October 2-6 Weekly Wrap

Hijinks, hilarity, madcap mayhem and more

I haven’t forgotten what Wreckin’ Ball Ryan’s State Department of Education pulled last week when it announced they were investigating Western Heights Public Schools, and you shouldn’t either!

But, the GOP otherwise provided unintentional laughs at the sheer number of unforced errors that Democrats, particularly in Congress, seized upon.

First, the US House of Representatives literally *ate their own* this week when predator extraordinaire Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz made good on his promise to make a motion to vacate the Speaker of the House if Kevin McCarthy so much as looked at him wrong.

And when McCarthy scrounged up enough votes to pass a clean continuing resolution in the 11th hour to fund the federal government for 45 days with Democrats’ help, not only did it make Gaetz mad, McCarthy got mad, too!

Boy, Democrats were listening when McCarthy pitched a fit to the press about the Democrats helping him pass that CR.

What happened next?

All House Democrats voted with Matt Gaetz and his little caucus of scamps and ne’er do wells. Kevin McCarthy is Speaker of the House no longer.

The problem is, there is no Speaker right now and Congress literally can’t function without one.

So far, someone is shaking out the basket of deplorables and Ohio Rep. Gym Jordan and Oklahoma’s own Rep. Kevin Hern have thrown their hats in the ring to replace McCarthy. This was a job Paul Ryan reluctantly took and even he didn’t like it.

Keep in mind, the clock is ticking on that brief reprieve on the federal budget. The House won’t meet again until Tuesday. The government won’t be funded for long.

If you see Hern in district this weekend, Tulsa, let him know what you think all this...

But don’t worry about Matt Gaetz. His goose is most likely cooked. They’ve got Markwayne Mullin airing out the oppo research folder to the media now, making it clear the Republicans have truly known all along what a skeez the guy is (I’m talking about Gaetz here).

Back here in flyover country, the legislature gathered to shake their heads a little bit Tuesday for a super special session, pick up a quick per diem paycheck, and then head back to their districts.

Apparently, the governor had a plan. But he didn’t care to talk to anyone *before* his super special session on Tuesday to gather support and do that whole governing thing, getting consensus and buy in in both chambers, finding champions for his proposals, stuff like that.

Instead, the governor was a no-show at the Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee meeting, to which he was invited expressly to discuss his plan to cut the income tax, slash the grocery tax and some about transparency in the state budget.

And so, the Senate adjourned sine die. Again.

And the House Republicans decided they didn’t like that. So they locked arms with the governor and said so.

In the words of Succession’s Logan Roy, these are not serious people.

In other news about terrible things our legislators have said and done this week, John Bennett’s replacement Jim Olsen and school psychologist Randy Randleman (yes, really, he’s a school psychologist) issued a statement that the interim study explaining how corporal punishment was harmful for kids was too one-sided and Jesus wanted us to let teachers spank our kids (yes, really, Olsen said this on the House floor this year, too).

The thing is, schools use corporal punishment disproportionately on Native, Black, and kids with disabilities.

AND THEN, Oklahoma Watch’s Jennifer Palmer tweeted that Gov. Stitt failed to disburse a single dollar of the $18 million in federal COVID relief funds that were intended for Oklahoma school kids.

It would all be funny if it weren’t so sad and infuriating.

Except this- this is really funny.

Don’t miss the next Brews and Views at 11 am on October 15th at BIG Brewing Co. in Norman. Reps. Annie Menz and Arturo Alonso will be joining us for brunchtime beers and conversation.

Check out the latest episodes of Observercast, and writing from Cal Hobson, Gary Edmondson, Sharon Martin, and our fearless editor Arnold Hamilton.

Have a great week! Maybe this one will be boring.