Which Republican would you support for U.S. Senator?
Tom Coburn, Kirk Humphries, Terry Neese

"Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth."- Ludwig Borne

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
- Philip K. Dick

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned." - Buddha

"If the gods listened to the prayers of men, all humankind would quickly perish since they constantly pray for many evils to befall one another." - Epicurus

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."- Mohandas K. Gandhi

"A lawyer is a person who writes a 10,000 word document and calls it a
'brief'." - Franz Kafka

Brian Maughan 2482 votes 45%
Debbe Leftwich 2979 votes 55%

Dec. 8, 2003 - State Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones, State Libertarian Party Chairman Christopher Powell, and State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Parmley gathered to discuss the differences between each of their respective parties Monday night in the Tom Steed building at Rose State College.

The philosophical discussion held before 100+ attendees exposed refreshing libertarian ideals, raised both stark differences and bland similarities between the two major parties.

Jones acknowledged that the there has been "a blurring of the parties on some issues." It seems to me that Republicans want to grow government differently than Democrats but they want to grow government. Of course you will hear Republican leaders talk about limiting the size of government but we all know that they are just pandering to conservatives with meaningless rhetoric.

Parmley said that Republicans try to cast democrats as "immoral and un-Christian" and brought up Jim Inhofe's election strategy of "God, Guns, and Gays." It would be more than fair to say that the homosexual rights political movement has been co-opted by the National Democratic Party. Northeastern Liberals like Howard Dean are for raising homosexual marriage legitimacy to that of heterosexual marriage. And let's not forget the Boy Scouts who were booed at the 2002 Democratic Party convention for their stance on homosexual troop leaders. Earlier this year in Stillwater, Joe Lieberman was booed vehemently by Democrat activists when he dared to say that he was against gay marriage on moral grounds. And what about all of those Democratic appointed federal judges that want to make our "Pledge of Allegience" unconstitutional because of the words "under God?"...So much for religious tolerance in the DNC.

One of the hot issues to surface was the fact that both Republicans and Democrats in Oklahoma have decided to keep third parties from competing for political power. Republicans and Democrats seem to be well pleased to work together on this issue in maintaining Oklahoma's reputation as having the worst ballot access laws in the nation. Democrats and Republicans talk about wanting competition. But that's not what they really mean in Oklahoma. We should demand more from our elected officials in addressing ballot access for third parties.

Another of the hot issues to be raised was the war on drugs. Powell eloquently stated the point that we all wish that people would make the decision not to abuse harmful drugs. But prohibition only makes the problem worse. He's right. Anyone who supports the continuation of the drug war in its present form has determined to guarantee the worst for our children. Drugs are more accessible to our children because politicians have decided to stick their heads in the sand.

The reason they do this is because people like us (you and me) allow and encourage it. Rush Limbaugh didn't need to go to prison. He needed to go to rehab. It's time for conservatives to wake up on this issue.

Powell was wearing a button that I really liked. It said, "I own me." Which is a great concept. It just happens to not be true in the United States. In our "highly enlightened society" we believe that it's our duty to force the rest of society to conform to government approved values in every way possible. Which of course, is a great thing when imposing prison time for stealing my "stuff." But if you want to paint your dog purple with yellow polka dots, I'm not going to call the ASPCA or the local SWAT team to stop your deviant behavior.

Republicans and Democrats alike have a "living and breathing" constitutional viewpoint today. Democrats gleefully acknowledge it. Republican leaders deny its legitimacy because they refuse to fight for it and defend it when it matters.

If the ideals our founding fathers "ordained" in the constitution are truly "living and breathing" than that means that those principles can suffer death. Which might indeed be their fate.