Forgive Me, Readers

I helped elect another dummy to the Oklahoma Legislature.

A few years ago, I became involved in a campaign to replace my state representative because, among other reasons, he was provably anti-public education. I met with his opponent, a former classroom teacher who also had experience as an administrator, and subsequently raised money for her.

She won by a razor-thin margin of 62 votes. Her victory was one of the few times I have actively helped a Republican but I believed then she couldn't be worse than the fellow who then held the post.

Brothers and sisters ... I was wrong.

Rep. Sherrie Conley, R-Newcastle, has been a massive disappointment from Day One. Therefore I went the extra mile by personally meeting with her several times, took her to lunch twice, invited her to speak in my OU courses about politics, and ended up even more disappointed than I was before each encounter.

I found her to be profoundly ignorant about Oklahoma school laws, a terrible listener, arrogant toward anyone who disagreed with her, and generally tone-deaf not just about public education but also how the Legislature works and what her role in it should and could be.

I've known hundreds and hundreds of lawmakers over the last 40 years and Conley is among the five worst I've ever met. With just a little more effort, she could make it to the top three.

For example, when asked her view about the Tulsa Race Massacre, here is what she said:

Sherrie, Sherrie. You may be the only Oklahoman who would say such an ill-informed, clueless comment when asked about the burning of the Black Wall Street, also known as the Greenwood District in Tulsa. Thirty-five blocks were burned to the ground, scores if not hundreds of black residents were killed and/or murdered in cold blood, and there are still three persons alive today who witnessed it all.

And what might have triggered such a rage in Oklahoma's second city? Well, a bunch of white folks wanted to string up a black youngster who allegedly made an inappropriate gesture toward a white woman in an elevator in downtown Tulsa. It was her word against his, but that was certainly good enough for the perpetrators of the events in May 1921, which turned into the worst occurrence of its kind in American history.

Perhaps the only period of time in American history one could examine that reflected even more of a direct racist activity would be, of course, the decades upon decades of slavery in America's southern states until the Civil War finally brought an end to that cruel, deadly and disgusting behavior.

Knowing as I do Rep. Conley's inability or willingness to understand American history, she likely would characterize the War Between The States as possibly a simple police action which, of course, it wasn't. More than 700,000 Americans died from 1861-65, and the remnants of that struggle often still dominate today, the behavior and thoughts reflective of that period. Why else do you think Trumpers on Jan. 6, 2021 were waving not only flags reflecting that moron's name, but the Confederate battle flag as well.

One other comment. So far, during her three terms in office, Conley has been a non-entity for good who will be remembered only for two actions: [1] She was one of 18 House members who signed a letter alleging the 2020 presidential election was stolen and [2] in a speech on the House floor concerning the banning of certain books, she worked herself into an emotional frenzy and characterized school librarians as cockroaches.

So, as I said at the beginning of this post, I'm asking for your forgiveness for my near unforgivable sin of helping this Oklahoman get elected to the Legislature.

Of course, I would forgive you if you don't.