So I was thinking, what mean things could I do, now that my cover is blown?

How about we distribute the stimulus money, jobs and programs based on how the congressional deleations voted. Ha ha! Imagine the squawks from Inhofe on the Senate floor when that was announced. And Coburn would say “No, no, no! Can I put a hold on that?” The Oklahoman would write a sarcastic editorial about how liberals hate America (okay, they don’t really need to write it, just pull it out of the file), but point out that Carrie Underwood is from Oklahoma, and we should all be so proud.

Speaking of the Gaylord’s personal media projects, I would force them to rename their school to “Gaylord College of Propaganda and Mass Deception.”

Wal-Mart would have to unionize all their employees, and give every woman customer free birth control.

The NRA would have to hold their meetings in the most crime prone area in the chapter’s region.

Jeez, having a black heart is fun. Imagine what I could do if I had actual power or an official platform of some kind, like, oh, I dunno, state representative. I could really make people I don’t like suffer and I wouldn’t even need a rational excuse.

The Oklahoma Gazette of 2/11/2009 has a column written by Jones, The real ‘gay agenda’ in which he responds to the latest nonsense by Sally Kern — her recent jaw-droppingly stupid speech to the John Birch Society citing a 20+ year old bestselling book After the Ball as the top secret “gay agenda” for obtaining equal rights.

Jones explains about the thousands of rights, large and small, that are denied to GLBT people, and that the only agenda they desire is to be regarded equally under the law.

That would be an accomplishment, and a good week’s work, for most folks, but wait … there’s more.

Invited by Rep. Al McAffrey to give the prayer in the legislature, Rev. Jones was there today and gave a Christian call to community.

… So, today, with abiding faith and calm assurance
We invoke your presence on these precedings.
You are the Creator and Parent of us all.
In your divine majesty you have made us each and every one an image of you,
Our splendid diversity reflecting your infinite glories.
You are our Redeemer and Liberator.
Companion to the poor,
You have promised to
Lift up the powerless and cast down the powerful,
To gather the outcasts,
Heal the brokenhearted,
And bind up their wounds.
You have proclaimed release to the captives,
Recovery of sight to the blind,
And to let the oppressed go free.
You Sustain and Comfort us
Filling us with your Holy Spirit
And thereby uniting us with all creation in every time and place
A fellowship of solidarity
A beloved community
Reminding us that what we have done unto the least of us, we have done unto thee. …

Much to my consternation, official prayers like this are a daily occurrence in the halls of our government, from local to national. They are, it seems to me, mostly ignored, maybe even unheard, by those present.

But that wasn’t the case today in Oklahoma, though. Because Scott Jones is a gay man and in introducing his prayer, he made that fact clear — although I am sure the remark about his family, and “loving partner, Michael Cich” did not come as a shock to the legislators, who get wind of these symbolic invitations in advance, and you know they have a gossip mill just like any other workplace.

Anyway, after giving his fairly inoffensive prayer (we’re not anywhere near Jeremiah Wright territory here, we’re not even rocking the boat on civil rights a la MLK in ’67), one Republican legislator objected to adding the prayer to the record — just a stupid bit of parliamentary business — and called for a vote on it, and then 20 voted against.

20 of our finest citizens, ladies and gentlemen. See, this is Oklahoma, and these are rightwing conservative Christians we are talking about. They are proudly ignorant, mean-spirited and childish, and they think their faith calls them to that kind of thinking and behavior.

Stand up proud now, y’all, because history will not be kind to you:

NAYS: 20
Blackwell
Faught
Moore
Ritze
Christian
Johnson
Murphey
Sanders
Coody
Kern (yeah, what’d you expect?)
Osborn
Terrill
Duncan
Key
Ownbey
Thomsen
Enns
Liebmann
Reynolds
Wright, J.

Maybe, in 48 years, these people will be ashamed of themselves as Elwin Wilson was earlier this month when he tearfully apologized to John Lewis, now a U.S. Representative, for being a bigoted shithead in 1961 when he beat Lewis up for violating a Whites Only sign.

Jones didn’t get beat up today, not physically, but the rude and disgusting behavior of 20 Oklahoma congresspersons was a public statement of hate and intolerance, and they meant for Jones to feel it with the same force as a physical attack. They may consider their vote a symbol of their Christian faith, but in fact it only represents their own smallness, and Oklahoma’s major problem

They better hope their god is one of mercy, because they will need a lot of it.

Cross posted at Pam’s House Blend

Check out gay activist/journalist/radio host Mike Signorile with our very own lovely right-wing nutjob Sally Kern!

He interviewed her, but hasn’t got it up yet. I can’t WAIT to hear her demented thoughts about Sarah Palin! Will update here when it’s available.

He’s also got some other great shit from the convention:

• McCain’s 94-year old mother complaining that “they won’t let me talk.”
• Mike sticking a mic up to Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum’s ugly mouth. Yuck, I don’t know if I can stomach listening to it after that visual!

Update: Well, doesn’t look like the full interview will be posted. It was played on his show on Sirius radio, and he did share a 2-1/2 minute clip. At the very end, Sally referred to her previous encounter with him, not realizing she was talking to the same guy.