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Since the beginning of our news service, we’ve shown the hypocrisy of the Oklahoma news media. We’ve broken more investigative stories than anybody over the past few years, important stories the news media won’t dare touch. Our readers appreciate that. We’re not a press release service/news aggregator disguised as a blog and we don’t attempt to be non-partisan. We’re proudly pro-Republican and conservative. But there is one thing in particular we really, really dislike: unethical politicians. And given the choice between exposing a dirty Democrat and a dirty Republican, we’ll go after the bad Republican because we believe a cancer in our house is worse than a cancer in theirs.
Which leads us to today’s post: according to OKPNS sources, the politician behind the Jim Priest smear could be none other than embattled Senate Leader Glenn Coffee. If he’s not, it’s a heck of a coincidence!
Here’s what we predicted, and here’s the smear, and now we explore the Coffee angle.
According to our sources, Coffee was overheard on December 16th in an Oklahoma City restaurant talking to a political operative analyzing the various candidates running for attorney general. Insiders say Coffee, who lusted after the open AG seat despite a dismal record as a private attorney, is bitter because last year’s tax cheating and assorted other foul-ups cost him any chance at winning the post. During the conversation, our sources say Coffee spoke on a variety of topics, including the attorney general race. In the most telling aspect of his careless conversation, Coffee said Priest’s biggest hurdle was that “Priest is representing his church in a case where a youth pastor diddled some kids.”
Coffee’s cavalier attitude toward sexual assault aside, his filthy and obscene characterization of Priest is a lie. According to court records, Priest has never entered an appearance as a lawyer for the case. But it helps add drama and filth to the smear, right?
About two weeks later, the character assassination was underway, now with an ally in the press; coincidentally an ally in desperate need of newspaper sales. On New Year’s Eve, new motions were filed in the case that mentioned Priest several times. In the original filings, Priest was barely mentioned. In what we are sure is simply a coincidence, courthouse insiders tell OKPNS only about a week later the case was being “amped up” by the plaintiff’s counsel, which is approximately the same time the daily newspaper reporter began to ask questions. When the inaccurate and poorly-written report was finally published, the reporter used a distorted headline to indicate that Priest had “obstructed justice.” The basis for that assertion was a police officer’s deposition. Sounds like at least one reporter needs a little orientation on precisely who usually makes determinations as to what constitutes “obstruction of justice.” Note to newspaper hack: it isn’t cops, but it is a nice technique for advancing a smear.
The story was clearly a filthy hit job: if Priest did something illegal, opposing counsel should have complained to the authorities. They did not. If paper boy thought Priest had done something illegal, the reporter would have sought expert opinion on this matter. He did not. But the paper boy got his distorted headline and the smear was complete.
We don’t know if Sen. Coffee orchestrated this smear job, but if there’s a list of suspects he’s right at the top. The fact that Jim Priest is a Democrat is of no consequence: according to several sources, the threatening, badgering, menacing Glenn Coffee is situation normal at the state capitol these days. We do know Coffee’s recent behavior leaves many capitol insiders shaking their heads in amazement, and in this particular situation we know he was overheard in public talking about the case, while adding salacious and false aspects to his description. If it walks like a duck and threatens to burn down your house like a duck, it’s probably a big fat duck arsonist!
It may be that it is entirely a coincidence that a well-orchestrated effort to defame a good and decent man was underway only days after this careless public conversation. Or it could be that Jim Priest is one of the “houses” Sen. Coffee has promised to “burn down” if he doesn’t get his way.
Regardless, if Sen. Coffee is behind this smear, he should be held accountable by right-thinking Republicans and the press as well. But both groups stand mute. Further, a bitterly contested effort is underway in the senate to determine who will succeed Coffee. Our sources say ethical lines are being crossed, but other Republicans stand by doing nothing. When good Republicans stand idly by while corrupt Republicans run amuck, it is indeed a sad day.
The great Irish politician Edmund Burke said, “All that’s necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” So far in Oklahoma, Republicans have got the “doing nothing” part down cold.
One other item worth mentioning: our source indicated that the man identified as Sen. Coffee mentioned another candidate in the AG’s race in less than flattering terms. He is reported to have said he couldn’t “support” this candidate, so if you’re reading this, Ryan Leonard, it would pay to watch your back if you know what we mean.
Related:
Examiner.com: 8 questions press corp should ask Glenn Coffee
(H/T) okcfriday.com
Wedding reception hosts Tina and Bruce Day, right, propose a toast to Congresswoman Mary Fallin and Wade Christensen’s recent marriage. Wade is a lawyer in Day’s firm. Photo by Vicki Clark
“…There might have been some loose ones, but they’re all solid now.”
Well said Senator!
We received this via the tipline earlier this week. okpns_editor@hotmail.com
You will see that on his very first report he shows a $2000 loan from a Mr. Brett Farley – I think he is a financial consultant of some kind – - loans from private individuals are illegal under Oklahoma ethics laws – banks are okay but not an individual loan.
He does report the loan on the front page of his report but it strangely disappears on his next report with no record of paying the loan back!
Related:
Okie Pundit: Tad Jones Campaign Immediately Takes Low Road
Okie Campaigns: REESE RESPONDS TO SCURRILOUS, BASELESS ATTACK
From Wilson Research Strategies Political Insider’s Journal Blog:.
Last night’s special election in Massachusetts was a huge win for Scott Brown and Republicans and we have a lot to learn from the election about the way that the winning coalition is shifting and how we can tap into populist sentiment nationwide.
While fully understanding what happened and how we can use the lessons from Massachusetts around the country will take time, here are five lessons from Massachusetts in the form of more-or-less famous quotes.
1) “Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is enemy action.”
Since the 2008 election, Republican candidates are three-for-three in major statewide elections and all three came in states that Obama won.
The political winds are clearly blowing our way, but we can improve our chances of winning big in 2010 by understanding what our victories in Virginia, New Jersey and now Massachusetts have in common.
2) “Things fall apart, the center cannot hold.”
Much has been made of Obama’s “top and bottom” 2008 coalition.
Obama won big with voters with annual household incomes under $50,000 and also took 52% of the vote among those with household incomes over $200,000.
But, middle class voters were critical for Obama, as well.
He won 51% to 48% among voters with household incomes of $75,000 to $100,000.
Frustration with a Democratic agenda that seems to favor the very rich and the poor has driven a wedge through the middle of the Obama coalition.
Handouts to Wall Street and car company executives have fueled middle class anger at Democrats.
The decision to sacrifice cost control for a focus on access and universal coverage in the health care plan has furthered middle class disenchantment.
Republican candidates with a populist message have shown the way to winning back the middle-class vote.
Bob McDonnell won across the board in Virginia, but his biggest margins came from voters with household incomes of $50,000 to $100,000
In Massachusetts, election night polling showed Scott Brown winning every income group from $40,000 to $100,000 and winning blue collar strongholds like Lowell and Quincy.
3) The conventional wisdom that ‘negative campaigning works’ is “true in some sense, false in some sense, and meaningless in some sense.”
In the final days of the campaign, Martha Coakley went negative and tried to paint Scott Brown as everything from an arch-conservative to a Wall Street elitist.
None of these attacks worked.
We hear a lot in the campaign world about “driving up opponent negatives” and “inverting their image” but that kind of thinking is too simple and leads to failure.
“White hats versus black hats” is still one of the strongest narratives available to a campaign, but it takes more than just telling voters why the other side is bad. We have to tell them why our candidates are the “white hats.”
Scott Brown did this effectively by tapping into the populist middle-class sentiment and then branding Coakley and the Democrats as elitist, out of touch, and pursuing dangerous policies.
4) “Campaigns matter.”
Scott Brown and his campaign understood the mood of the electorate, developed a winning narrative, and got their message to voters. That’s how you win campaigns.
Much has been made of Brown’s “everyman” image.
- What he understood and what we need to understand is that the Republican constituency today is populist, middle class, and “everyman.”
If a well-run campaign with the right narrative, energy, and execution can win in deep-blue Massachusetts then we can win anywhere.
5) “Don’t pull your arm of socket trying to pat yourself on the back.”
Last night was a huge win for Scott Brown and should motivate every Republican around the country to redouble our efforts to win big in November.
But, last night also makes us one-for-five in special elections during this election cycle.
Republicans should be confident and emboldened, but we should also learn one from the Coakley campaign and not take anything for granted.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Saying he offers a “different set of eyes” at the Oklahoma State Capitol, veteran journalist Patrick McGuigan spoke with Oklahoma Watchdog this past week while this online newspaper and McGuigan both happened to be working on stories in the Nation’s Capital.
Recently, McGuigan debuted a new website, www.CapitolBeatOK.com, devoted to covering legislative affairs and more at the State Capitol. Not one to rest on his laurels after three decades of reporting experience, he intends to help fill a gap in an era when cutbacks and layoffs are common in newsrooms.
What will Capitol Beat OK contribute to the political reporting atmosphere in the Sooner State? Quite a bit, according to McGuigan.
“I wanted to cover state government again because I’ve been watching the decline in the number of people who are covering these important issues,” McGuigan said, just minutes after filing a story from a desk here in Washington.
“There was a growing gap,” he added, noting downsizing across the board in journalism. Read more…
Over the past few months I have enjoyed working to put in place the legislative framework for this year’s House Modernization agenda. This has included sourcing the number of ideas generated over past months, determining the political feasibility of winning legislative approval, constructing a legislative framework to serve as implementation vehicles, and working with other Representatives to incorporate their ideas.
This process has produced one of the Modernization initiatives which I will be sponsoring this year: House Bill 2310. HB2310 contains an aggressive effort to target some of the most obvious waste in state government. Read more…
“The Blogosphere: Blogs come and go, some fall into near-idleness (and thus lose their readers) and others shine.”– TMRO (1/17/10)
Is this how The McCarville Report Online gains readers Mr. McCarville?
We told you last week about the smear job that was percolating between a powerful legislator and a lazy, willing reporter at the state’s main newspaper. well the smear job has come to light. We know the newspaper and reporter and now we know the candidate being maligned. The one piece missing in the puzzle is the identity of the powerful legislator?
Developing….
