When I first heard rumors that a new arena was in the works, I started telling folks this was the fight OKC needed to have. Each iteration of MAPS has been a tug of war between public projects dedicated to the common good and private interest requests designed to boost revenues for the business elite and OKC Chamber. Finally though, a single private interest project would be pitched to challenge the whole narrative of MAPS. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the powers that be would go for a deal this bad. I had assumed they’d pull private funds, bond money, a TIF (a scheme to get propert ..read more

I’m disheartened and disappointed to see that OPN and myself are facing some varied accusations after last weekend’s election at the 5th Congressional District Democratic Convention. It seems that some in the Democratic party are unhappy about the election results and have chosen to attack me and the work of OPN. As a longstanding member of the Democratic party as well as a candidate for office myself, I’ve always supported a party that is inclusive, welcoming, and conducive to our goals of advancing progressive policy in the state of Oklahoma. You can read more about our goals, which we publi ..read more

CW: Screen shots of anti-trans statements and disinformation Meet Chelsea Fowler, farrier, dog mom of Chester the golden retriever, anti-trans bigot and conspiracy theorist. Chester the dog with anti-trans bigot Chelsea                     Chelsea photographs and videos attendees of the 'Bigotry is Bad for Business' Protest on March 27, 2023 ..read more

The Nazis arrested and labeled LGBTQ+ people during their reign. The full-scale attack on trans healthcare rights is the continuation of a long history of controlling marginalized groups by a cruel and powerful conservative minority. The recent fight has taken on a far darker tone as it makes clear that its goal is to erase trans people and criminalize those who help and support them. While this may not seem to be an issue to the majority, when unopposed, the steady creep of fascism will only grow hungrier. We can also see the more immediate direct effects. Businesses are choosing to avoid O ..read more

Last week, the Oklahoma House Republicans dropped their education package. In entails very modest teacher raises, one of the weirdest voucher schemes we've seen and little tweaks to a bunch of other public school initiatives that don't amount to much in the scheme of things. Here we're going to focus on vouchers. They have the potential to be the biggest line item in the package, but we need to deliver some facts. Vouchers are a total policy failure that won't create much meaningful change except to give some rich families and a few middle class ones the illusion of school choice and some mon ..read more

Traditional media, TV, newspaper, radio, non-profit and online still control much of the narrative landscape in business and politics. Slowly creeping in are advocacy and political groups, especially on the far right, that are able to dominate social media, have huge amounts of funding from right-wing oligarchs and are utterly shameless in their application of PR and marketing for diabolical ends. The journalism job has always had its challenges but has gotten exponentially harder and more tenuous as advertisers have given all their money to Google and Facebook. This has led to it being one o ..read more

No Contract, No Coffee This is what solidarity looks like If you drove by Starbucks on Robinson and 23rd last Sunday you might have noticed a caffeinated picket line shouting slogans of “no coffee, no contract” and “this is what solidarity looks like." Joined by members of Oklahoma labor unions, Starbucks workers organized a strike on the chilly December Sunday to protest the following unfair labor conditions. Starbucks is continuing to close down union stores  Starbucks is cutting hours to union staff and creating staffing shortages. Starbucks is denying unionized stores credit card ti ..read more

After the terrible midterm results in Oklahoma in 2022, we need a plan and actionable steps to take to move forward. We've long since passed the definition of insanity with regard to electoral politics in Oklahoma. For years, Dems in Oklahoma have tried to be Republican lite or pretend like the other side has a point or platform we need to adopt some aspect of to win them back. That is false. It hasn't worked, it will never work, people will always support their team and in the state that is near 50th for voter turnout, we should engage our vast untapped reserve of nonvoters, not keep fightin ..read more

The Blame Game is annoying. We'll be the first to admit that everyone bears some responsibility in electoral defeats but there is some introspection that badly needs to happen here. Nobody can improve at anything unless they are willing to take stock of the reality of the situation. Check out part 1, What the Heck Happened? here ..read more

The midterm results are in and while the red wave failed to form nationwide, its deep red ocean origins are alive and well in Oklahoma. The wave formed in some of the most frustrating ways. Oklahoma did what Oklahoma so often does, disappointed people who believe in having a functional government and system that cares for its population. Despite many local polls showing a tight race, Joy Hofmeister lost big against a fairly unpopular Kevin Stitt. All the other state-wide races fared even worse. Down ballot was equally depressing with JJ Dossett, one of the few Dems left in the Senate losing an ..read more