court was to claim corporations are people and that money is speech and that the corporations can contribute unlimited funds in elections.
We the (Real) People do not want another travesty like Sen. Lankford is proposing.
Chadwick Cox Norman
Sold out
I am intrigued that nearly all six showings of the movie I Am Not Your Negro sold out Oklahoma City Art Museum.
They’ve added three more shows because so many were turned away. I’m glad that such expression truth can still draw a crowd in my old hometown.
Bill Byrd Oklahoma City
Not a bigot
In response to Jay Hanas in the Jan. 25 Gazette (Opinion, Letters, “Trumpf nation”), I say the following:
Mr. Hanas, I do not appreciate you calling me a bigot. I am married to a minority, and we both voted for President Donald Trump. I have many friends across the country who are minorities who voted for Trump for economic, security and foreign policy reasons.
I have traveled to 55 nations in the world, experiencing most every culture on the planet. I also lived in a third-world nation for a number of years. There are a lot of people from various nations that support Trump because of the tepid and weak policies of President Barack Obama.
My suggestion to you is to marry your rapidly aging wingnut mentor Dr. Robin Meyers and take a permanent honeymoon to New Zealand or Cuba.
Michael James Oklahoma City
Why lie?
Why do we lie? In my opinion, we learn how to lie when we’re children. Through our childhood, we’re apt to hone our skills to a degree that if we do it right, we can get away with most situations. After all, it’s our word against our parents’.
As we mature, we could come to the conclusion that it’s better to tell the truth and be out front, as opposed to our “old ways.” Well, that’s the way it should be in a moral and adult sense. But it doesn’t seem that well-intentioned ideal is shared by everybody.
There are quite a few among us that believe they can live and rely on this childhood platform. You probably know many friends, coworkers, bosses and teachers who fall into this slot.
The problem is those same people who live in that make-believe reality also run for political offices. Of course, one of the major problems is that the people who think as they do vote those kinds of people into office and believe that they’re normal. After all, how would they know the difference?
Joe Wright Oklahoma City
Role play
The hilarious and karmic irony of North Carolina’s HB 2, the proposed Texas Privacy Act, and all other “bathroom bills?” In their race to be the most ignorant and hateful, the authors of these statutes failed to realize that they force fully transitioned, post-operative transgender persons to use gender-specific facilities that no longer correspond to their apparent biological identities.
To wit: A girl who identifies as a boy and who subsequently undergoes testosterone therapy, breast reduction surgery, a hysterectomy and has surgically created male genitalia (and who, by the way, is almost certainly attracted to females) is now forced into the restrooms, locker rooms and public showers with women and girls — our daughters/sisters/grandmothers.
Does this make them safer? Is this how we “protect” women and girls? (A red herring lie that was never the purpose of this spiteful legislation.) What about having preoperative male to female transgenders in a wig, full makeup, high heels and a dress using urinals in the mens’ rooms instead of facilities that match their identity? Will that sort of scene make cisgender men feel more confident in public restrooms? I can’t wait to see the first stories about Christian women clutching their pearls in horror after seeing what appears to be a man — with facial hair, body hair, pectorals, biceps and a penis — showering next to them at the health club or changing next to their precious virginal daughter in the high school locker room or standing up to urinate in the next stall of the Wal-Mart ladies’ room.
Karma has a funny sense of humor.
Jeffrey Wells Edmond
Curbing harassment
The disclosure that the former Speaker of the House used $44,500 of state funds for a confidential settlement with Hollie Anne Bishop (former assistant to Rep. Dan Kirby) and her attorneys for a wrongful termination suit after she reported sexual harassment elicited rightful public outrage.
As a result, a special investigative House committee was appointed. Then, Carol Johnson, another former Kirby assistant, disclosed to the press her complaints of sexual harassment. A shocking picture emerged of a highly dysfunctional working environment. Kirby solicited and received topless photos of Johnson. Furthermore, one of the photos was taken in Kirby’s office.
The committee recommended Kirby’s expulsion.
In the same report, a complaint by a female high-school page against representative Will Fourkiller that his comments made her “feel uncomfortable” and resulted in his being banned from the high-school page program.
Kudos to the committee for recommending annual sensitivity training for legislators on sexual harassment and for requiring signature of an anti-fraternization agreement every election term.
The fact that Bishop had to take her grievance to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for wrongful termination due to lack of action after reporting Kirby’s sexual harassment, and similarly, the fact that when Johnson took her complaint to the House Human Resources Office she was placed on paid leave and then assigned to another legislator, indicates that this office needs to be more involved in handling these complaints.
Let’s hope that clear regulations will emerge from this “snafu” and that no more tax dollars will be used to pay for legal expenses arising from moral transgressions of our elected officials.
Raoul Carubelli Oklahoma City
Weak candidates
I am one of the Feb. 14 nonvoters. Here’s why: I spent nearly an hour in an attempt to discern who to vote for in my ward.
The result: three Republicans, all “humble and loyal family men,” according to their websites. Nothing about how they stood on any important issues whatsoever. I decided to stay home instead of throwing a dart at this meaningless exercise in futility.
Holly Hunter Oklahoma City
Correction
The March 8 Chicken-Fried News story “New Where-land” (News, Oklahoma Gazette) included the wrong location of New Zealand. It is southeast of Australia.
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