It would... make a cow quit her calf

   Many ranchers and farmers have heard and uttered the phrase "It would make a cow quit her calf" as a way of communicating something which is so distasteful, that it would indeed make a cow quit her calf. This blog is typically about politics and public schools, but not necessarily the positive aspects of the relationship. Several state lawmakers were overheard during this last state session as saying that "teachers" would make a cow quit her calf, so would not run again for state office. As a matter of fact, eleven state representatives (all republican) chose to "throw in the towel" early, and not continue the fight for their constituents. The reasoning provided by several was that they were attacked by constituents (see the farewell letter written by the district 42 Rep), and found it so distasteful - that they quit.
  At this point, a disclaimer of my affiliation in politics is in order:
I first registered to vote in the late 1970's as an "R", and voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 for President of the U.S. I viewed myself as "conservative" as I believed in retaining traditional public schools as the cornerstone for America's success as a nation, and I believed the U.S. Constitution and the Bible were the rule books for living. I still do. I switched my affiliation to "D" during the mid - 1990's, as not many republicans were running for state and local offices in my county - but I still wanted to vote in primary elections. I still voted for many republicans on a national level, but also voted for many democrats, especially in state and local elections. The democratic office holders at the national level, President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, began to wrest control of our local public schools away from our local school boards and to the federal government. Corporate control of the government also began to accelerate under the Obama and Duncan administration. Many conservatives and liberals refer to this form of government as corporativism or fascism, and would truly make a cow quit her calf - so I switched back to "R" in 2014. I was disgusted with the corporate turn the democratic party was taking.
   I ran for state office in 2016, as I believed the republican party was conservative, ethical, anti-corporate welfare, and all things good - just the opposite of what many republicans believed democrats were. My second cow quitting her calf moment began as I ran for office, and continues to this day:
During the 2016 campaign, a group calling itself "Stand for Children" sent questionnaires to all candidates seeking state office in Oklahoma. It was understood that if a candidate answered the questions correctly, he or she would receive campaign support from the group. I knew about the group, as it was headed by Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump's soon to be Secretary of Education. DeVos was openly critical of public schools nation-wide and believes that "school vouchers" are the wave of the future for public schools. She further believes that state lawmakers should be willing to spend public tax dollars meant for state services, for private purposes - such as public school funding to private schools and corporate charters. I trashed the questionnaire, because I wanted no part of being indebted to Betsy DeVos, if elected. I clearly understood I would receive no campaign contributions or support from the group, but what I didn't know or plan for - was the attack ads that would be sent to prospective district 42 voters, in opposition to my candidacy. Several of my republican supporters received the ads through the mail, and provided them to me. The mailers were bought and paid for by DeVos's organization "Stand for Children" (Stand for Vouchers), and cost about $3,000 per mailer sent. I received two separate cards from friends, so the total cost was approximately $6,000 for the DeVos group to slam my candidacy. My primary republican opponent for district 42 quickly disavowed any connection to the "dark money" group by claiming he knew nothing of the mailers. In fact, when I saw him a couple days after the mailers were received - he claimed he didn't know anything about them, nor had anything to do with the negative phone calls many voters were receiving at about the same time. My presumption was that he did send the questionnaire back to the "dark money" group with the knowledge that he would receive campaign support, if he answered the questions correctly. As it is illegal to coordinate one's campaign with "dark money" groups, my opponent knew the only answer was to claim ignorance, or he could have faced charges. The "paper trail" (questionaire) belonged to the dark money group, led by Betsy DeVos, and was not to be relinquished to any district attorney for consideration of potential charges.
   These facts, plus the fact that several republican state lawmakers (4) were forced to resign from office because of felony charges or convictions, indeed would indeed make a cow quit her calf, so I quit the "R" party in 2017, and became Independent. I was always independent in making decisions about who I voted for in national and state elections, but finally made it official, as I now believe that for me - belonging to any organized political party will make a cow quit her calf. The easiest way to explain my independence from organized political parties is the same way Will Rogers explained it "I don't belong to any organized political party, I'm a democrat". Only I say - I don't belong to any organized political party, I'm Independent...
   I never vote straight party ticket... I review the candidates for any elected office I'm eligible to vote which provides an unbiased assessment concerning the positives and negatives of each. As a matter of fact, I'll start today, since we heard from several candidates from House District 20, 27, and 42 (my home district) on Thursday, May 10, at Mid-America Tech. Center in Wayne. Those who answered questions concerning our public schools were Lyz George (D) of Blanchard, District 42; Cindy Roe (R) of Lindsay, District 42; Allie Burgin (R) of Wynnewood, District 42; Sherrie Conley (R) of Newcastle, District 20; and Jason Harris (R) of McCloud, District 27 (note - not all candidates for the three districts represented were able to attend, so we will omit those). The candidates present answered 4 questions, and all were allowed to comment on each question - but in the interest of brevity, we'll only review the responses to the first question. The question: Please state your philosophy for allowing public funding for private purposes? For clarity, the following analogy was provided - A bill which provides state tax dollars to private enterprise lands on your desk for consideration to support. An example is Oklahoma Department of Transportation funding (state tax dollars) being used to pave a private driveway (which is currently illegal), or County Road funding (property tax) being used to improve a private driveway (also illegal). An approved House Bill could legalize both of these scenarios, so the question was asked in order to get the candidates' view of directing state tax dollars (meant for state services) to their favorite private enterprise. Four candidates, both republican and democrat, answered the question identically, and to paraphrase: NO public funds for private purposes. The republican from Wynnewood, however, answered - I am FOR school choice (vouchers). It is important to note at this point that the national republican party platform for public education is pro-voucher, so any state republican candidate who wants "dark money support" from groups such as Betsy DeVos's Stand for Vouchers, will toe the corporate line. The D. 42 candidate from Wynnewood will doubtlessly reap the benefits of stating he believes in public funding for his favorite charity - private enterprise. The bad news for the other four candidates is that Stand for Vouchers is not content with just supporting their chosen candidates, but will sling mud on all others. We'll stay vigilante over the next several weeks and hopefully be able to provide a consensus pick as to which candidate will be best for our public schools and Oklahoma.