Posts on Oklahoma

A few weeks ago, the Right swung into action to try and save a couple of their imperiled "shining stars" in Rep. Michelle Bachmann (MN) and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave. 

The Family Research Council lit into the National Republican Campaign Committee for pulling its advertising from their races, as did David Barton who then took it upon himself to raise money for Musgrave himself. 

As it turned out, Bachmann barely managed to hang onto her seat, but Musgrave did not:

Betsy Markey won a sweeping victory over incumbent Rep. Marilyn Musgrave on Tuesday, becoming the first Democrat in two generations to represent Northern Colorado in Congress.

So at least the Right can take solace in knowing that they manged to keep at least one of their shining stars in office, while we can take solace in the fact that there will be one less right-wing anti-gay zealot on the Hill. 

Speaking of which, Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern also managed to hang onto her seat:

FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT NO. 84

SALLY KERN REP 7,230 57.95%
RON MARLETT DEM 5,247 42.05%

Seriously, how big of an anti-gay bigot do you have to be for it to actually cost you your seat in Oklahoma? Apparently, an even bigger one than Kern which, I dare say, is nearly impossible.  

Oklahoma City Rep. Sally Kern, a self-proclaimed “cultural warrior for Judeo-Christian values,” defended her view that homosexuality is a greater threat to this nation than terrorism during a recent debate with her Democratic opponent:

KOCO has the report:

State Rep. Sally Kern defended her position against what she called the "homosexual agenda" during a debate with opponent Ron Marlett in Bethany Thursday night.

"It's a moral decay that's going to destroy our nation from within," she said.

Marlett said he entered the race because of Kern's comments about gays.

"Certain statements over the last few months have been less than kind," he said.

When asked about the biggest threat facing the United States, Marlett said it was dependence on foreign oil. Kern said it was homosexuality.

"While terrorism has killed more than 3,000 people, in the continental United States in the last 15 years, homosexual behavior has killed more than 100,000," she said. "It's a danger to life. It is a danger to health."

"To compare certain members of our community to a cancer that might need to be removed is chilling to me," Marlett said.

"Our county is united pretty much against terrorism, but homosexuality is being promoted in schools and by the government," said Kern.

Considering that Sally Kern made a name for herself by proclaiming that the homosexual agenda is the “biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam” and then declaring herself "cultural warrior for Judeo-Christian values," it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that she continued to spout inanities when she sat down for an interview with a student journalist from the University of Oklahoma:

Kern defined evolution to me as “the process of wanting to create something or have something be perfect. Get rid of that which is not healthy and strong.”

Kern told me she associates the acceptance of evolution with Adolf Hitler, despite the fact that, under the Nazis, libraries were specifically instructed not to stock works promoting “the false scientific enlightenment of primitive Darwinism.”

Whichever side of the issue you stand on, it’s clear Kern has no idea what she’s talking about.

…

In campaigning, Kern has made much of her Christian pedigree, even claiming that God directly instructed her to run for office and to become a “cultural warrior.”

It quickly becomes apparent, though, that her views on the Bible are as misinformed as her views on biology.

“There’s more proof to verify the Bible than there is George Washington, Chaucer and Shakespeare,” Kern told me.

“The actual time that Jesus existed until when people started writing and talking about him is just not a whole lot of years.

Oklahoma state legislator Sally Kern first came to national attention back in March when an audio clip of her declaring that the "homosexual agenda is destroying this nation, OK, it's just a fact ... I honestly think it's the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat" was posted on-line by the Victory Fund.

Since then she has become something of a hero to the Religious Right, receiving a standing ovation from her fellow Oklahoma GOP legislators and being praised and defended by the likes of militant anti-gay activists like Matt Barber, then of Concerned Women for American, and Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality.

In April, at least a thousand people attended a rally in the Oklahoma capitol to show their support for Kern, where she declared that "we were in a cultural war for the very existence of our Judeo-Christian values. This situation proves that I was right. We are in a cultural war; this is for real."

Kern has been quite for the last several months but she up for re-election in November and has now begun declaring that God put her in the statehouse to be "cultural warrior for Judeo-Christian values":

Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, told members of the Cleveland County Republican Club Tuesday that being a conservative means supporting religion and morals in government as strongly as cutting taxes.

...

"I am not saying everyone has to be Christian; this is not a homogenous nation," Kern said. "What you have to be is someone who believes in a Judeo-Christian ethic, in other words, in knowing there's a right and wrong.

"Not all lifestyles are equal; not all religions are equal," she said. "Was I saying all people are not equal? Heavens no; we were all created equal."

...

[Kern explained] how she, a schoolteacher and minister's wife, became a state representative.

"I expected to run and lose, and then be a better government teacher, but I won," Kern said. "My Lord made it very clear to me that I'm a cultural warrior for Judeo-Christian values."

From the state that brought us Sally Kern comes yet another elected official who believes gays are conspiring against him. Embattled Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart is facing felony campaign finance charges, but his re-election campaign is in full swing, distributing a crudely drawn comic book explaining to voters how he stood up to "the homosexuals, the good ol' boy politicians, and liberals"--not to mention a cartoon Satan:

(Via Reason.)

At least a thousand people attended a rally in the Oklahoma capitol for state Rep. Sally Kern, who recently became a right-wing celebrity after ranting about how gays are a bigger threat than terrorism. In her speech, Kern called homosexuality “the death knell for this country,” warned of a sinister “gay agenda” of indoctrinating “two year olds” and “infiltrating city councils,” and associated gays with “deadly” diseases. Unsurprisingly, the legislator has been catching some flack for her over-the-top anti-gay broadside, but according to Kern and her supporters, criticism of Kern (including angry e-mails, “many of them filled with profanity and vulgarity”) is proof of the persecution of the Religious Right.

From the Oklahoman:

"I told the people when I was running for this office that I was a Christian candidate and that I believed we were in a cultural war for the very existence of our Judeo-Christian values,” said Kern, who was elected to the House in 2004. "This situation proves that I was right. We are in a cultural war; this is for real.”

Concerned Women for America’s Matt Barber, who has helped promote Kern as a right-wing hero and who recently cited blood donations as proof of the “gay agenda” Kern warned against, said Kern had been the victim of “tremendous assault” by “homosexual anti-Christian hate groups.” After the rally, he portrayed this “persecution” as biblical:

People with traditional values who value God's design for human sexuality will not be intimidated and bullied into silence.  Political correctness can never trump truth. Sally Kern stood for truth, and she was hated for it. She was persecuted for Christ, but the Body of Christ was there to lift her up.

Likewise, Kern herself claimed the mantle of St. Paul in his imprisonment by the Romans:

"This is not about me," Kern said at the rally, which spilled over from the first floor rotunda to the building's second and third floors. She is the wife of Olivet Baptist Church pastor Steven Kern in Oklahoma City. "It's about the church having the right to speak out for the redeeming love of Jesus Christ Who died to set us all free from sin. The Lord gave me a verse I've been claiming. Philippians 1:12, 'I want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel.'"

The Religious Right has long sought to claim that Christianity is under attack by nefarious forces in the form of whatever policies and politics it disagrees with, as a way to convince people to go along with its far-right platform. Presenting Kern as the victim of a “gay hate campaign” neatly deflects the obvious criticism that Kern, Barber, and the others have been waging their anti-gay “hate campaign” the whole time.

(Photo by Bob Nigh from Baptist Press.)

After Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern’s anti-gay speech—in which she warned that the “homosexual agenda” is “the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam”—was made public and Kern became the center of attention, some right-wing activists rushed to her defense, including Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America and Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth, the sources she cited for proof that gays are out of destroy America. CWA’s Barber complained that Kern had been subjected to “tremendous assault” by “homosexual anti-Christian hate groups.”

But the Oklahoma chapter of CWA has its own take:

An Oklahoma State Representative is being "jammed" by homosexual activists and a sympathetic media for taking a stand on homosexuality, and she is not backing down.  The term "jamming" refers to the public smearing of Christians, traditionalists or anyone else who opposes the "gay" agenda.

According to CWA Oklahoma director Linda Caswell, “Rep. Kern represents the vast majority of Oklahomans.”

Anti-gay Oklahoma state legislator Sally Kern defends herself in an interview with like-minded allies Matt Barber of Concerned Women for American and Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality ... the two "experts" she initially cited in explaining her views.

Oklahoma state legislator Sally Kern became a national celebrity over the weekend, after the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund posted an audio clip of her expounding on the supposed “homosexual agenda”: “I honestly think it’s the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam,” said Kern.

According to Oklahomans for Equality, Kern has been expressing similar anti-gay views for years, and she apparently has no plans to change course:

Kern said Monday she plans to take this issue as far as it goes and will not apologize for her statements. "If it costs me my seat that's OK," she said. "I'm going to stand up for what is right."

And apparently Republicans in Oklahoma are behind her: Kern said she received a standing ovation from fellow GOP legislators in a closed meeting on Monday.

Religious-right activists have been pushing idea for years that there is a nefarious “homosexual agenda” behind political efforts for equal rights for gays and lesbians, usually taking the form of “indoctrinating” children or shutting down churches. So it’s no surprise that when pressed to back up her rant, Kern provided as “proof” links to statements by the usual far-right activists—such as Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America and Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality—claiming that politically active gays are part of a conspiracy to “gain power” and “promot[e] homosexuality among young people.”

For next efforts.

Montana bill would ignore national ID requirements, Maine urges Congress to overturn it. Also: Hawaii, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Vermont and Washington.

The Washington Times reports that the English-only movement is “building momentum,” citing Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)’s plans to reintroduce his English Language Unity Act in the new Congress and “seven states pushing legislation to make English the official language or to strengthen laws already in place."

“This is the strongest push for official English legislation that I have seen in the last 15 years,” crowed Mauro Mujica, chairman of US English. Rep. King claimed that “There's been such strong support. And it's gaining momentum.” Of course, with Republican immigration hawks out of power, King’s bill may have even less chance of becoming law than last year, when it languished in committee. And while King may use his skills in exaggeration to magnify the “momentum” and to try to create a wedge issue to motivate the anti-immigrant base, the real focus may be on proposed state laws.

"The states have been wonderful on this,” said Jim Boulet Jr., the executive director of English First, a group most recently involved in a failed attempt to prevent Florida Sen. Mel Martinez from being named general chairman of the Republican National Committee. The Washington Times cites efforts by legislators in Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey and Oklahoma, as well as an English-only referendum that passed last year in Arizona. King himself is devoting his energy to the state level by suing the governor of Iowa for supposedly violating the English-only law King crafted as a state legislator.

In Kansas, Ohio. But Discovery Institute’s John West looks to South Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma.

So-called “family policy councils.” More here.

Oologah, Oklahoma, pop. 1,026, passes anti-immigrant ordinance.