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September 06, 2006
Answering A Critic
I have finally experienced one of the rites of becoming a decent blogger.
Someone ranted about one of my political posts. (Hurray! Hurray!)
In my opinion, the only way to avoid being ranted against is to keep one's blogging mouth shut, but if you keep your mouth shut, then you can't become a decent blogger.
Anyway, being that the post in question was published on this blog - as well as at Dodo World - I'd like to share with you my critic's rant, as well as share with you my reply to the rant.
First, the rant was in reply to my post Political Party Worship.
In that post, I had this to say about Oklahoma's current governor:If Gov. Henry were a Republican instead of a Democrat, then Istook would be running for re-election to Congress, because there are no serious complaints against Gov. Henry.
Here is how my critic replied:Henry has not been a good governor. He signed legislation that gave illegal immigrants government benefits, has let over 500 violent offenders out of prison, and has grown state government by 32% over the last two years. This is only a few of the things our "so-called" good Governor has done. Maybe you should do a little digging before you claim that Istook is just trying to sling mud.
So, to follow blogging custom, I will dissect and critique this reply.
First, let's consider the legislation that the reader refers to.
Some time ago, the Oklahoma legislature passed a bill that permits the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at state-owned colleges, as opposed to paying the higher out-of-state tuition.
This particular bill had bipartisan support in the Oklahoma legislature, and two of its sponsors were Republicans.
Plus, the purpose of the bill was to end the practice of punishing children for the sins of their parents.
What my critic fails to consider is the fact that children don't get to choose where they live. As a rule, children have to live wherever their parents or legal guardians live, and this rule applies to the children of illegal immigrants, too.
The beneficiaries of the aforementioned legislation are young adults who were Oklahoma residents during the last part of their childhood and - this is the important part - who have applied for legal residency in the USA. These people aren't hiding from the federal government. Now that they are adults, they are trying to conform to the USA's immigration laws.
It makes no sense to me to punish these young people for the wrongdoing of their parents.
Now, let's consider the other accusations that my critic makes against Oklahoma's current governor.
. . . has let over 500 violent offenders out of prison, . . .
I don't know what it takes for a convict in another state to be released from prison early, but I do know that in Oklahoma the governor doesn't just let convicts out of prison. Convicts aren't released early unless the state's Pardon and Parole Board recommends an early release. The last time that I checked, Oklahoma convicts were released early during the administrations of Republican governors.
. . . and has grown state government by 32% over the last two years.
Oklahoma's government doesn't grow unless Oklahoma's legislature lets it grow, and during the past two years the House-half of Oklahoma's legislature has been under the control of the Republican Party. Plus, the aforementioned growth is being paid for by a growth in the amount of tax revenue that Oklahoma receives from the oil and gas industries.
And speaking of taxes, earlier this year, Oklahoma's governor pushed for a reduction in Oklahoma's state income tax because he thought that the state's budget surplus justified a tax reduction. The Governor worked with Oklahoma's Republican Speaker of the House in order to get the tax reduction, and in doing so, the Governor upset Oklahoma's Democrat Senate President Pro-Temp, who almost derailed the Governor's attempt to lower taxes.
So, is Oklahoma's current governor behaving badly?
I don't think so. Many other Okies don't think so, either.
According to a SurveyUSA poll taken August 25-27, 60% of the Oklahoma voters polled favored Oklahoma's current governor over his Republican challenger, who is favored by only by 34%.
So, when I say that there are no serious complaints against Oklahoma's current governor, I have data to back me up.
For what it's worth, the last Democrat to serve as Oklahoma's governor was David Walters. He was voted out of office because enough of us Okies believed that he was doing a lousy job. So, we Okies aren't inclined to keep a governor just because that person belongs to a particular political party.
Posted by Dodo David at September 6, 2006 08:39 PM
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Comments
Yes David, you are now among the anointed. You know you are doing a good job when someone goes ballistic in the comments section. Congratulations!
Posted by: Pam at September 6, 2006 09:13 PM