On October 2, an outrage was perpetrated in Oklahoma by that state’s Attorney General, Drew Edmondson. He had three people arrested, handcuffed and summarily (no, not executed, although that might have crossed his authoritarian mind) arraigned on charges of violating Oklahoma law. The horrendous crime? The three had circulated petitions calling for a ballot initiative to put a constitutional limit on state spending. Naturally, that sat as well with the political establishment as, oh, a petition to abandon apartheid would have sat with the South African government thirty years ago and the AG dredged up a statute requiring that anyone who circulates a petition in Oklahoma must be a resident of the state.
If you want to get all the details, go here.
Steve Forbes has written a scathing piece in Forbes magazine entitled “Has North Korea Annexed Oklahoma” which is linked in the site above.
I think Mr. Forbes had better not set foot in Oklahoma. He had the temerity to call the Attorney General “hoodlumesque” and I’m sure a creative political lawyer could find some reason for locking up Forbes, too.
If this ever gets into federal court, I have no doubt Edmondson will suffer a quick KO, but better still would be for the people of the state to recall the petty tyrant.
