• An Independent JournAl of CommentAry • JUNE 2016 • VOLUME 48 NUMBER 6 • $5.00 Troubled Waters Earthquakes May Not Be Oklahoma’s Biggest Problem With Fracking Special Report: Page 24 Observations www.okobserver.net OK Corral VOLUME 48, NO. 6 Chalk one up for common sense. The same Legislature that introduced a resolution urging the presi- PUBLISHER Beverly Hamilton dent’s impeachment and approved a measure [later vetoed] making abor- EDITOR Arnold Hamilton tion a felony actually stood up to the gun lobby and rejected a proposal that would have authorized open-carry without training or permits. DIGITAL EDITOR MaryAnn Martin Holy Slim Pickens! What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is a-goin’ on here? FOUNDING EDITOR Frosty Troy Well, it turns out modern businesses – including the NBA’s Oklahoma ADVISORY BOARD City Thunder – weren’t exactly keen on Grandfield Republican Rep. Jeff Marvin Chiles, Andrew Hamilton, Coody’s loopy, frontier-era scheme to allow anyone at least 21 years old Matthew Hamilton, Scott J. Hamilton, and without a felony conviction to strap on a firearm, whether or not Trevor James, Ryan Kiesel, George Krumme, Robert D. Lemon, they know the barrel from the handle. Gayla Machell, Bruce Prescott, It was in late April, you might recall, that a licensed, conceal-carrying Robyn Lemon Sellers, Kyle Williams man shot and killed a fellow worshipper at a Pennsylvania church in a dispute over reserved seating. OUR MOTTO To Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the If that can happen in a house of worship, just imagine untrained, un- Comfortable. licensed, intoxicated louts at an emotionally-charged Bedlam football game, six-shooters at the ready. OUR CREDO As Rep. George E. Young Sr., D-OKC, put it, “I am also just plain fright- So then to all their chance, to all their shining golden opportunity. To all the ened that if I were to laugh too loud, talk too loud or walk too fast, some- right to love, to live, to work, to be one would shoot me simply because they have the means to do so.” themselves, and to become whatever Coody asserted that his proposal merely codified in state law what thing their vision and humanity can already is a right guaranteed in the federal constitution. He needs reme- combine to make them. This seeker, is the promise of America. dial civics instruction. - Adapted from Thomas Wolfe What the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear is that Second Amend- ment gun rights are not absolute. Legislative bodies can impose reason- FOUNDING PUBLISHER able restrictions – covering everything from open-carry to the types of Helen B. Troy 1932-2007 weaponry that private citizens may possess. If Coody and his fellow open-carry enthusiasts are so concerned with [ISSN 0030-1795] protecting individual rights, why aren’t they similarly obsessed with The Oklahoma Observer [USPS 865-720] is published on the first Wednesday of each CONTINUED ON PAGE 43 month by AHB Enterprises LLC, 13912 Plym- outh Crossing, P.O. Box 14275, Oklahoma City, OK 73113-0275. Periodicals postage paid at Edmond, OK and additional entry office. POSTMASTER Send address changes to The Oklahoma Observer, P.O. Box 14275, Oklahoma City, OK 73113-0275. SUBSCRIPTIONS 1-Year [12 issues] $40. Send check to The Yes! Please send me a one-year subscription for only $40. Oklahoma Observer, P.O. Box 14275, This special offer includes my certificate for a free book courtesy Oklahoma City, OK 73113-0275. Online: Visit of Full Circle Bookstore [a $20 value]. See page 41 for details. www.okobserver.net to use a credit card. UPDATE ADDRESSES Please notify us at least two weeks before your move to ensure uninterrupted service. E-mail address changes to subscriptions@ okobserver.net or mail to P.O. Box 14275, Oklahoma City, OK 73113-0275. LETTERS TO EDITOR E-mail to [email protected] or mail to P.O. Box 14275, Oklahoma City, OK 73113- 0275. 2 • JUNE 2016 Observerscope Is term-limited House Speaker Laurel: To legislative Democrats, Dart: To state lawmakers, em- Jeff Hickman really in line to lead as united as we’ve seen in opposi- bracing a do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do Tobacco Settlement Endowment tion to the disastrous GOP-crafted arrogance by willfully violating Trust? Longtime TSET Director state budget. If D’s could pick up the Capitol’s gun-free policy. They Tracey Strader is retiring. a half-dozen seats in November, it know security officers won’t risk would radically change statehouse their jobs by making a stink about Laurel: To Gov. Mary Fallin, wast- dynamics. it. ing no time vetoing SB 1552 that would have made abortion a felony. Mark you calendars: June’s Ob- We mourn the passing of our It was a black eye Oklahoma didn’t server Newsmakers Series fea- friend Jim Wilcox, longtime South- need and a sure loser in court. tures post-session analysis from ern Nazarene University professor state Auditor Gary Jones and for- and occasional Observer contribu- As GOP lawmakers continued mer Gov. David Walters. It’s from tor. He helped lead fight to change to resist Medicaid expansion, an- 3-4 p.m. June 23 at OKC’s Full Cir- school’s mascot from Redskins to other rural hospital – Eufaula’s – cle Books. Crimson Storm. closed its doors, joining Frederick and Sayre. Obama hate is jeopar- Better pack a lunch when head- Dart: To Attorney General Scott dizing Oklahomans’ health. ed to polls in November, given the Pruitt, wasting precious tax dol- plethora of state questions to be lars at an alarming rate. This time, Dart: To the Pardon and Parole decided. The total could exceed 20. he wedded Oklahoma to 10 states Board, rejecting Gov. Mary Fallin’s challenging the feds’ directive on commutation recommendation for Gov. Mary Fallin’s daughter, transgender bathroom use. Waste Larry Yarbrough. He has served Christina, is part of a group – in- of time and money. nearly 20 years in prison, more cluding Justin Bieber – seeking to than paying his debt for a non-vio- launch an in-flight gambling web- Attention Christian fundamen- lent offense. site from the Iowa Tribe of Okla- talists: If voters eliminate Okla- homa’s HQ near Perkins. homa’s strict church-state separa- Attorney General Scott Pruitt tion in November, Hindus will seek has issued an opinion that vali- Former Speaker Pro Tem-turned- to install a Lord Hanuman statue dates out-of-state handgun licens- lobbyist Gus Blackwell faces 44 on the Capitol grounds alongside es carried by Oklahomans – even embezzlement and perjury counts, the Ten Commandments. those obtained via dubious on-line allegedly for filing false per diem courses. Feel safer now? claims against the state. CONTINUED ON PAGE 44 THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 3 Letters Support education, support the environment, and improve the quality of life in Oklahoma. Steve Patrick Norman Editor, The Observer: I begged my legislators to con- centrate on the budget all session, to not get distracted by frivolous bills that interfere in people’s lives. You can see how well they listened. They could have been working since February ... transparently. Honestly. Instead we get a cobbled- together mess the last days. Tell me who has studied this carefully, anticipating unintended consequences? Who? Claudia Swisher Norman Editor, The Observer: health. Editor, The Observer: I sent this letter today to my Education for all, not just those The Oklahoma Legislature re- state representatives, including who can afford private or char- peatedly refused to cancel an in- Sen. Rob Standridge: ter school tuition, because I have come tax cut lowering the top rate I own a business in Norman. I hope for the future and my busi- from 5.25% to 5% after they knew have created 14 jobs and I’m look- ness needs an educated workforce. the state was facing a revenue ing to hire two more positions. As you can see, none of the items failure and historic budget short- There is a problem with Okla- on this simple list have anything falls believed to be $900 million in homa’s work force: Job candidates to do with sex or sexuality. Yet, in January 2016. Later, we learned are not properly educated because the middle of a budget crisis so se- the shortfall was even greater – at you and your party members have vere that some Oklahoma school least $1.3 billion. Yet, the wealthi- cut education budgets so drasti- districts are switching to four-day est Oklahomans kept their latest cally. I am now required to seek weeks to save money, you and so income tax cut, which increases out-of-state prospects to fill open many of the others in the state the budget shortfall by $147 mil- positions. You may not think that Legislature wasted precious time lion dollars every year. is a bad thing, but how can I con- arguing about seemingly unconsti- Instead, the Legislature cut the vince candidates to move to Okla- tutional bills that would attempt Earned Income Tax Credit that homa when our quality of life in- to change women’s reproductive used to keep low-wage, working dex is so poor? rights or bathroom bills. Priorities families, earning an average of Section 13-1 of the Oklahoma Mr. Standridge? $20,000 per year, from paying a Constitution states, “The legisla- Oklahoma is a conservative disproportionate share of their in- ture shall establish and maintain state, thanks in large part to pan- come in taxes. The EITC cut will a system of free public schools dering from candidates and mis- only save the state $28.9 million.