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Repub Handouts at the OK State Fair

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Karen Webb

Today I spent several hours in the Oklahoma Democratic Party booth at the fair. I was in Texas for both the 2001 and 2002 State Fairs. At the 2000 State Fair and the 1996 the Repubs had well staffed booths, very flashily decorated and the people were dressed very business like and rather snooty. Not so, this year, they had one couple who looked like they haven't received their tax break, and 11 by 14 pictures of Dubya and Cheney. We had several people drop by the Democrat booth because as they said, "We were probably very lonely." The first time we went passed the "R"s booth, which is in a different building, no one was their except the couple and the second time there were a couple of other people there, but I don't think they will need crowd control.

I picked up a couple of things which were interesting, if not down right shocking. One piece is called, "Which Oklahoma Party Supports Your Values?" Then in smaller print, "You may be surprised to see which party your beliefs match. Decide for yourself." According to them Democrats "Ignore the issues" of Family, Veterans and Character. It is kind of like their Christian Coalition Voter Guides, if you don't comment specifically on what they do, then you ignore the topic completely. I shall enlighten you on what you as Democrats believe, according to the Republicans. I shall begin with the ones you supposedly ignore.

FAMILY

Rep-"We support...legislation that prohibits recognition of same-sex marriages or domestic partnerships". (I wonder what comes in the "..." part that they don't want us to know. Probably something like, we support our right to tell you who you get to fall in love with and those even considering same-sex partners should be lynched without a trial and all their worldly goods given to the war effort.)

Dem-"Ignore the issue". (They obviously have not seen the entire debate from Stillwater. We don't all agree on it, but we aren't ignoring it).

VETERANS

Rep-We support the complete accounting of all MIAs and POWs that were engaged in military actions by the United States, and the treatment of medical conditions resulting from these actions". (What the hell do they plan to do about the guys that are in military actions today? If they want to treat the medical conditions resulting from past wars, why are they supporting the Bush plan which decreases treatment, if not ignores the problems altogether.)

Dem-"Ignore the issue." (I'll admit, it has been a while since we discussed the complete accounting of all MIAs and POWs because we are a bit more concerned with the treatment of the Vets who are accounted for and the future Vets who are now being used in Iraq to further the Bush Energy Plan.)

CHARACTER (Your gonna love this one.)

Rep-"We...conclude that morality and good character are a must for all elected officials." (I know what should be in that "...". We, except the entire Bush Administration and Repub side of congress, conclude that morality and good character are a must for all elected officials who are Democrats. It means "sexual morality" because lying about reasons to put other people's kids in the line of fire is absolutely character building for the Repubs, but it is deadly to the kids.)

Dem-"Ignore the issue" (I don't intend to ignore the morality or good character of republicans, if I ever find any with morality or good character.)

EDUCATION

Rep- "We support a parent's choice of schools, including...public, private, parochial, or charter." (This "..." refers to any idiot teaching anything and we get to pay for it.)

Dem- "...while opposing any and all policies and schemes which would withhold or redirect taxpayer support from fully funded public education, such as private and charter education." (Now we have a "..." and do we really believe public education is fully funded? Well I don't believe it is fully funded by the Bushies.)

CRIME

Rep-"We support the use of the death penalty." (That would be for anything from calling Dubya names to unclothing the Statue of Justice and everything in between.)

Dem-"We urge all elected officials to consider sentencing options and other alternatives such as rehabilitation." (I am assuming they are only discussing capital offenses because I am positive I can't be rehabilitated from calling Dubya names or lusting after bronze genitals.)

ABORTION

Rep-"We oppose abortion, including partial-birth abortion, and the funding of such by the government". (We also oppose anything resembling contraception education, except those that don't work.)

Dem-"We oppose any legislation that threatens the freedom of any woman." (I proposed the spaying and neutering of the entire Republican party for the safety and sanity of the rest of us.)

JOBS

Rep-"We support a positive ongoing effort to bring new business into Oklahoma to produce high paying jobs". (If what they are doing is positive then negative has to be an improvement. RTW was supposed to create $15 pre hour jobs, Frank said so.)

Dem-"We support training and programs that will help people learn new skills when layoffs have taken away their means of living for themselves and their families." (We Dems ought to be horse whipped. Okay, I don't pretend to understand how this could possibly be a negative. They're in favor of taking our jobs and shipping them overseas, but I haven't seen any of the higher paying replacement jobs, especially those you don't need more training for.)

ENVIRONMENT

Rep-"Whereas preservation of the environment is essential for future generations, we support environmental regulations that consider the rights of property owners." (Property owners need the right to pollute whatever they please with whatever they please.)

Dem-"We condemn so called "takings" legislation that would require government payments to anyone claiming environmental regulations had reduced the value or restricted the use of their property." (They need to be able to do anything they want and have it go directly into your drinking water and if we don't let them then they get some sort of payment for not being allowed to gunk up the planet.)

* * *

In case you are wondering all this loveliness comes from the 2003 Oklahoma Republican Platform and I am not sure where the Democrat part came from. I haven't read the 2003 Oklahoma Democratic Party Platform.

Karen Webb, Moore, Ok.

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY