That's what our state governor proudly proclaimed last November.
Every single one of our Congressional Delegation is Republican, House and Senate. Every single member of our Gubernatorial staff that is elected is Republican (and I'm pretty sure those who are appointed are also Republican, but since they aren't elected, that isn't always clear). On our State Legislature, 29 of 101 Representatives are Democrat, and 12 out of 48 Senators are Democrats. As far as I can tell, many are not Blue Democrats, but Red, or Red-leaning.
Aside from politics, almost all of these people are decent people. Folks you'd like to be neighbors with. Folks who would give the shirt off their backs if you needed it. But put them in office and suddenly, they morph into some rabid hate-mongerers who wouldn't chat with someone like me, or help change a flat tire for someone broke down by the side of the road.
All the things they claimed to espouse, that got them elected, gets flipped. Were they for supporting teachers and job creation? Now, they want to reduce teacher pay and teacher earned benefits and hold wages down so no new viable jobs get created. Were they for health care? Wow, suddenly it's Obamacare and needs to end now.
People towards whom they were once friendly are suddenly terrorist suspects, or at least suspects. Possibly criminals, definitely unworthy.
They vote repeatedly against the best interests of their constituents, and if you try to engage them in a discussion on why, at best you'll get a canned response. It's like once they get in office, they only hear the call of money and not the people who elected them to represent them.
And there are so few Kossacks in Oklahoma, and they are widely scattered across the state. It really does feel as if we're each of us isolated and alone in our efforts to effect change here.
The red, it seeps into everything.
Well, I'm organizing the Water Paws Pet Comfort Station at the OU Medieval FairApril 5 - 7. Any Kossack, Okie or not, is welcome to come by, pet doggies (and possibly ferrets, cats, rats, snakes, or other critters that find their way to Water Paws), and meet up. Let's put a little blue dot in that sea of red.
The Water Paws booth will be visible from the center of the Fair, where the Fair Office is located. We'll be just a bit north and east of the Fair Office, slightly north of the Unicorn Stage.