Supreme Court ruling should help HB1804's case

Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court ruled portions of Arizona's controversial immigration law relating to employer sanctions as constitutional.

These sections were similar to those found in Oklahoma's House Bill 1804, which was passed by the state legislature in 2007, but has been locked up in court ever since, mainly over provisions that punished employers for hiring illegals, and set up safeguards to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants.

I would expect that, given the Supreme Court's ruling on the similar Arizona legislation, HB1804 might finally get out of the legal logjam it has been in for years.

Post-Tucson gun-related political correctness? Blogger says "no"

In the wake of the shooting in Tucson, the left and the media has tried to push politically correct speech even more forcefully; in this case, anything remotely related to firearms. Recently, a CNN anchor even went so far as to apologize for using the term "crosshairs".

Blogger Charles Phipps of OKPolitechs has a post that makes a point while using as much politically-incorrect gun-related speech as possible.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has been all over the news lately blaming everyone from Sarah Palin to Rush Limbaugh for the tragic shooting in his county.  It's time for Republicans to set their sights on replacing him.

Read the rest of his post here.

Congresswoman, 17+ others shot in Arizona

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and over a dozen 17 others were shot this morning in Tucson, Arizona, at an outdoor townhall-type meeting the congresswoman was holding.

Initially, news reports said that Giffords was killed (shot point-blank to the head), but they now report that she is alive, in "very critical condition", and still in surgery.

Here's a live news feed from local television [if the video does not work, the direct link is here]:



Several of the victims have died so far, including a congressional staffer.

UPDATE: Reports from law enforcement say that a federal judge is among the wounded. The gunman has been apprehended.

UPDATE 2: A doctor reported at a press conference that a young child died at the hospital, and that Rep. Giffords has made it through surgery. He is optimistic about her recovery.

Desperate Democrats sending mailers for Libertarians

In a sign of sure desperation, Democrat parties across the nation are sending out mail pieces that attempt to sway Republicans and Independents to support the Libertarian candidate, thus enabling the Democrat to eke out a victory.

Indiana-9: "The Indiana Democratic Party has sent an unusual mailer to 9th Congressional District voters, calling Libertarian Greg Knott the race’s “real conservative” in an attempt to siphon votes away from Republican Todd Young."

Maryland-1: "In what appears to be a national pattern, the Democratic Party is highlighting a longshot third-party candidate in an effort to undermine a Republican nominee--in this case, Andy Harris, the GOP challenger in Maryland's tightest House race." Also here.

Illinois-Senate: "The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Illinois Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias admitted yesterday that his campaign had a hand in a mailer sent to conservatives in downstate Illinois touting Libertarian Senate candidate Mike Labno as a "pro-life, pro-gun" alternative to Rep. Mark Kirk, the Republican nominee in the race." [more here]

Arizona-8: "Wow, talk about a desperate move by those whose ideas have been rejected by the populace.  The Arizona Democratic Party is sending out mail advocating for the Libertarian Candidate in CD 8 because he is the 'Real Conservative.'"

Arizona-5: "At least the Stoltz piece has a disclosure.  In District 5, someone sent out this piece on behalf of Libertarian Rick Coons but without the required disclosure." [more also here]


Desperate times require desperate measures. The Democrats must really be in trouble to stoop to sending mailers out for Libertarian candidates who openly oppose large portions of the Democrat platform and agenda (i.e. ObamaCare, gun restrictions, higher taxes, etc).

Inhofe: McCain's a Liberal, Gets Elected Because of Earmark Opposition

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) spoke at a Tulsa Metro Chamber breakfast this morning, and labeled U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as a closet liberal who gets elected merely because he opposes earmarks. No word if he said the same thing about U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who is even more rabidly anti-earmark/pork-spending than McCain.

Ironically, both Inhofe and and McCain's opponent - former Congressman J.D. Hayworth - are both well known for being earmark defenders.

Don't come between a Senator or Congressman and his earmarks...

The Conservative View: Selective Enforcement Sucks

This week's Conservative View, by Adair County Commissioner Russell Turner (R-Stilwell).

The Conservative View
by Russell Turner

Selective Enforcement Sucks

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of laws that our state legislatures and congress pass every year. Laws are supposed to create an environment that will ensure equality and liberty for everyone. Laws should only be passed if they are needed. When legislation and laws are passed they should be enforced; if there was no intention to actually enforce them, why pass them in the first place?

One of the purposes of our federal government is to protect our country from harm; foreign or domestic. The dilemma that the people of Arizona are facing concerning the invasion of illegal aliens into their state should attract everyone’s attention. At some time in the past the federal government saw a need to take action to control our borders, what our lawmakers seem to have forgotten is for any law to achieve the effect it was intended for it first must be enforced. For all of the people giving the state of Arizona grief for trying to protect itself from an all out invasion, maybe they should demand Washington DC do its job first.

From what I have heard about SB 1070 it mirrors federal law. Earlier this week federal judge Susan Bolton blocked several key parts of the Arizona law. One comment was made by the feds that if the federal government decided not to enforce the federal law, it would be illegal for the state to take any action to stem the tide of illegal immigration. I do realize that gridlock does exist and it slows the legislative process; at times it is a good thing, but this is not one of them. The way our government is handling our problem on our southern border is equivalent to calling the police when someone is breaking into your home and being told it might be next week before the officers could be there.

Elections come and go, the vast majority of Americans want a common sense solution to the problem but it doesn’t seem to be the fed’s major priority. It is so strange that our federal government wants to ignore its duty to protect our borders, but it is ready to sue the state of Arizona and prevent them from doing what the feds should already be doing. I have a suggestion for all branches of government; if laws are not going to be for all the citizens of this country, don’t pass them in the first place. This selective enforcement of laws sucks!   

If you wish to contact Russell Turner, or want to subscribe to his email loop, email him at rdrepublican@windstream.net.

Feds to sue over Arizona law

From the Associated Press:

The U.S. Justice Department is filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arizona's tough new law targeting illegal immigrants.

The planned lawsuit was confirmed to The Associated Press by a Justice Department official with knowledge of the plans. The official didn't want to be identified before a public announcement planned for later Tuesday.

The lawsuit will argue that Arizona's new measure requiring state and local police to question and possibly arrest illegal immigrants during the enforcement of other laws, like traffic stops, usurps federal authority.

Tuesday's action has been expected for weeks. President Barack Obama has called the state law misguided. Supporters say it is a reasonable reaction to federal inaction on immigration.

Rather than stepping up to the plate, and enforcing federal law, the Justice Department is going to sue Arizona for picking up the slack.

My favorite part of the article is this: "The lawsuit will argue that Arizona's new measure requiring state and local police to question and possibly arrest illegal immigrants during the enforcement of other laws, like traffic stops, usurps federal authority."

Cry me a river. If the Feds would only do their job like they're supposed to, the states wouldn't have to go to such lengths to protect themselves.

The Conservative View: The Big Wave

This week's Conservative View, by Adair County Commissioner Russell Turner (R-Stilwell).

The Conservative View
by Russell Turner

The Big Wave

Over the past week most Americans have been watching the oil spill off the gulf coast. It is a sad fact that the damage from the oil spill will be felt for years. Time will tell if the oil company British Petroleum was negligent or not, but I am sure that they did not intentionally cause this disaster. For the time being, all efforts should be made to stop the oil flow and minimize the damage to the wildlife of the area. I was taught that there is a time and place for everything, I was particularly disappointed by the comment by our president when he was quoted as saying that he wanted to “GO DOWN THERE AND KICK SOMEBODY’S ***”. Instead of making some crude comment, calls should be going out to experts all over the world and hopefully someone may have an idea that we haven’t thought up yet. I have watched news reports where the local citizens are doing what they can to protect their homes and businesses. They are preparing for the big wave of oil because they feel that the federal government is not acting fast enough, another part of our country is also trying to protect themselves from a wave of illegal immigration.

The state of Arizona has been under un-relenting attack since they passed legislation to get a handle on illegal immigration. For the most part the American people understand the problem, poll after poll has shown that the American people want our federal government to deal with the illegal immigration problem. The very word illegal says it all, WHAT PART OF ILLEGAL DO THEY NOT UNDERSTAND? There are all kinds of laws in this country that make it illegal to do certain things. I do not believe in selective enforcement; if a law is bad repeal it, if a law is outdated repeal it. This practice of turning a blind eye to this problem is getting pretty old to the average citizen of this country. The people of Arizona have been asking and begging for help from the federal government to get a handle on the problem. Now that they have been forced to take action on a state level, the federal government has decided to file suit against Arizona and challenge the legislation they passed. Maybe the president should be ready to kick the *** of the people that are intentionally breaking our laws.  

If you wish to contact Russell Turner, or want to subscribe to his email loop, email him at rdrepublican@windstream.net.

Want to hear the Arizona Immigration Law for yourself?

I'm sure you've heard all of the hubbub over the recently passed Arizona immigration law by now, but have you read the bill? How about listening to it, instead.

Tomorrow, Glenn Beck plans on reading the bill in its entirety (17 pages) in the third hour of his radio show.

For Oklahomans, you can catch the Glenn Beck Program on the AM dial on 1320 KCLI (Clinton, 8-11am), 1000 KTOK (OKC, 8-11am), and 1170 KFAQ (Tulsa, 9-noon).

The Conservative View: My Home My Castle

This week's Conservative View, by Adair County Commissioner Russell Turner (R-Stilwell).

The Conservative View
by Russell Turner

My Home My Castle

One of the American dreams is to own your home. It is a good feeling to have a place in the world that you can go to and be safe and secure. Having your own home enables you to make decisions of who you allow into your house and who you can ask to leave. For example, if a person knocks on your door you do not have to let them in, any prudent person would like to have some information on their house guests. Very few people will invite a rank stranger into their home, most people would want to know at least what their name is and what business they have being at their home. It would be nice if we lived in a world where we could have blind trust in our fellow humans but sadly we don’t live in such a world. The news media is full of instances where humans do unspeakable acts to each other. With all of that being said we can relate to someone coming into our homes, but many people have a hard time understanding the problem of illegal immigration.

Over the past week there have been outcries from self-serving politicians and various groups condemning the governor of Arizona for signing a bill that will attempt to get a handle on the problem of illegal immigration. Our country is our home, why shouldn’t we care as much for our country as our little piece of real estate that our house happens to set on? The people of Arizona are experiencing all kinds of problems such as illegal drug traffic and the violence that accompanies it. Are we content to allow the drug wars that are destroying Mexico being brought to the streets of American cities? I have a question and a suggestion for all of those groups protesting the actions of the people of Arizona.

#1. What part of illegal do these groups not understand? I have heard the statement that these are people that are just trying to make a living. While I appreciate anyone who has the energy to make it on his own, would we be willing to overlook a crime such as bank robbery just because they are here to make a living?

#2. If all the people doing the protesting would devote half as much time and sponsor these people they could help them enter our country legally. Then these people would have all of the protections we citizens enjoy and not be subject to exploitation from unscrupulous people in our country. America is my home, when people immigrate legally they are protected and our country as well.

If you wish to contact Russell Turner, or want to subscribe to his email loop, email him at rdrepublican@windstream.net.