My need to travel should not be taken as my consent to the unconstitutionality of warrantless searches of my person and my possessions. I am accepting this process under protest.
November 30, 2010
Defund the TSA
In the meantime, Douglas Wilson advises travelers to opt out of the scan, but to have your phone set on "record" as you hand your groper a small slip of paper:
November 28, 2010
Sharia Doesn't CAIR About Women's Rights
Over at Human Events, Pamela Geller writes:
Hamas-linked CAIR makes a stunning admission in its press release about the lawsuit against Oklahoma. It calls the Oklahoma amendment "anti-Islam," admitting that the brutal, oppressive and radical Sharia, with its stonings and amputations and oppression of women, is Islam. Why call the amendment "anti-Islam"? It is anti-Sharia. Oklahoma meant to ban stonings, amputations for theft, death for apostates, and the other elements of Sharia that contradict the rights and freedoms guaranteed to American citizens by the U.S. Constitution. And now CAIR is admitting that all such practices go back to Islam itself.And this morning over at PowerLine, John Hinderaker writes:
CAIR holds itself out as America's foremost Islamic civil rights organization. Under Sharia, however, the Western concept of civil rights does not exist. The analogy to Communist front organizations of an earlier era is striking. While pretending to advocate for freedom and to oppose discrimination, CAIR's real purpose is to subvert the very society whose liberalism it cynically seeks to exploit.I gotta tell you, I'm disappointed in these Oklahoma lefties who are refusing to stand up for women. It's a good thing someone like Sarah Palin has come along to redefine feminism. Not a moment too soon!
November 27, 2010
National Democrats Have Wounded Oklahoma Democratic Party
[This Marlin Oil advertorial appears in the forthcoming issue of The City Sentinel.]
Wesley Burt of SoonerPoll recently summarized a new public opinion survey finding that 55.4 percent of Oklahomans believe “teachers unions are an obstacle that keeps schools from getting better.”
The results are not really that shocking, in light of the fact that a Time magazine poll in August found half of all Americans believed the same thing.
Public relations specialist Renzi Stone commissioned his own poll to investigate how Oklahomans feel about being tagged “reddest of the red states” after giving Republicans total control of the executive and legislative branches of government in the Sooner State.
The “Saxum Poll” (named for Stone’s PR group) found that 74 percent of Republicans and a surprising 37 percent of all Democrats were proud of being deemed “reddest state in the nation.”
The Saxum Poll also found that three-fourths of Oklahoma Republicans and 49 percent of the state’s Democrats believe repeal -- not reform, but repeal -- of the federal health care law should be the priority for Governor Mary Fallin and the Legislature.
Greg Treat, an architect of the 2010 Republican Victory drive, told Pat McGuigan of CapitolBeatOK and The City Sentinel that 40,000 Oklahoma Democrats were identified before the election as straight ticket voters -- for the Republicans.
It seems hard to overstate how shocking and significant is the Grand Old Party’s current advantage in Oklahoma.
Nothing is permanent in politics, and that will no doubt remain true in this case. It took decades of ill-conceived liberalism and attacks on mainstream culture to get here. President Barack Obama’s drive to introduce European-style social democracy into America may have been the straw that broke the camel’s (or is it the donkey’s?) back.
In scattered pockets, Democrats still predominate, including neighborhoods here in Oklahoma City. No one should underestimate the ability of Republicans to get sidetracked by misguided legislators who want to divert focus from the economy and job creation.
Still, the national Democrats have inflicted a stunning wound on the Oklahoma Democratic party, once the safe and happy home of such political giants as Robert S. Kerr, David Boren, and Carl Albert. It will be a long time before the party of Jefferson can restore itself to that formerly lofty status.
Wesley Burt of SoonerPoll recently summarized a new public opinion survey finding that 55.4 percent of Oklahomans believe “teachers unions are an obstacle that keeps schools from getting better.”
The results are not really that shocking, in light of the fact that a Time magazine poll in August found half of all Americans believed the same thing.
Public relations specialist Renzi Stone commissioned his own poll to investigate how Oklahomans feel about being tagged “reddest of the red states” after giving Republicans total control of the executive and legislative branches of government in the Sooner State.
The “Saxum Poll” (named for Stone’s PR group) found that 74 percent of Republicans and a surprising 37 percent of all Democrats were proud of being deemed “reddest state in the nation.”
The Saxum Poll also found that three-fourths of Oklahoma Republicans and 49 percent of the state’s Democrats believe repeal -- not reform, but repeal -- of the federal health care law should be the priority for Governor Mary Fallin and the Legislature.
Greg Treat, an architect of the 2010 Republican Victory drive, told Pat McGuigan of CapitolBeatOK and The City Sentinel that 40,000 Oklahoma Democrats were identified before the election as straight ticket voters -- for the Republicans.
It seems hard to overstate how shocking and significant is the Grand Old Party’s current advantage in Oklahoma.
Nothing is permanent in politics, and that will no doubt remain true in this case. It took decades of ill-conceived liberalism and attacks on mainstream culture to get here. President Barack Obama’s drive to introduce European-style social democracy into America may have been the straw that broke the camel’s (or is it the donkey’s?) back.
In scattered pockets, Democrats still predominate, including neighborhoods here in Oklahoma City. No one should underestimate the ability of Republicans to get sidetracked by misguided legislators who want to divert focus from the economy and job creation.
Still, the national Democrats have inflicted a stunning wound on the Oklahoma Democratic party, once the safe and happy home of such political giants as Robert S. Kerr, David Boren, and Carl Albert. It will be a long time before the party of Jefferson can restore itself to that formerly lofty status.
Oklahoma Sharia Watch
November 24, 2010
Giving Thanks for Private Enterprise
[This article by Brandon Dutcher appeared in the November 3, 2006 edition of the Muskogee Phoenix.]
Americans have many things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, not the least of which is a standard of living which would positively boggle the minds of our Pilgrim forebears.
But do we fully appreciate what makes our prosperity possible?
You probably recall from your elementary-school days the story of the first Thanksgiving. The leading fifth-grade textbooks in Oklahoma, for example, are fairly typical: The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in December of 1620. Food supplies were low, and it was too late in the year to grow crops. The winter was merciless: tuberculosis, pneumonia, and malnutrition wiped out half the Pilgrims. But come springtime the Indians taught the remaining colonists how to fish, hunt, and plant corn, and in the fall a bountiful harvest gave rise to the first Thanksgiving.
That story is good enough as far as it goes, but it leaves out a crucial reason for the Pilgrims’ longer-term prosperity: private enterprise.
The historian Russell Kirk reminds us that “for their first two years at Plymouth, the colonists lived by an economic plan” which was “a form of communism: all households shared equally in whatever the colonists could produce.”
Father Robert A. Sirico, president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, says the Plymouth colony had “declared all pastures and produce in common and enshrined this principle in law. The result was economic chaos, disease and starvation.”
The colony’s young governor, William Bradford, knew something had to be done. “For in this instance,” he wrote in his diary, “community of property (so far as it went) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment which would have been to the general benefit and comfort. For the young men who were most able and fit for service objected to being forced to spend their time and strength in working for other men’s wives and children, without any recompense. The strong man or the resourceful man had no more share of food, clothes, etc., than the weak man who was not able to do a quarter the other could. This was thought injustice.”
Bradford placed the blame squarely on “this communistic plan of life,” and believed that “God in His wisdom saw that another plan of life was fitter” for human beings trying to forge a civil society. A devout Christian, Bradford seemingly understood that God had granted property to the heads of families, not to the state.
So “after much debate,” Bradford recorded in his diary, “every family was assigned a parcel of land” and each man was allowed “to plant corn for his own household.”
The result? “This was very successful,” Bradford wrote. “It made all hands very industrious, so that much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could devise, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better satisfaction.”
In his 1994 book The Theme Is Freedom, M. Stanton Evans explained that “in both Virginia and Plymouth, for slightly different reasons, initial arrangements with the sponsoring London merchants prevented the colonists from owning and reaping the benefits of private property. Predictably enough, the communal set-up proved disastrous in terms of incentives and resulting output, so that both infant states were threatened with starvation. The upshot in both cases was that the settlers converted as soon as they were able to a system of private ownership, and reward for private effort.”
“Never again were the Pilgrims short of food,” adds Kirk. “Thereafter, despite a harsh climate, poor communication with Britain, troubles with the Indians, pirates who took their cargoes, and other handicaps, the Pilgrims’ economy began to prosper.”
The lesson was not lost on Governor Bradford. He wrote: “The failure of this experiment of communal service, which was tried for several years, and by good and honest men proves the emptiness of the theory of Plato and other ancients, applauded by some of later times -- that the taking away of private property, and the possession of it in community, by a commonwealth, would make a state happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.”
Interestingly, in this Bradford anticipated Marx and Engels, who two centuries later would sum up the theory of communism in one dreadful phrase: “Abolition of private property.”
Thankfully, few if any American policy-makers today are calling for the outright abolition of private property. But many, especially on the left, continue to propose laws and regulations disrespectful of the people’s property rights. This month’s holiday is a good time to be reminded that “even today,” as Father Sirico put it, “we set aside a day to give thanks to God, who commanded us to till and keep the land while forbidding us from taking what belongs to others.”
Americans have many things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, not the least of which is a standard of living which would positively boggle the minds of our Pilgrim forebears.
But do we fully appreciate what makes our prosperity possible?
You probably recall from your elementary-school days the story of the first Thanksgiving. The leading fifth-grade textbooks in Oklahoma, for example, are fairly typical: The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in December of 1620. Food supplies were low, and it was too late in the year to grow crops. The winter was merciless: tuberculosis, pneumonia, and malnutrition wiped out half the Pilgrims. But come springtime the Indians taught the remaining colonists how to fish, hunt, and plant corn, and in the fall a bountiful harvest gave rise to the first Thanksgiving.
That story is good enough as far as it goes, but it leaves out a crucial reason for the Pilgrims’ longer-term prosperity: private enterprise.
The historian Russell Kirk reminds us that “for their first two years at Plymouth, the colonists lived by an economic plan” which was “a form of communism: all households shared equally in whatever the colonists could produce.”
Father Robert A. Sirico, president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, says the Plymouth colony had “declared all pastures and produce in common and enshrined this principle in law. The result was economic chaos, disease and starvation.”
The colony’s young governor, William Bradford, knew something had to be done. “For in this instance,” he wrote in his diary, “community of property (so far as it went) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment which would have been to the general benefit and comfort. For the young men who were most able and fit for service objected to being forced to spend their time and strength in working for other men’s wives and children, without any recompense. The strong man or the resourceful man had no more share of food, clothes, etc., than the weak man who was not able to do a quarter the other could. This was thought injustice.”
Bradford placed the blame squarely on “this communistic plan of life,” and believed that “God in His wisdom saw that another plan of life was fitter” for human beings trying to forge a civil society. A devout Christian, Bradford seemingly understood that God had granted property to the heads of families, not to the state.
So “after much debate,” Bradford recorded in his diary, “every family was assigned a parcel of land” and each man was allowed “to plant corn for his own household.”
The result? “This was very successful,” Bradford wrote. “It made all hands very industrious, so that much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could devise, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better satisfaction.”
In his 1994 book The Theme Is Freedom, M. Stanton Evans explained that “in both Virginia and Plymouth, for slightly different reasons, initial arrangements with the sponsoring London merchants prevented the colonists from owning and reaping the benefits of private property. Predictably enough, the communal set-up proved disastrous in terms of incentives and resulting output, so that both infant states were threatened with starvation. The upshot in both cases was that the settlers converted as soon as they were able to a system of private ownership, and reward for private effort.”
“Never again were the Pilgrims short of food,” adds Kirk. “Thereafter, despite a harsh climate, poor communication with Britain, troubles with the Indians, pirates who took their cargoes, and other handicaps, the Pilgrims’ economy began to prosper.”
The lesson was not lost on Governor Bradford. He wrote: “The failure of this experiment of communal service, which was tried for several years, and by good and honest men proves the emptiness of the theory of Plato and other ancients, applauded by some of later times -- that the taking away of private property, and the possession of it in community, by a commonwealth, would make a state happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.”
Interestingly, in this Bradford anticipated Marx and Engels, who two centuries later would sum up the theory of communism in one dreadful phrase: “Abolition of private property.”
Thankfully, few if any American policy-makers today are calling for the outright abolition of private property. But many, especially on the left, continue to propose laws and regulations disrespectful of the people’s property rights. This month’s holiday is a good time to be reminded that “even today,” as Father Sirico put it, “we set aside a day to give thanks to God, who commanded us to till and keep the land while forbidding us from taking what belongs to others.”
November 22, 2010
In Oklahoma, the Tide Has Turned
[This Marlin Oil advertorial appears in this week's edition of The City Sentinel.]
In 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States, he easily carried Oklahoma even though Republicans held just one statewide office.
In the year of Reagan, Oklahoma state Auditor and Inspector Tom Daxon was doing a good job after having defeated a scandal-plagued Democratic incumbent in 1978, and the young conservative was aiming to take on incumbent Governor George Nigh, a seasoned veteran Democrat.
In 1982, Democrats won every statewide race in Oklahoma. Nigh, who had governed carefully, became the first man in state history reelected to the governor's office. He simply overwhelmed Daxon, who indeed was the Republican party's nominee for governor.
That was then, this is now. Republicans won every statewide race in the historic 2010 elections. Norman's son, Todd Lamb, was just elected the first male Republican lieutenant governor in Oklahoma history, and it wasn't even close as he crushed Sen. Ken Corn of Poteau.
The party of Lincoln controls both houses of the Legislature, where new and returning members took their oaths last week. Oklahoma is among the most Republican American states, one of 20 with a GOP "trifecta" through control of the Legislature and the executive branch.
Tom Daxon? Well, he's writing provocative essays for the conservative Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, and still having a positive effect.
In Oklahoma's complicated and overly populist governing structure, it takes a governor four to six years to gain control of many agencies, particularly those with governing commissions. Incoming Governor Mary Fallin won't get her way all the time. Then there's the judiciary, where Governor Brad Henry has had a major impact through his appointments.
There stands in place 103 years of precedent, procedure, and policies fashioned largely by the party of Jefferson. Real change takes time, and Republicans are not out to undo everything that came before.
Still, the tide has turned.
Republicans must now prove themselves worthy governing stewards of a state where voters are ready to go to the next level.
In 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States, he easily carried Oklahoma even though Republicans held just one statewide office.
In the year of Reagan, Oklahoma state Auditor and Inspector Tom Daxon was doing a good job after having defeated a scandal-plagued Democratic incumbent in 1978, and the young conservative was aiming to take on incumbent Governor George Nigh, a seasoned veteran Democrat.
In 1982, Democrats won every statewide race in Oklahoma. Nigh, who had governed carefully, became the first man in state history reelected to the governor's office. He simply overwhelmed Daxon, who indeed was the Republican party's nominee for governor.
The GOP nominee for lieutenant governor that year was Norman Lamb, a former Senate minority leader. He was overwhelmed in the Democratic tide, losing to incumbent "light gov" Spencer Bernard. Democrats, of course, had overwhelming control in both Houses of the Legislature.
That was then, this is now. Republicans won every statewide race in the historic 2010 elections. Norman's son, Todd Lamb, was just elected the first male Republican lieutenant governor in Oklahoma history, and it wasn't even close as he crushed Sen. Ken Corn of Poteau.
The party of Lincoln controls both houses of the Legislature, where new and returning members took their oaths last week. Oklahoma is among the most Republican American states, one of 20 with a GOP "trifecta" through control of the Legislature and the executive branch.
Tom Daxon? Well, he's writing provocative essays for the conservative Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, and still having a positive effect.
In Oklahoma's complicated and overly populist governing structure, it takes a governor four to six years to gain control of many agencies, particularly those with governing commissions. Incoming Governor Mary Fallin won't get her way all the time. Then there's the judiciary, where Governor Brad Henry has had a major impact through his appointments.
There stands in place 103 years of precedent, procedure, and policies fashioned largely by the party of Jefferson. Real change takes time, and Republicans are not out to undo everything that came before.
Still, the tide has turned.
Republicans must now prove themselves worthy governing stewards of a state where voters are ready to go to the next level.
November 21, 2010
Remembering That Day
One of the things I remember most about that day were Anne Marie’s doctors and the grace and compassion they showed us. I can’t imagine what's the hardest part about being a doctor. Maybe it's the long hours and personal sacrifices they make. Maybe it's seeing the effects of abuse and neglect. Maybe it's wanting so desperately to help someone but not being able to do anything. I think about these things sometimes, because Lincoln thinks medical school might be in his future. Or perhaps the hardest thing is having to look someone in the eye and tell them that their loved one -- the person they love so much that it hurts -- isn't going to make it. Our doctors that day had to deliver that news to us. And they did it with kindness and compassion.
Dr. M came on rotation later in the course of Anne Marie’s care, but we instantly liked her. She always spoke so calmly and soothingly. She was the first doctor we spoke to on that final morning. She explained to me that Anne Marie’s blood pressure had dropped and that they were giving her as much medicine as they could. She explained that they hadn’t been able to lower the ventilator settings at all. She had to mention the dreaded DNR concept, and all the details of what that meant. And she explained it all with such care and concern.
Our neonatologist was an ex-military man. And he was brilliant -- not only was he a neonatologist, he was also a pediatric cardiologist. But he too explained things so clearly that we could understand everything that was going on with Anne Marie. We first met him during our visit to Children’s before Anne Marie was born. He had explained the details of her care and what might happen, and had given us a tour of the NICU. He was also the one who told us Anne Marie was gone. I was holding her in my arms and this tall, ex-military man leaned over and listened with his stethoscope, then with tears in his eyes and a quavering voice told us that her heart had stopped beating.
And then there was Dr. T. She was on call the night Anne Marie was born and so she became our attending physician. She was about my age, cute and petite, and looked like she just stepped out of a J. Jill catalog. She was kind, and smart, and did everything she could to save Anne Marie. I don’t know when she ever slept because she was always at the hospital. On that last day she was the one who asked me if I wanted to hold Anne Marie. That’s when I knew things were really bad. Providentially, it had worked out for us to be able to have Anne Marie’s picture taken after she died -- a picture without tubes and wires. I remember being upset because I didn’t have anything for Anne Marie to wear. She hadn’t been able to wear anything but socks and then she eventually had so many I.V.'s on her feet that she couldn’t even wear socks. I remember crying, saying that I didn’t know today was going to be her last day and I didn’t have a dress at the hospital. Dr. T knelt down beside me and said, "I'll go get it. Tell me where you live and I'll go get it." I will never forget that. And I won’t forget Anne Marie’s funeral, seeing Dr. T in the back of the church.
My memories from our last day are sacred. Anne Marie was there in my arms and then she was gone. Her last breath with us, and then instantly with Christ. Heartbreaking and beautiful.
I will always be grateful for the people who helped us on what was the worst day or our lives. For the doctors and nurses who showed such kindness and compassion. For grandparents who were with Mary Margaret and Jack Henry all day and then brought them to us to see Anne Marie after having to tell them that their baby sister had died. For Ginger, for being with Lincoln and Lille in Oklahoma City those many days. And for so many people who prayed for us.
Happy heavenly birthday, Anne Marie. I can't say it enough: We miss you every second of every day. I can't wait for the day when I can hold you again.
Outside the grass is brown and the leaves are falling, but the winter grass at Anne Marie's gravesite makes it look like springtime.
November 19, 2010
Is This a Great State or What?
A new SoonerPoll asks the question, "Do you consider yourself a liberal, a moderate, or a conservative in your political beliefs?"
- Very liberal ... 5%
- Somewhat liberal ... 5%
- Moderate ... 27%
- Somewhat conservative ... 21%
- Very conservative ... 35%
- Don't know / Refused ... 7%
The survey of 518 likely Oklahoma voters was conducted November 5-11 using live telephone interviewers. The margin of error is ± 4.3%.
It Must Be Awfully Humiliating
... for the Oklahoma Sharia folks to have to submit to a woman judge.
November 16, 2010
Mom Fights for Special-Needs Daughter
A new Oklahoma law -- passed this year by a Republican legislature and signed by a Democratic governor -- provides scholarships for special-needs students. Incredibly, some local school districts have decided not to comply with the law. Enjoy:
November 15, 2010
November 11, 2010
God's Mysterious Ways
There are several dates that will always be imprinted on my heart when I think of Anne Marie. Of course there is her earthly birthday and her heavenly birthday, and then there is November 11.
I will never forget this day last year when the Lord did something extraordinary for her and for her parents. I thought that day would be her last. Our children and close friends had come to Dallas, my parents were there, my brother had come to be with us, and our pastor had come. Based on what we could see with our earthly eyes and the facts of her condition, we stood by her bed that morning with heavy hearts thinking that in all likelihood we only had hours left with her. After her baptismal service, our friends and family spoke to her and told her how much they loved her. I can almost remember the exact words Ginger said to her, “I love you, Anne Marie. Hunter and Haley love you. Everyone loves you so much.” The kids each took turns holding her hand, and her grandparents stroked her and told her how much they loved her too. The mood in her room that morning was heavy and very sad. And then everyone but Brandon and me went to wait in the waiting room while Anne Marie was taken off ECMO. Everyone waited and waited, fearing the worst. And then the Lord did a miracle for us. Even now just remembering and thinking about it, I sit here and cry and thank God for His goodness to us that day.
After Anne Marie died there were many times I would ask God, “Why? Why did you bring her so far only to take her home? Why would you do such a big miracle for her and then on a quiet Saturday when we weren’t expecting it would you call her home?” I still often wonder why, and yet I’ve tried to quit asking so many questions. I don’t know why. I don’t understand God’s timing or all of his purposes. The younger kids and I are studying Old Testament history, and over and over we read stories of things that God does that just don’t seem to make sense. "Three hundred people?" Gideon must have wondered. "You want me to fight the Midianites with an army of 300?" God’s ways are mysteries.
And I have faced the greatest mystery this past year. It has been the worst year of my life. I have felt sadness and grief beyond description. And yet I would say that I am more at peace and in love with God than I have ever been in my entire life. It’s a mystery how deep, aching grief can coexist with deep joy and gratitude.
I am grateful for the extraordinary works God did for us last November, and I continue to be grateful for the love He shows me each day. It is more than my undeserving heart ever imagined possible.
Here's the only picture I have of me with my three girls -- November 11, 2009:
Anne Marie after coming off ECMO:
I will never forget this day last year when the Lord did something extraordinary for her and for her parents. I thought that day would be her last. Our children and close friends had come to Dallas, my parents were there, my brother had come to be with us, and our pastor had come. Based on what we could see with our earthly eyes and the facts of her condition, we stood by her bed that morning with heavy hearts thinking that in all likelihood we only had hours left with her. After her baptismal service, our friends and family spoke to her and told her how much they loved her. I can almost remember the exact words Ginger said to her, “I love you, Anne Marie. Hunter and Haley love you. Everyone loves you so much.” The kids each took turns holding her hand, and her grandparents stroked her and told her how much they loved her too. The mood in her room that morning was heavy and very sad. And then everyone but Brandon and me went to wait in the waiting room while Anne Marie was taken off ECMO. Everyone waited and waited, fearing the worst. And then the Lord did a miracle for us. Even now just remembering and thinking about it, I sit here and cry and thank God for His goodness to us that day.
After Anne Marie died there were many times I would ask God, “Why? Why did you bring her so far only to take her home? Why would you do such a big miracle for her and then on a quiet Saturday when we weren’t expecting it would you call her home?” I still often wonder why, and yet I’ve tried to quit asking so many questions. I don’t know why. I don’t understand God’s timing or all of his purposes. The younger kids and I are studying Old Testament history, and over and over we read stories of things that God does that just don’t seem to make sense. "Three hundred people?" Gideon must have wondered. "You want me to fight the Midianites with an army of 300?" God’s ways are mysteries.
And I have faced the greatest mystery this past year. It has been the worst year of my life. I have felt sadness and grief beyond description. And yet I would say that I am more at peace and in love with God than I have ever been in my entire life. It’s a mystery how deep, aching grief can coexist with deep joy and gratitude.
I am grateful for the extraordinary works God did for us last November, and I continue to be grateful for the love He shows me each day. It is more than my undeserving heart ever imagined possible.
Here's the only picture I have of me with my three girls -- November 11, 2009:
Anne Marie after coming off ECMO:
November 10, 2010
Ed Reform in Oklahoma's Future
After last week's election, the future looks bright for education reform in Oklahoma. This morning on KTOK, Reid Mullins and I discussed the possibilities.
November 09, 2010
Awww ...
"If you’re an Oklahoman interested in state politics and policy, it’s not easy to know which blogs provide good information and interesting perspectives on the issues you care about," writes David Blatt of the Oklahoma Policy Institute. David put together a list of 15 key blogs, and was kind enough to include Choice Remarks, about which he wrote:
One of several blogs maintained by Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs vice president Brandon Dutcher, this blog focuses on education issues and pushes for alternatives to traditional public education through tax credits, vouchers, and charter schools. With Republicans solidly in control at the state Capitol, Brandon’s blog is likely to be an increasingly influential source of ideas on education policy for the state’s elected leaders.Thanks, David, for the good word.
November 08, 2010
Monday Morning Quarterbacks
Lincoln played his last football game on Saturday. The Patriots played the Dallas homeschool team on a beautiful afternoon at Taft Stadium. Being able to watch Lincoln and Jack Henry play football has been one of the highlights of my fall. It's been a great season!
Saturday was also Senior Day:
And I haven't forgotten about our other quarterback in the family. During this game Jack Henry scored two touchdowns and made one interception:
Saturday was also Senior Day:
And I haven't forgotten about our other quarterback in the family. During this game Jack Henry scored two touchdowns and made one interception:
November 05, 2010
Creative-Class Shellackdown
I'd like to think I'm as creative as the next guy, but in no way am I part of the "creative class" (I tend to identify with the procreative class). So I was pleased to read Joel Kotkin's Forbes.com piece ('The Smackdown of the Creative Class') saying that on Tuesday "middle-class Americans smacked down their putative new ruling class of highly educated urbanistas and college town denizens."
Go See Waiting for 'Superman'
I finally got to see the documentaries Waiting for "Superman" (at AMC Quail Springs Mall) and The Lottery (at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art) and was asked to participate in a panel discussion after each film. I highly recommend both films. Superman is still playing at Quail Springs, so go see it!
November 03, 2010
November 02, 2010
Trig's Mom Lauds New Oklahoma Law
"You've done a great thing in Oklahoma," Sarah Palin said recently in Tulsa. Check out my column in the Edmond Sun.
November 01, 2010
Trick-or-Treating
Can you guess what you get when you take one cardboard box ...
Six cartons of Cool Whip ...
And a glue gun?
After adding many cans of spray paint, you get a Lego (accompanied by his cute sister):
While Brandon and the big kids were at the OU football game Saturday night, Mary Margaret, Jack Henry, and I went trick-or-treating with friends. Pictured here are a Lego, an astronaut, the famous painter Bob Ross, a princess, and a '50s girl:
Then we went home and the kids dumped out their candy to see who got what and to make some trades:
Six cartons of Cool Whip ...
And a glue gun?
After adding many cans of spray paint, you get a Lego (accompanied by his cute sister):
While Brandon and the big kids were at the OU football game Saturday night, Mary Margaret, Jack Henry, and I went trick-or-treating with friends. Pictured here are a Lego, an astronaut, the famous painter Bob Ross, a princess, and a '50s girl:
Then we went home and the kids dumped out their candy to see who got what and to make some trades:
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