By Ron McWhirter

A few months back, concerns were raised by Democrats about the ability of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to deliver election ballots to voters and return them. This related both to the absentee ballots used by most states, and especially the mass mail-in ballots being sent to all voters in some states. They charged that the Trump Administration was trying to starve the Post Office, so that ballots could not be delivered in time. They wanted to pump an additional $25 billion of funding into the...

By Steve Byas

When I was growing up in Duncan, Oklahoma, my family received what was then called The Daily Oklahoman. Along with my parents, and my brother, I read the paper with expectation. It was a great newspaper. When I went off to college, I subscribed to the paper, and I even subscribed when I moved to Sapulpa, Oklahoma. (I could not stand that liberal rag known as The Tulsa World). When I moved to Norman in 1983, one of the first things I did was get a subscription to the Oklahoman. ...

By Linda Murphy

A global “non-profit organization,” Cognia, which serves 85 countries has been contracted to do the statewide testing for Oklahoma’s 3rd-8th grade students. Cognia has gained unprecedented centralization of power over K-12 education in several states by also serving as the organization which accredits schools (public, private and charter) and which also determines the “standards” for student certification in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in K-12). ...

By Tim Bakamjian

For most of my life, I thought elections didn’t matter. Who became president, my U.S. Senator, House member or governor, made little difference. It had almost no effect on my livelihood, where I chose to live, what I said or did, or whom I associated with. Even though I followed politics, the subject rarely came up. I often didn’t know or care who, among my family and friends, was liberal or conservative. I couldn’t even spell libertarian, let alone define it. And I thought a socialist was...

By Shane Smith

As I write this I am seven days deep into a fourteen-day quarantine with my youngest child. Because she was exposed to someone that tested positive for COVID-19, she is now required to remain at home despite the fact that she is experiencing zero symptoms. The call from the Health Department was courteous but firm: “You must stay home.” Something about receiving a call from an unelected, faceless bureaucrat regarding a forced quarantine, with implied consequences for disobedience, was...

By State Rep. Tom Gann

In America today we deal with a lot of frustrating ironies. There is the irony of our Constitution through the 14th amendment giving “equal protection under the law” to all persons, yet the federal government funds organizations like Planned Parenthood that ignores the personhood of the unborn and kills them on a daily basis. I am thankful President Trump has vowed to defund Planned Parenthood in his next term should he be reelected. ...

By John Michener

When a friend around here says, “It’s Texas week,” we all know what that means. It is time for the Red River Rivalry, the annual football game between the universities of Oklahoma and Texas. There is a lot of smack talk during that week from fans, and you may have noticed the collective ownership. The pronoun is always “we,” never “they.” Each fan speaks as if he were on the roster: “We will roll right over them,” “We will beat the hooey out of them,” “We will murder...

By Brandon Dutcher

By a two-to-one margin, Oklahomans say that if schools don’t open in the fall, parents should be able to take their tax dollars and go to another school. This according to a statewide survey of active likely voters conducted August 10–13, 2020. The survey, with a sample size of 630 and a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percent, was commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) and conducted by Cor Strategies. Let the Money Follow the Child As uncertainty continues to sw...

By Theodore King

The 5th District Congress Race I have asked some folks in the 5th District regarding the Republican runoff last August between Stephanie Bice and Terry Neese. I was informed that it was ugly. State Senator Stephanie Bice has a cumulative voting score in this paper of 58 percent. That’s just right of center. Her voting record makes her an “eh” choice for conservatives in the general election against Congresswoman Kendra Horn. Conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. believed con...

By Ron McWhirter

We believe the most important product of this publication is our annual Oklahoma Conservative Index which rates members of the Oklahoma Legislature. We published our first score card in the summer of 1979, and with this summer edition we present the 42nd edition of the ratings. However, as I reported in our spring edition, the Covid-19 pandemic might impact its completion this year. ...

By Steve Byas

Among the biggest needs for Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities is more diversity. ...

By Charlie Meadows

The next Step on State Question 802 As soon as the Legislature begins in February, they should pass legislation to offer a state question to the voters to repeal SQ802. For those opposed to State Question 802, the narrow loss was both a heartbreak and an encouraging outcome at the same time. This may not be over yet, let me explain. When the supporters of expanding Medicaid began their petition drive, they explained that it was needed because the Legislature had failed to do their job – ...

By Linda Murphy

Parents, teachers and students across the state are working to decide how to navigate their own individual plans for education this fall as COVID-19 (C19) continues to disrupt our “normal” routines. Starting in August, K-12 public schools around the state will begin implementation of the “new” plans they have created for their local districts. As an advocate for local control, I am happy to see how the independent spirit of Oklahomans has prevailed to stop those who would try to impose a...

By Tim Bakamjian

Mike Gundy went fishing recently and caught hell. The 15-year Oklahoma State football coach was photographed wearing a T-shirt with “OAN” emblazoned across the front. That stands for One America News, a national news network with a refreshing combination of straight news stories and mostly conservative opinion journalists. Of late, they’ve run numerous stories critical of the Black Lives Matter organization. OAN originally received praise from Gundy in an April hour long teleconference in...

By Shane Smith

We are failing our children. It’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but after witnessing the unending sequence of catastrophic policy mistakes over the past four months, and knowing what is in store for our children this fall when they return to school, the truth is painfully obvious. Our children are bearing the brunt of this phony pandemic, one which has been nothing more than a self-inflicted, full-bore tilt toward totalitarianism. The hypochondriacs are making policy now, and they...

By Jason Murphey

I was recently asked, “Can you explain what is going on between the Legislature and Governor Stitt?” For the first time in the modern history of the state, a Legislature has forced through a general appropriations bill – without the approval of the Governor. The specter of a super-majority of the Legislature passing a state budget against the wishes of a governor from their own political party has understandably likely caught the attention of the casual observers who are not normally a...

By David Deming

Here we go again. That was my first thought when I saw the video of George Floyd being restrained by police officers. Another case of apparent police brutality being presented by the media as the norm and used to justify a radical political agenda. Because one police officer may have abused his authority, we are now supposed to “defund” or even abolish the police everywhere. ...

By John Michener

George Orwell’s 1984 describes a dystopian world in which “the Party” maintains its governmental power and control by creating an environment of constant fear through propaganda. The atmosphere of fear and abject reliance on government for a sense of security breaks down the people’s ability to think rationally. They believe and accept anything they are told, even when it is entirely illogical. The Party’s campaign of psychological mind control is so effective that the citizens have...

By Steve Fair

In McGirt vs. Oklahoma, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that as pertaining to the Major Crimes Act, much of the eastern part of Oklahoma remains Native American reservations of the Five Civilized Tribes. They ruled the reservations were never disestablished by Congress as part of the Oklahoma Enabling Act of 1906. The Enabling Act was the law passed by Congress paving the way for Oklahoma to join the union. The Enabling Act gave the tribes ‘suzerainty’ governing rights to handle internal...

By State Rep. Tom Gann

It’s important for us to realize the true source of this call to “defund the police.” By State Representative Tom Gann I was one of 31 Oklahoma legislators to speak out in defense of those who defend us: our Oklahoma law enforcement officers. All of us wanted to send a strong message: In Oklahoma, we will never bend a knee to a mob nor will we ever comply with demands to defund those who protect the rule of law and the citizens of Oklahoma. This statement originated with concerne...