Eating Their Own?

What A Disgusting But Delicious Thought!

Well, how else to explain the following: U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, after 22 years in DC, finally has the job he's always wanted ... to be Appropriations chairman, probably the third most powerful slot in the House of Representatives right after Speaker and Majority Floor Leader. To get there, though, Tom, a fellow I've known for well over 45 years, had to shed his image as a thoughtful, middle of the road, scholarly PhD-type while trying to convince the MAGA Morons he's just as ignorant about most things as they are. Hard to do when one has a doctorate in British History.

Indeed, he is cerebral, but also battle tested and he has done more, with the exception of Henry Bellmon, to solidify Republican Party control in our state. [Speaking of former legislator, senator and two-term governor Bellmon, today within the Party of Lincoln, he probably couldn't get elected to precinct official under the current circumstances in our state.]

So, on the cusp of his crowning achievement running the committee that spends trillions of government dollars, some nut from Texas with very deep pockets decides he wants a title in front of his name: “Congressman.” Although it is clearly true the fellow – known as Paul Bondar, a salesman of insurance – doesn’t live in Oklahoma, he's targeted 4th District Congressman Cole for defeat.

In doing so, he's spent $5.1 million of his own money, having raised only $13,000 from other people, but still seems to have a fighting chance to at least force the congressman into a runoff.

Cole is fighting back, having spent over $3 million from his campaign account plus receiving significant, dark money spending of more than $3 million from a PAC headquartered in Wisconsin, making this race No. 3 in the nation for spending by a Republican challenger.

As goofy as this scenario sounds, there's icing on this cake laced with arsenic yet to go. Just this past week, Oklahoma's controversial Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, decided to join the fun by endorsing – get this – Bondar against the Dean of Oklahoma's all-Republican delegation. And he didn't just issue a press release saying so; no, he had a full-blown video made explaining his decision, the short version of which is Cole is not satisfactorily nutty enough on the far-rightwing fringe of current Republican World.

For example, incumbent Cole thinks it's important to defeat Putin in Ukraine and thus has supported sending American money and equipment in that struggle for freedom and democracy. New-style Republican Bondar is opposed to another penny for the Ukrainians; says Trump needs to "come around" to his campaign; lies about where he lives; thinks Oklahomans each have a modest price for their votes; and will buy his argument this state needs to fire the Appropriations chairman when he is battling to retain that political perch and thus is well positioned to protect the three military bases in Oklahoma, for example.

And Bondar has also been critical of Cole for not somehow unilaterally closing the Southern Border while also kicking 14 million illegals out of the country right now!

Finally, three other Republicans who filed against Tom have already appeared in an ad with Big-and-Tall Paul from Texas, endorsing his candidacy even before Election Day. Makes me wonder why they got into this race in the first place and it may help Cole avoid a runoff if their supporters decide to stay home since these three took a powder before the polls even closed at 7 p.m.

So, Cole goes full MAGA. Bondar's already there. Other R's join in the fun. Dark and bright light money is being dropped by the millions over the southwest media market which makes many of the few remaining weeklies or shoppers temporarily in the black.

If I didn't know better, I would think these guys are all closet Democrats or at least they're behaving like we often did. And if Cole goes down, there's not a Republican officeholder that's safe today.

But, frankly, it's hard for me to feel sorry for the master politician Tom Cole simply because some guy from Baja Oklahoma with money is making a race of it against him by just lying, deceiving and distorting.