Sorry for the delay, faithful readers! As some of you know, this blog was kept as a project for independent study for my MPA degree. That semester is over and I took a hiatus during holiday to think about how I wanted to proceed with my political writing. I always intended to come back, but I didn't know in what form.
I thought that after the gubernatorial elections, there would be a dearth in topics to cover if I limited myself to Oklahoma issues and considered rebranding to become a more national focused blog. I didn't really want to do that and compete with thousands of better liberal pundits out there and let's face it... Okies need me. So as best as I can, I am going to stay local, like the produce I stock in my fridge (with occasional dalliances to something more exotic).
So, I'll be posting again, hopefully with some regularity. This is a mini-post, but I at least want to talk about the things that should matter to you right now.
First, Sen. Bill 424 was introduced by Brian Crain (R-Tulsa). It is a bill that would allow breweries to sell their own beer instead of selling to distributors. This is important because distribution has become damned near a cartel controlling the market and limiting what breweries can do for themselves. Allowing them to be distributors themselves opens up the market and allows the makers of goods to dictate the flow of sale. It is actually a very Republican concept-- it strengthens the free market. I have a lot of hopes for this to pass based off of philosophy, but the beer distributors have a very strong lobby in the Capitol. The legislators need to know we have their support. I've thought about calling Crain's office, I've met him a few times and respect him, but I don't know what calling the guy who introduced the thing is going to do. If you have any contacts, you should call them. This is good for Oklahoma.
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The next thing I want to talk about is something that will take a lot longer to unpack, so I only want to mention that it has been on my mind. There is a wing of the Oklahoma Republican Party that has such a hateful agenda against the equal rights of all Oklahomans. There is no pretty way to say it. I will stress that it is a very vocal wing of the party and clearly not the party itself. It is hateful, it is vile, and it is cruel. Gays in Oklahoma just got a win (there shouldn't be wins and losses in human rights but here we are) and the religious right will do whatever it takes to take that away from them; even if it means that they ruin marriage for themselves.
This will be a post in itself, but it would be wrong of me not to mention it.
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