I touched a nerve with my last one. On one hand, I’m glad people actually FELT something reading my stuff, but on the other hand, the people I upset were frankly people I DON’T want to upset, and who honestly seem to agree with me on about 90 percent of every issue. Before I dive into the blog proper, I hope to handle the concerns of these folks. Losing readers is one thing. Losing friends is another.
Where do I start? Ok, the first thing I want to say is that I absolutely RESPECT the people who have taken umbrage with my words. An Oklahoma City insider had given me a tip, and I decided to look into it. Honestly, some of the responses I’ve gotten on social media honestly baffle me. Since these are friends, I don’t want to share them here, and I’m hoping I handle this without making anyone feel “called out.” But I also have to mingle some courage with the consideration. One of the reasons I took so long to get back into blogging is because I’m tired (why do you think I call it Tired Blogging)? In my heart I don’t wish to confront any more. Nor do I want to apologize any more for thinking or feeling the way I do. In no way do I mean to invalidate how you think or feel, but at the end of the day, I’m the one writing the blog. Respectfully, I share what I know, I share what I learn, and I share how I feel about it. Your comments are absolutely welcome. It is easily possible you are right, and I am wrong. If I don’t want feedback I’ll just close up shop, eat cheatos, pet my dog, and read sifi till I have a heart attack or one of Erik Prince’s freinds comes for me.
Ok, let’s dig into the topic. And the topic actually isn’t gun control or OK2A. I gave that impression in the last post, that’s my bad. I was hoping the added context would draw in liberal readers and help them feel like their viewpoint was respected. Instead, the conservatives wondered if I had jumped ship.
So then, what is the issue?
Oh Don Spencer, You Are a Friend of Mine…
In my previous post, I introduced you to Don Spencer, shared his accomplishments with OK2A, and discussed the concerns some media outlets have with him. I intend to finish the story in this post. But before we get too deep into Mr. Spencer’s shenanigans, I would like to introduce you to A. J. Ferate, the current chairman of the Oklahoma GOP. Here we go.
So we replaced Bennett with A. J. Ferate. I’ll alow him to introduce himself in his own words. From http://ocpacarchives.blogspot.com:
| “A.J. Ferate is one of the rare lawyers who did not lose his ability to think rationally about the U.S. Constitution while in law school. He still appreciates the original intent of the U.S. legal system. He advocates for its capacity, in its original form, to govern a people while providing Christian liberty. That is, after all, why it was put into place to begin with. |
| He is President of the local Federalist Society chapter. The Federalist Society was founded to counter the current domination of law school ideology. The Federalist Society states that today’s law schools promote a “liberal ideology which advocates a centralized and uniform society.” |
Thus far, this is actually exciting reading for your Tired Blogger. I know it isn’t as exciting as the Playboy centerfold, but the thought of a true conservative at the party chair who isn’t trying to recruit for a Civil War actually sounds exciting to me. Providing Christian liberty sounds amazing. Believing The Federalist Papers has something to contribute to modern political philosophy is exciting.
How could that possibly upset any Oklahomans?
https://theintercept.com/2021/03/10/oklahoma-mcgirt-oil-industry-kevin-stitt/
Ok, so here are the reasons people are upset with him. Comments welcome on whether or not they are right or wrong to be upset with him.
The Enid Daily News and Eagle, that great bastion of journalism that hit its heyday when Michael Savage sited them in his book Trickle Up Poverty has this to say:
Ferate…took to Twitter, stating, “The Trump campaign had every opportunity to bring forward evidence in court and failed to do so. It takes a ‘clear and convincing’ standard to prove fraud in court. They didn’t put forward a scintilla of provable evidence. We as a party need to quit jumping the shark on the 2020 election and focus on convincing voters to show up for each future one.”
“Ferate’s comments are a breath of fresh air for a state party that has been burrowed in election fraud conspiracy theories and other sometimes extreme views. Just a week or so ago, Ferate had to issue a statement denouncing anti-Semitic statements by another GOP candidate for state office.
“It seems the new GOP chair is trying to instill a little bit of tough love on his party candidates. His position is a reversal from the previous chair, John Bennett, who embraced election fraud theories and promoted other candidates who did the same.”
Well in Oklahoma, them’s fighting words. Believing that Trump didn’t have the election stolen from him, or, as is closer to my current stance, believing he might have had some points but 1) there wasn’t enough fraud to reverse the election, and 2) the methods he has used to contest the election have in many cases been ill advised, anyway all of those beliefs are raw insanity. Madness on a level of taking the bet that your Tired Blogger will have a date this weekend.
The information shared by The Intercept is more disturbing to me, but I’ll share it and you be the judge. To put the story in context, I’ll share the first few sentences so that you know what the topic of the article was:
“IN A LANDMARK decision last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that the eastern half of the state of Oklahoma is reservation land, legally “Indian Country.” Although Oklahoma officials spent a century ignoring treaties signed by leaders of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the justices asserted that the treaties remain the law of the land — meaning, most likely, that the reservations of four other tribal nations that share a distinct legal and political history in Oklahoma also stand.
“McGirt v. Oklahoma, a major victory for Indigenous nations, is now having legal consequences well beyond the state. The Supreme Court ruling, however, was only the beginning of a new battle to redefine Oklahoma’s identity.”
I don’t intend to get bogged down in the details, but the long and the short is that Stitt and various other Republicans are hopping mad over this Supreme Court decision. Most of the article deals with the debate in Oklahoma. Tired Blogger Cliff’s Notes version is, Republicans and Big Oil hate it, Democrats and Native Americans love it. So where does Ferrit…I mean Ferate…stand on the issue?
“After Congress declined to take up legislation addressing McGirt, Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry took its fight to the courts. One of the central figures who has emerged is A.J. Ferate: one of the co-authors of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association’s amicus brief, the general counsel of the state’s Republican Party, and the former public policy coordinator for Devon Energy. Ferate, though, is in court arguing for tribal control of oil and gas permitting — albeit doing so in the interests of an oil company.
“In the case at hand, brought as a petition before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Ferate argues that the state body that grants oil drilling permits — the Oklahoma Corporation Commission — no longer has the authority to do so on tribal land. That means that the company Calyx’s permits to drill on Muscogee (Creek) land should be void, opening the door for Ferate’s client, another oil and gas company called Canaan, to maintain a more dominant drilling posture in the region. (Ferate declined to comment for this story.)
“Ferate hinted at the industry’s strategy at an August 11 webinar hosted by a conservative group, saying he believed the fight against McGirt could take 40 years or more to play out and that a “piecemeal” approach of gaining legal clarity, one issue at a time, would be necessary.”
Tired Blogger analysis: Ferate wants to have his cake and eat it too (like everyone else). On one hand he can look like he is helping the Native Americans, but on the other hand his client is big oil. Pretty slick if you ask me, but the Republicans in OKC don’t like it. You see, we want big oil to win, but not the Native Americans. Native Americans winning is unAmerican.
So, members of the Oklahoma GOP don’t like him, according to my OKC insider. “But Curtis…what does that matter? Why am I reading this stuff?”
Well, you certainly don’t have time for frivolous things, so allow me to explain. In order to explain, I have to introduce yet another person in the dramatis personae.
Introducing Sean Roberts
I know I know; it is getting as bad as trying to keep Game of Thrones straight. The punchline is coming soon, though I’m afraid the dopamine hit is not.
Sean Roberts is important because he wants to be the new Oklahoma GOP chairman.
Ok…so Sean Roberts, having failed to get a cabinet position, thinks he would be a great party chair. When he was running for labor commissioner, there were protests calling for him to drop out of the race after some documents were leaked from his divorce some decades earlier. Channel 4 in OKC reports: “Carol Bush, House Chair of the Women’s Caucus, and Representative Tammy Townley held a press conference Monday in downtown Oklahoma City calling on Sean Roberts to end his campaign for Labor Commissioner.
“This comes after documents from a decades old divorce have surfaced detailing an abusive Sean Roberts towards his ex-wife, Jennifer.
“I called the police because he punched me in the mouth over a song I downloaded,” said Roberts’ ex-wife in a judge signed record.”
I know its Oklahoma but come on man! We can do better than that.
But the article ends on an wishy washy note. I’m tempted to take this information out, since I was myself falsely accused in my divorce of being an abuser, but on the other hand, I keep telling you I’m not here to tell you what to think, so here it is:
“Roberts’ campaign released a statement which read, in part:
“The political hit, masquerading as a press release, was designed to go after Roberts for allegations relating to his marriage 22 years ago.”
“In July, I reached out to Jennifer Roberts about her statements made in court. She did not confirm nor deny what was detailed in the records. She did add that too much time had passed for her to comment on the subject, and that her and Roberts were now on good terms.
“Roberts’ campaign released another statement, this time with Jennifer Roberts’ signature on the bottom. It was dated for August 1, 2022.
“It was a pivot from the decades old statements of abuse:
“I have nothing bad to say about him. Sean is a good man and helped co-parent our two boys who are now 22 and 25 years old.”
The only commentary I have is this, Jennifer Roberts either lied back then, or she is lying now. The point is this. I stay out of running for office for several reasons, one of them is I know my divorce will be grist for all kinds of issues that my political opponents would be happy to use. Either he is an abuser, and hence I have no desire for him to have any political influence over Oklahoma, or he is a victim of politics as usual. You be the judge after reading this stuff.
The Oklahoma Watch has this to say about Roberts:
“Earlier this year, Oklahoma Watch asked all 15 state senators and 23 House members, all Republicans, who supported that move if they still support their request and whether they will now say that Biden rightfully won the election.
“Of those who responded, all repeated unfounded claims that widespread election fraud cost Trump the election. Many are seeking higher office.
“This includes Rep. Sean Roberts, R-Hominy, who is running for labor commissioner.
“In 2021, Roberts sought a forensic and independent audit of 2020 general election results in three counties including Oklahoma County, making unfounded claims that fraud occurred in other states. That request was denied.”
Ok, look…I don’t want to get into the whole debate about the legitimacy of the Biden election. I’ve already written about that, if you want to know what I think about that, you may read this old post here: https://wordpress.com/post/tiredmidnightblogger.com/161
Whatever side of that debate you are on….Oklahoma is the reddest state of the red. Why in Sam Hill would anyone WANT to investigate our elections? Bro…your man Trump won by a landslide in Oklahoma. The only people who would benefit from an audit of votes in Oklahoma are Democrats. Your crusade is nothing more than grandstanding and pointless stirring up the anger of the masses who already vote mostly the way you want. Why don’t you shut the hell up and campaign on your merits? Is it because you can’t win on your merits? Just curious.
Musical Chairs
The Oklahoman shares the story about the election coming in May. “Sean Roberts, a former state representative who unsuccessfully ran for labor commissioner earlier this year, has announced his campaign for chairman of the state Republican Party, challenging AJ Ferate, who said he has stabilized an organization that faced financial turmoil just six months ago.
“Roberts announced his candidacy for party chair as part of a “Liberty Team” ticket that includes other candidates for vice chair and executive officer. After serving in the state House for 12 years, Roberts lost a Republican primary race this year for labor commissioner, in which he attempted to use the nickname “The Patriot” on the ballot, an effort that was rejected by the state Election Board.
“Roberts has wrongly claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election and his “Liberty Team” ticket includes other election deniers.”
The Oklahoman continues: “Ferate won a special election in May for the state party chair, succeeded John Bennett, who, like Roberts, denied the results of the 2020 election.
“But Ferate rejected election conspiracy theories and said he wanted the party to “look forward” and rebuild itself as a fundraising force.
“This month, the state party announced it had raised $577,000 over the last several months and had significantly improved the organization’s internal finances.
“I think that’s a testament to the donor community trusting what we are doing,” Ferate told The Oklahoman. “We are just getting started with bringing in a professional approach to how we address communications, how we address staff support, and I’d like the chance to continue that work.”
So we have someone who is attempting to be sane and professional, and someone else who….what the heck is going on with all this?
According to my source in OKC, Sean Roberts is basically a creature of Don Spencer. My informer tells me that adding the party chair into the list of politicians that are in Spencer’s pocket will make him “way too powerful.” Allegedly, of course. I’ve already written about the concerns voiced by other journalists and politicians.
https://wordpress.com/post/tiredmidnightblogger.com/5723
My insider tells me that they have reason to believe Don Spencer took a bribe to endorse Carol Hefner, rather than the popular air force veteran Major Frank Urbanic.
What are my readers thoughts? Comments welcome.
Tired Midnight Blogger (What Blogs at Midnight) 
Good to know that you’re back! And with another interesting *DEEP Dive*.
1.) Ferate is correct. The conspiracy theory election fraud LIES —why else would Fox News pay $788 MILLION so they DON’T go to court?— need to stop and we (R)s need to get our focus on the Future!
2.) You COULD run for office in Oklahoma and no one will care Jack-squat about your past! JUST MAKE SURE that you have that (R) behind your name! I’d love to see if the TMBwBaM could stand firm to values amidst whatever corruption seems to invade nearly every Ok elected official. (And if he can’t? Well, at least we’d have someone on the inside!
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Thanks for the support man. For several reasons this was the most difficult post I have written to date. I don’t know if I am pro Ferate or not, but totally, if the choice is him or Roberts? Hands down, I vote for Roberts. There have been some things that have come to light that shake my faith in the belief that the election wasn’t stolen from Trump, but the things I’ve learned, after rereading my own post just now about the topic, I still feel the likelihood that there was enough fraud to overturn the election is fairly small. I did have the thought about seeing if there were any uncontested legislative posts in the next election, but other than you I didn’t exactly get a resounding “Hell yeah brother, do it!” And with respect to you, because you are my best friend and the most supportive person in my life right now, if I can’t get my friends behind me, I don’t really feel like facing the sharks in OKC. A blog and a podcast, however, are another matter…..
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Faux news is owned by Disney – this is simply consolidation- they can now shutter them claiming financial difficulty and further restrict actual information-
All mainstream is bad. And most social media follows
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It is painfully obvious that we are owned by the big corporations
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Exactly!
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If we seek to please others instead of ourselves, at some point, we will all be upset.
Don’t stress others’ opinions. No one thinks alike all the time.
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