Boren and Bloomberg Meeting at OU

University of Oklahoma President David Boren

University of Oklahoma President David Boren is hosting a bipartisan political meeting that includes former Democratic U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, former Republican Senator Bill Brock, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The expressed purpose is to "challenge" the present presidential candidates of both parties "to foucs on serious issues" and talk about "national unity" (Greiner The Oklahman 12/31/07).

Bloomberg has been touted as a possible independent candidate for president although Boren has denied that this is an attempt to launch Bloomberg or anyone else (such as himself) into the presidential race. Yeah, right.

Forgive me, but there is something very Passive/Agressive about this whole arrangement. "You'd better start behaving, or you're gonna make me run for president." It seems that Bloomberg wants to claim that he was forced into running for the nation's highest office to save the country from it's politicians. Since he is a politician, I hardly see how he can claim any particular virtue over the rest in the field. As far as I can tell, New York City is hardly a haven for political harmony.

Just what assurances would Boren and the rest want from the current presidential candidates? Every politician, including the highly divisive figurehead we have in the White House now claims that s/he is a "Uniter" and the only reason we don't have more unity in this country is because certain "special interests" just don't get the message.

Third party cannidates seldom do much good in a race. Usually, they end up denying the country the opportunity to have a majority candidate who can at least have some kind of a mandate to lead the country. Thus it was with Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party, on to George Wallace, Ross Perot, and, most of all, Ralph Nader.

We have an opportunity to have a true majority candidate in this election. I hope s/he is a Democrat. But what we don't need is someone like Boren, Bloomberg, et al to muddy up the electorate's decision.

Will a new candidate emerge at OU?

The Clothes Knows

Global Warming

Despite the harsh weather we have had it has not gotten all that cold this year so far. We have had a week lost at school this year and last year. I wonder if we are going to have to get used to this.

OKC Schedules NBA Vote

NBA Logo


On March 4th, voters in Oklahoma City are set to vote on extending a "temporary" one cent sales tax. The sales tax was approved by voters to fund the highly successful MAPS project that revitalized downtown. Part of that process was used to build the Ford Center which housed the New Orleans Hornets for two years when that team was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The hope is that a Yes vote will convince the NBA that OKC is a legitimate location for an NBA franchise. Clay Bennett, the owner of the Seattle Supersonics and the WNBA team Seattle Storm, wants to bring the Sonics to OKC. Bennett, who heads a group of local investors in the Sonics, will make his proposal to the NBA owners group in April, a month after the vote.

Personally, I am ambiguous, but mostly in favor of this proposal. I do not like the fact that Clay, a rich man with deep ties to right wing politics, wants the citizens to build a facility for him so he can make more money. Here is someone who believes that government should leave his business affairs alone wanting the government to provide a home for his business. This is nothing but Corporate Welfare.

However, I also know that having an major league franchise would provide a big psychologial boost to the city and the state. Oklahoma has long had an inferiority complex. We have no major tourist destinations sites (possibly excepting Rt. 66). We had the experience of the Dust Bowl which still identifies us to some degree. Having an NBA team would to some degree put us on par with other major cities in America.

Besides, this, I feel that a legitimate role for government is to provide for the general welfare. Having an NBA team won't solve our problems of poverty, poor health statistics, and dysfunctional social services. At best, it will be a cosmetic improvement, but one should not discount entirely how much putting on makeup and new clothes improve how one looks and feels. In some cases, it can even make a body do something that goes beyond the dressings.

George Lynn Cross, president of the University of Oklahoma during the Bud Wilkinson era, was famous for saying that he wanted to create a "university his football team could be proud of". If we feel we can accomplish something as noteworthy as attracting a permanent NBA franchise, then we may also feel we can accomplish real change in how we live and act as Oklahomans.

I cannot vote for this since technically I live in The Village, a separate town within OKC, but I hope those who can will pass this proposal on March 4th.

The Tween Days

Stressed
Right now Cat and I are in what I call the "Tween Days" of our annual winter break. These are the days between Christmas and New Years. We have a few days before Christmas and after New Years before we report back to school (this year January 4th for us and January 7th for our students).

I never quite know what to do with these days. Should I be trying to do all the stuff around the house that I've been putting off like clean out the junk room? Should I be preparing my lesson plans for the coming semester? Should I try to read that book I've been meaning to read since the Clinton administration? Should I try to prepare for the upcoming election year? After all, the Oklahoma presidential primary is coming up February 5th. Or should I just "veg out" and recover from the stress of what has been a very disrupted semester?

Usually I try to do a combination of everything which, as a result, means that I go back to school really not feeling as if I got what I needed out of the break. Oh well, I do the best I know how to do.

My brother Rick.

by Rick Green
Above is one of the many cartoons my brother has drawn for his blog "Organized Doodles". You ought to visit it because he's really talented. Just don't tell him I said so. BTW, despite the obvious political message of this print, my Rick is definately "right of center" on social issues. I'm doing my best to show him the light of justice in economic matters though.

The Green Flame

Green Flame
I have a site meter which keeps account of the one or two people who visit my blog each day. The number one search tag used to get to the blog has something to do with making a green flame. Actually, I don't really know much about this, sorry. I do know that if you are doing a flame test on a substance and you get a green flame, you probably have barium in it. Here are some pictures of a green flame just to keep you happy. Enjoy the rest of my blog while you are at it.
Green Flame again

A Few Pictures from My Christmas

Cat with her son John, his wife Stephanie, and their children Skylar and Devin
My niece Serenity
Cat and our nephew Tristan
My granddaughter Skyler

My Eye Operation

Detached Retina
I haven't posted in nearly 6 months. Part of the problem has been the fact that, for a while, I was facing the prospect of going blind due to a detached retina. Back in August, I had an operation to deal with cataracts in my left eye. Some days after the operation, I noticed that I was having trouble seeing out of the that eye. I called the surgeon who performed the operation, and he said that it likely was some "floaters" caused by the operation which would settle down eventually.

However, what I was seeing never "settled" and in fact, grew to block about half the vision in that eye. Then I noticed that my right eye was getting worse. It looked as though I was looking out of a dirty window pane. Then I couldn't see out of it altogether. I called the doctor again, and he told me to get in to see him right away. He took one look and my eye and exclaimed, "Wow!" This is not the sort of thing you want to hear from your doctor during an exam. Then he told me that I had detached retinas in both eyes. He sent me on to a retina specialist.

The specialist, Dr. Lawrence, confirmed the diagnosis. He told me that my right eye's retina was completely detached and the left eye was partially detached. "That's something fairly rare," he explained. "Sometimes patients will come in with one detachment and the other getting ready to detach, but seldom do I see both retinas affecting vision in both eyes at the same time."

He scheduled me for surgery the next day to reattach the left eye first using a scleral buckle procedure. This operation involves the placement of a silicone rubber band around the eye together with wider pieces of material positioned to close the hole in the retina which is caused when the retina detaches. That night after the operation, I spent throwing up into a bucket my wife kept by my side. I was completely blind since I didn't any vision in my right eye. The next day when the bandages came off I could seek, very blurry shapes, but I could see. I was reminded of the blind man in the Gospels who said he saw "men looking like tree walking."

The next operation was on the right eye. In addition to the buckle, the doctor used a procedure called pneumatic retinopexy which involves the injection of air or gas into the eye to help seal the hole in the back of my eye. Once again, I spent a night throwing up, but I also had to spend several nights sitting up in a chair. Cat and I arranged to have a chair wedged in a corner with pillows around me so I could at least lean to one side and get some rest.

The doctor thought I would have to spend 3 months at home, but I only had to be there 3 weeks. Thank the Lord for a good union contract that gave me the sick leave time to do this without loss of salary. During that time I couldn't read anything. I could, however, watch all the television I wanted to watch. Thank God for The History Channel and recorded books.

Since then, I have had to go through a time of wearing a patch on my right eye (just in time for "Talk Like a Pirate Day"!). And a time of sleeping on my stomach to let the air bubble press on the back of my eye. I had my last check up on Dec. 11th. Dr. Lawrence was very happy with my progress. He told me that 20 years ago, I would have had to accept blindness as my fate. He believes that my condition was caused by the fact that I was extremely near sighted for a long period of time. (I know that at one time, my vision was 20-200.) Myopia is caused by an elongated eye ball, and this acts like an balloon overfilled with water. At some point, the balloon begins to tear and this causes the retina to tear.

I am thankful for Dr. Lawrence and his excellent staff at Retinal Associates of Oklahoma. Vision is a precious gift, and they have given me a great Christmas present.

The Myth of Educational Competition

This is an op-ed piece I have sent to several periodicals in the Oklahoma City area. You have my permission to adapt this and use it in your own arena.

I have been a teacher in the Oklahoma City Public Schools for 14 years, so I keep an eye out for what is said in the local media about education, especially public education. Lately, I have seen many letters, op-ed pieces and editorials trying to revive the idea of taxpayer-funded “vouchers” for private schools. The constant drumbeat in these pieces, most of which come from minions of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, is that by encouraging “school choice” and “competition” between private schools, charter schools, and public schools, we will improve educational opportunities for Oklahoma’s school-age children. The writers argue, “If competition is good for business, then why not for schools?”

Fair enough. However, let us remember that competition can only occur when people or institutions play on a level playing field. If athlete A is allowed to run unfettered while B is required to carry a 40 pound field pack during the race, one can hardly be surprised if A wins most of the races. So why don’t those harping for competition also demand that school compete equally? Let the public schools do as our private and charter school counterparts do.

 Let public schools require students to apply for entrance into our schools, and let us screen those who apply rather than take all comers.
 Let us require that these students meet academic performance requirements and reject those who don’t measure up.
 Let us require that these applying students’ records be free of discipline problems, or admit any “problem children” on the condition that they exhibit good behavior.
 Let us turn down “special needs” children if we feel they will require too many modifications, too many resources, or too much money for their care (a major reason why private schools can educate students at lower costs).
 Let us require that parents sign contracts requiring that they give 20 hours or more of “volunteer” service to the school or risk having their child expelled from our institutions.
 Let us require that once they are admitted to our schools, students must keep their academic performance at a required level or face being expelled without recourse to any mandated due process rights.
 Let us require that students conform to all of our rules and codes of conduct or risk expulsion, again without recourse to due process.
 Let us administer to special needs children free from federal laws mandating low class sizes (10 or fewer students per class), teacher aides, and special equipment thus eliminating special needs students from the public arena.
 Let us be free from the need to administer required state tests or the need to report on our academic results.

Private schools and charter schools do not follow all of the above policies, but all follow several of them. At the very least, all private/charter schools demonstrate what is really meant by “school choice”: the schools get to make the choices. And if the student does not perform, then the school gets to choose to leave the child behind for someone else, the public schools, to pick up the pieces. Public schools, by law, have to honor all students’ right to an education, and they cannot simply kick disruptive children out of our schools. The process for dismissing students from our schools is long and cumbersome because if we send the kids out, there are not too many places, this side of jail, which will take them in.

In light of all this, the surprising fact, shown by study after study, is that when students from similar demographic backgrounds are matched, public schools out perform all other forms of school-age education with the possible exception of home schooling. We do out race them, 40-pound pack and all.

Just remember this the next time you read someone extolling the “virtues” of educational competition.

Respectfully yours,



R. Lynn Green
English Instructor
Oklahoma Centennial High School

Beaver's Bend State Park

As you can see, the lake at Beaver's Bend State Park was very high also. We saw one place.
Beaver's Bend State Park
Beaver's Bend State Park

Been A While

I've neglected my blog for several reasons, but I hope now to get back into the swing of posting and writing.

We took a car trip down in Southeast Oklahoma. Everything is flooding due to the excess rains we have had in Oklahoma during June and July. Here are some pictures I took.


Lake Texoma
Lake Texoma
Lake Texoma

Food Drive Breaks Records!

National Letter Carriers' Food Drive A Success!

My good union brother, Bob Bearden, sent me this report on the NALC Food Drive that happpened on May 12th:

All stations except one have reported in their final totals, and that one will be completed by Monday. The current total of food collected in the Metro Area now stands at 347,849 lbs, and there will be more to come. Before we are done we expect to pass 350,000 lbs.!

We pledged to collect 300,000 and by last Saturday night we had exceeded that total by some 5,000 lbs. We have now exceeded it by another 47,000 plus lbs. and counting. One location, Midwest City will have reached at least 30,000 lbs by Monday. Three other locations have exceeded 21,000 lbs and another is within 29 lbs short of 20,000. Edmond's three stations have exceeded 42,000 lbs. Yukon has nearly tripled its amount over last year. It has truly been a Labor of Love! And there are so many people who worked long and hard to make it happen! WOW! is probably an inadequate description, but WOW!

Bummed Out by High Gas Prices? Well, It Could Get Worse Real Soon!

Coming to a Station Near You!
Gasoline Picture Looking Grim for Dog Days of Summer
By Matthew R. Simmons
Matthew R. Simmons is founder and currently Chairman of Simmons & Company International, an independent investment bank specializing in the entire spectrum of the energy industry.

(Note: Commentaries do not necessarily represent ASPO-USA's positions; they are personal statements and observations by informed commentators.)

Here is a quick run down on the possible disaster we face this summer as we head into Memorial Day with the lowest beginning-of-driving-season stocks in US history. It would have been convenient had someone found out exactly what Minimum Operating Levels* really have become. I suspect we will answer this riddle this summer.

*Minimum Operating Levels of petroleum inventories are when all cushions have been used up and the system is now starting to "rob Peter to pay Paul." At this stage, the risk of shortages starting to crop up is Red Alert. Sadly, the last serious study of where this invisible line of minimum stocks is was a NPC study done in 1988.

The reality of gasoline demand is that it will rise during July and August unless we have some roads blocked off to stem demand. Rising late-summer demand has happened almost every year, even as prices rose from $1/gallon to over $3!

To supply this market, several things have to work in unison:
1. Refineries need to crank up to over 16 million b/d instead of current 15 as they struggle to get into compliance from too little maintenance for too long.
2. Imports need to average well over 1 million b/d, and probably need to hit 1.5 million b/d, matching the all-time record set last year.
3. No hurricanes can hit the Gulf producing region.
4. Stock draws are the last plug in the dike.

From the looks of things as we view Memorial Day weekend starting in just over a week, we fail on all four counts.

The burning question is how much lower stocks can drop before shortages sweep our fragile gasoline supply system. Historically, it has been critically important that we build up gasoline stocks during the spring shoulder season (April-May) so that they can be liquidated during peak demand to prevent shortages. We seem to have run out the clock to fix the problem this summer.

I did some quick inventory numbers this morning [May 10]. At the end of February (which is the latest data we have on the location within five PAD districts) we had 116 million barrels of finished product and 99 million barrels of blending stocks (that are now far trickier to blend than when we had RFG) in inventory.

In the course of the next 10 weeks to May 4, we dropped 13.5 million barrels of finished stock and 10.3 million barrels of blending components.
But almost all of the drop probably came from Bulk Terminals as stocks at refineries are essentially works in process and stocks in pipelines and barges are steady flows.
If this is the case, bulk terminal drops were 30% for blending components and 27% for finished products.
The painful last 13 weeks ran out our USA gasoline clock. We must be right at the edge of genuine "minimum operating supplies" in at least a handful of states.
I am certainly glad I drive a diesel where the stock pool or inventory is tight but not nearly as tight as MOGAS [motor gasoline].
This could get really ugly real fast.

Holy City of the Wichitas

Holy City of the Wichitas
Tomb
Memorial
Another interesting feature of the Wichita Refuge is "The Holy City of the Wichitas" Where each spring they do a Passion Play.

More Pics from our Weekend Vacation

Cat and Tooter

Pics from our Mini-Vacation

Medicine Bluff Creek
Medicine Bluff Creek
Medicine Bluff Creek
Mt. Scott
Mt. Scott
My wife and I took a "mini-vacation" down to SW Oklahoma to see the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Along the way, we stopped in the town of Medicine Park and saw that Medicine Bluff Creek is about 6 feet above normal. We had a restful time. Only 3 weeks left in the school year!

Cheney and Bush hide behind our troops

Cheney the Artful [Draft] Dodger
Cheney and Bush have attempted to equate support for the Cheney/Bush policy in Iraq with support for our troops who have been made pawns in that policy. Cheney and Bush are trying to hide behind the soldiers so that our women and men in uniform can take the bullet for the Cheney/Bush team. Cowardly and Contempible!

Sad Day at School Today

John Marshall High School, Oklahoma City, OK

As you may know, I teach at an urban high school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We have all the usual problems of an urban school that is over 70% African American, over 85% free or reduced lunch recepients. We have gangs, drugs, children from single-parent familes, and even zero-parent families. And our children have violence in their lives.

Thursday, yesterday, a female student, one of mine, was killed in a fight with another female student. As I understand it, they were arguing over some man who had fathered both of their children. The girl who was killed was a senior less that 2 weeks away from her graduation. She was in my senior English class and was a member of our school's National Honor Society. As I said, she had recently given birth to a boy who will now grow up without a mother or a father present in his life. And so the cycle of poverty continues. The girl had decided that she needed to get her life in order, so she was training to become a nurse at one of our Career Tech centers.

I am sick over this. I had had this girl in another class. I saw her develop from an immature kid to a woman of promise. Now her life is over and her family is left to pick up the pieces. At times I wonder why I stay in public education, particularly at an urban school. However, I know, deep down inside, that this is where I am supposed to be; this is part of God's plan for my life.

I would appreciate your thougths and prayers for my students as well as for me.

Jury Duty

Jury Duty
I got a notice in the mail the other day that I am to report for jury duty on May 14th. It's been over 20 years since I last had to report for this citizen obligation. The last time I did this, I never served on an actual jury despite the fact that I was in 7 different jury pools! In fact, I was always the first one dismissed from the pool of potential jurors.
That time I was in state district court. This time it's Federal court. I will see if that makes a difference.

You Gotta Like People Like This

Ballard Street

End Mr. Bush's War

Bush War Memorial: A picture is worth a thousand lives
(I was asked to compose a letter to a newspaper editor concerning my response to Bush's veto of the Democratic Congressional majorities Iraq withdrawal timetable. Here it is:)

To the Editor:

George W. Bush has tried to tie support for his failed policies in Iraq with support for our brave women and men who are the victims of those policies. I find this a despicable attempt to dodge his failures. It’s much like the religious leaders who tries to claim that all his actions, no matter how immoral, are sanctioned by divine authority because he is a “man of God.” Bush has tried to blame his failure on “bad intelligence.” There he is correct because many people far smarter and wiser told him that this decision was wrong. However, he choose to ignore wise counsel and listen to greedy men, sycophants, and others telling his “itching ears” what they wanted to hear.

Now as he desperately plunges deeper into the swamp that he has created in Iraq, he has the audacity to question the loyalty of women and men who, because they love their country and weep for it’s wounds, tell him that the American people have had enough wastage, enough broken bodies, more, more than enough flag draped coffins, and much more than enough of their president’s preening, posturing, and posing to last us a lifetime. Mr. President, you have lost all moral authority. We must heed those who seek an end Mr. Bush’s war.

Yes, and the People of Iraq Will Be Throwing Flowers in the Path of Our Troops!

We can add to these brillant statements:
This war will pay for itself through lower oil and gas prices.
Our troops will be home by Thanksgiving.
The Democratic Party will soon be irrelevant.
Tom Tomorrow

What is truly amazing is the fact that these idiots are still on TV and radio!

Pictures from the Oklahoma Democratic Party CD 5 Convention

Cat and I had a great time at the Oklahoma Democratic Party Congressional District 5 Convention where I delivered my Eulogy on Workers' Memorial Day (see below).

Kelly Haney Statue "Standing His Ground
Seminole Color Guard
Delegates at the Convention
former State Senator Kelly Haney addresses the delegates

April 28th, Workers' Memorial Day

Workers' Memorial Day

Since 1989, April 28th has been designated Workers’ Memorial Day. This date was chosen because it is the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Every year, people in hundreds of communities and at worksites recognize workers who have been killed or injured on the job.

Last year a series of coal mine tragedies focused the nation’s attention on the dangers faced by workers. Twelve men died after an explosion at the Sago mine in West Virginia. Within a few weeks time, disasters at 8 other mines claimed additional lives. By the end of 2006, 47 coal miners lost their lives—twice as many as in 2005.

Over the last several decades, we’ve made a lot of progress in protecting workers on the job. Fatality and injury rates have fallen dramatically in many industries. But now that progress is halting and may be reversing. Last year more than 5700 workers were killed by job injuries. Another 50,000-60,000 died from occupational diseases, including more than 10,000 deaths from asbestos-related diseases. For Hispanic and immigrant workers, the situation is much worse. Workplace deaths have increased sharply, as many of these workers work in the most dangerous industries and jobs, exploited by employers with little or no protection. More than 8 million public employees still have no OSHA coverage and no legal rights or job safety protections.

Since taking office in 2001, the Bush administration as turned its back on workers and workplace safety. Siding with its corporate friends, the administration has overturned or blocked dozens of important workplace protections including OSHA’s ergonomics standards and new protections on tuberculosis, indoor air quality, reactive chemicals and cancer-causing substances to name but a few. At OSHA, voluntary compliance has been promoted over enforcement, and industry representatives have been put in charge of government safety programs, most notably at MSHA, the mine safety agency.

George Will, conservative columnist, once wrote that workers are merely a corporation’s “commodity”. Well, Mr. Will, if so, workers are a commodity that breathes and feels and bleeds and, too often, dies. They are a commodity who have families that depend on them, who produce the goods and services that you depend on, and who make up the heart and soul of this great country of ours. Corporations must make profits to be sure, but there can be no blood on our ledger books, there must be no pain because of our profits. In fact, when workplaces are truly safe, both the worker and the employer benefit. Job safety is good for business.

We must fight to make workplaces safe and make sure that the clock is not turned back so that the US becomes a low-wage economy where safety is ignored and workers are disposable.

Workers Memorial Day is a day on which we call for an end to injustices and rededicate ourselves to make our workplaces safer and our communities stronger. We call for strengthened safety laws to provide workers the protections to which they have a right. And we call for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, to restore workers’ rights to join a union so that they can have a real voice and be protected on the job.

Mary Harris “Mother Jones”, the great labor leader of the turn-of-the-century coal mines, called us to “Mourn for the Dead, and Fight Like Hell for the Living!” We mourn, we remember, and we will never stop fighting.
AFL-CIO Website on Workers' Memorial Day

National Letter Carriers' Food Drive on May 12th

Family Circus Supports the Food Drive

Mark May 12th on your calendar with a big red circle and write in it "Letter Carriers' Food Drive." This will be the date of the National Association of Letter Carriers drive to combat hunger in America. Last year, Oklahoma County had one of its most successful food drives, and we OK County Democrats need to do our part to make this year even better. Set out at least couple of bags of non-perishable food items for your local letter carrier to take back with her to the post office. The food collected will go to replenish the stores of the Regional Food Bank in OKC. We will need volunteers to help collect and transport the food items, so you will be hearing more about this later. Please do you part to show The Democratic Way in this important act of sharing. For more information, including posters you can download for your workplace, go to.

National Letter Carriers Food Drive

Persian-American Reception
Hispanic-American Reception


We have had two receptions at Oklahoma Democratic Party Headquarters recently. The first was sponsored by our Persian/Iranian American community. They are concerned about the Bush administration's attempt to lead us into another war in the Middle East, this time with Iran.

The other reception was for Hispanic Oklahomans. They are concerned about a wave of anti-immigrant legislation sweeping the nation in general and Oklahoma in particular.

The Iranian reception was a little better because they served Baklava. You cannot go wrong with any meeting if it has good Baklava, and theirs was some of the best I've ever had. However, I also liked the carne verde the Hispanics served. (No, I don't go primarily for the food!)

Truth through Art

Those Darn Illegals

Jeff Danziger

Well, we are driving them out of their homes!

Give 'Em Hell Harry

Jeff Danziger

Harry Truman once said, "We Democrats simply tell the truth and the Republicans think we're giving them hell." Recently, another Harry has been giving them hell all over again.

Repubs have gotten their panties in a twist because Sen Harry Reid told them the truth that the war in Iraq has already been lost. As usual, they tried the old distraction game by saying his remarks showed, "Disrespect for the troops."

Well, Chuckles, the troops did not lose this war. You did and the little toy soldier you helped put in the White House managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Our brave men and women did all that we could ask of them and more in Iraq. They still are. However, W and you boneheads forgot the lessons of history which say, "Don't over stay your welcome." No Army can occupy a nation for very long without that nation's explicit consent. The British couldn't do it in the colonies. The French couldn't do it in Vietnam. Russia couldn't do it in Afghanistan.

You lost this war, and the sooner you face up to that fact, the sooner our national shame can end.

Tribute to Kitti and Ron

Kitti Asberry and her husband Jeff
Ron and Linda Wasson
For the past 3 or 4 years, I have had the privilege to serve as the secretary of the Oklahoma County Democratic Party with two outstanding examples of what the Democratic Party is all about. Kitti Asberry stepped in when our fortunes were at a low ebb. She made a personal sacrifice and put up some of her own savings to help bail out the party when we incurred a huge debt through a combination of bad luck and a good idea gone wrong. Not only did Kitti's effort save our party a major embarrassment and trouble, she also turned out fundraising efforts around to where the party gave over $13,000 to the 2006 election effort, a party record statewide.

Ron acted as the treasurer, finance officer during this time. His knowledge of the rules governing ethics regulations took a huge burden off all of us. His good humor and graciousness, often in the face of others who were graceless, was a goodsend as we worked together.

Thanks Kitti and Ron and good luck wherever life takes you.