Former Oklahoma City Councilman and recently elected Oklahoma County Commmissioner Brent Rinehart has been playing the QueerHater publicity ace since before he even took his new seat. I am taking this personally but not for the reason Occam's razor would suggest. I'm pissed off because I almost voted for the prick.
(This being county politics and especially Oklahoma County in deep bright red Oklahoma there's quite a bit more below the fold and I'll do my best to find the shortest well lit path through the labyrinth of good old boy brinksmanship and petty spite that all too often defines local politics, especially in Oklahoma.)
I suppose we can get out of the way early the reason I almost marked the line for a Republican in November. See, Rinehart actually
proposed a resolution in the City Council expressing opposition to the Patriot Act! And if there's one thing that would round off my heels for a Republican that's it. Unfortunately for Mr. Rinehart and fortunately for myself by November I was so appalled that there were any Republicans at all who could stand before a constituency with a straight face pretending the President is competent, qualified and decent that for the first time in my life I voted straight ticket -- I couldn't countenance rewarding a single Republican in such an environment.
Glad I did. I must confess to ignorance regarding Rinehart's anti-gay record as a councilman, otherwise no amount of civil libertarian posturing would have been able to sway me. I guess now is as good a time as any to mention that a sitting County Commissioner, Jim Roth is gay and Oklahoma Liberal (i.e. staunchly centrist moderate.) So maybe Rinehart's first "media lookit me!" moment isn't too surprising.
Seems Rinehart thought it would be a good idea to make his first order of business a repeal of a brand new law making orientation discrimination in hiring illegal. Nobody's gonna tell Brent he has to hire a HomoGay just because that applicant might be qualified, by God! Sounds like the single most urgent piece of business a county commissioner would have to address, dunnit? Especially since he has to sit RIGHT NEXT TO ONE OF THEM! Eww, the sacrifices Republicans have to make in order to participate in civic service, eh?
Believe it or not folks, we're still in backstory here and remain there for just a bit longer. Hang in there.
Come with me back to the late 1970s. The good old days when kickbacks were kickbacks, dammit. The gilded oil boom days when commissioners could approve tax-funded purchases to suppliers with 50 percent of the materials purchased being entirely fictional and commissioners and suppliers could split the proceeds 50-50. October, 1981: the biggest county kickback scandal in US history, 240 commissioners and businessmen end up in jail and building material prices in Oklahoma drop by 40 percent almost overnight. Look it up sometime when you need a laugh or need to be reminded that once upon a time the FBI actually focused some of their energies on making sure citizens DIDN'T get boned dry by a business cock wrapped in a gas station vending machine condom of government.
One of the consequences of this scandal was the formation of a County Budget Board consisting of eight County elected officials to oversee the money decisions. I told you all of that to tell you this:
January 26th Rinehart (along with Stan "Don't Think For a Second I Kin Stand Them HomoGays Either" Inman) voted to abolish the budget board. Jim Roth voted against. This leaves all money decisions back in the hands of three commissioners, just like before the FBI had to break up our little greasy party. Am I upset because I fear a less overt kickback scheme is in the works? Not really, although the door is now wide open again. Nope folks, it's ulterior motive time!
Without the budget board there is now pressure to be applied right at the commissioner's table. Three commissioners, one jonesing for bigger and better political future sooner (get it? hah! I kill me) through media controversy, one too scared to be seen bucking a more beliigerent conservative and of course the HomoGay liberal. Now with that stacked deck, what would you think the odds are that allocations for Jim Roth's proposals are going to see any daylight? That's right kids, the Republicans saw fit to tear down the wall between county spending and kickbacks just to weaken Roth's reelection chances among constituents who won't be able to help but notice that their share of county spending is being split between the other two districts. Take a second and read that one again, I think it's kinda important.
Two people in this story need some mojo and one of them hasn't even been mentioned yet. Jim Roth (phone (405) 713-1501 | fax (405) 713-1846) of course. But also Rep. Mike Shelton (phone (405) 557-7367,) who has said he's penning a bill to reinstate the budget board (and was a co-author on the discrimination act that Rinehart couldn't stomach above IIRC.)
Sorry if you need a shower after having been dragged through local Oklahoma politics. Sincerely. Alas! sometimes you just gotta roll up your cuffs and get down there in the shit with them.
Kossacks, mojinate!