Thursday, November 4, 2010

State Questions

Okay, I actually expected Mary Fallin to win, in the end, and although I'm disappointed, I'm not really surprised.  What I am most upset about are four state questions that passed. I'll start with the one about showing your ID to vote.

In reality it wouldn't be that big of a deal to show my ID or sign something stating that I am who I am(something I already have to do when I sign the register.) The point is this law passed because people in Oklahoma are afraid that illegal immigrants are somehow getting themselves on the roles and voting minorities into office or some such nonsense. And, honestly I can't say that's never happened, but I can say that I don't care if it has, because it wouldn't make sense for someone who is illegal to bring attention to themselves, because if they get caught they will get sent back to a country that will probably imprison them for wanting things like free speech and voting rights.  But the people in my state sent a clear message to all those illegal immigrants that we are no better than the country they came from because we don't want people we don't like to vote either.  Because this question was not about efficiency or accuracy or even illegal immigrants, it's about intimidating legal, minority voters who were either born here or who became naturalized citizens the legal way. 

The second state question that upset me that passed was the one that makes the English language the official language.  What is interesting is that it makes exceptions for tribal languages and does not forbid the use of other languages in other situations.  Again, it makes no practical sense, because the state's business is already done in English.  But it sure did send a message, not just to illegal Mexican immigrants but to those who have come here legally and are still struggling to communicate effectively in our "official" language.

Of course, we can't overlook the whole opting out of the Health Care Reform Bill.  I thought it interesting that while reading the question on the ballot, it actually said that this question could not override federal law.  WTF!  What was the point?  We sent a message to that crazy Muslim in the White House that we don't like him and never will, no matter how hard he tries to make our lives better.

Finally I will tackle the stupidest one. That's right the one covering sharia law.  This one makes absolutely no sense what so ever.  This is like saying the courts can't use the Ten Commandments to decide cases, which they don't do.  The Ten Commandments and Sharia Law are religious law and as far as I know the courts refer to legal law when deciding cases.  But I think Muslims understand now that they are not welcome in our state. And that's a damn shame.

5 comments:

  1. It just goes to show what kind of mush-headed hoo-ha gets passed when people vote out of fear...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another that bothers me is that people voted against 744 because "...I couldn't be sure of where the money was coming from..." (quote from a facebook friend who is actually a recently laid off teacher). But maybe passing it would have made people prioritize and make the budget better? Grr.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was nervous to cover that one because I voted against it. I didn't like that the percentage could fluctuate based on the regional average. So if the average goes down, so will our percentage. I think they should raise it permanently. I didn't want to point my finger and say your reason for not voting for this is worse than mine. I was concerned that people voted against it because they thought their taxes would go up though. I bet that's the biggest reason. I was also concerned that those A-holes would take the money from "entitlement" programs, but that's not why I voted against it.
    You're right though, if we demand more from them, maybe they'll stop acting like jerk-offs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Actually, I guess I read 744 wrong when I voted because I just got done reading it again and it said that if the regional average went down, Oklahoma would use the amount from the year before. That doesn't seem so bad. I apologize to the students and teachers of Oklahoma, although I think it passed by 70-80%, so my one little vote wouldn't have mattered much. :0)

    ReplyDelete