Jeane and I are both proud graduates of Welch Public Schools. It was a great school system to grow up in, and it gave me many of the opportunities that got me where I am today. We are members of the Welch Public Schools enrichment foundation. We support our alma mater with our time and money.

Unfortunately, recent events centering on Welch School Board President Dennis McCord have embarrassed the school system and placed administrators, teachers, and coaches at risk of physical and verbal violence from Mr. McCord.

After seeing the details of the latest embarrassing incident spelled out on the opinion pages of local newspapers, I am happy to hear that a group of local Welch (Craig County) citizens have organized in efforts of seating a grand jury to look into McCord’s behavior. They have retained an excellent attorney from Vinita named Jot Hartley.

I encourage my many friends and readers to visit www.savewelchschools.org and read up on the details. There is a grassroots commitment to see this effort through. If you can spare any amount, please consider contributing financially. The website has details on the “How You Can Help” page. I have contributed, and I encourage you to do the same. whatever amount you can spare.

I’m a bit of a connoisseur of chicken fried steak (CFS) and strawberry shortcake. To look at me, you’d probably think I’m a connoisseur of lots of things, but that’s beside the point.

I am also a fan of the small-town cafe or diner. When I am traveling around, if the town’s main street has a restaurant, you can usually bet that’s where I’ll be eating. I was doing the diners, drive-ins, and dives tour long before Guy Fieri ever thought of it. And for the most part, small-town Oklahoma does an excellent job of slinging the hash.

The one thing the perplexes me, though, are the things diners and cafes take shortcuts on. One of my favorite places does an excellent homemade biscuit, then they cover it in gravy from a bagged mix. I mean, seriously folks, gravy is so dadgum simple to make, I cannot understand anyone choosing to slather a beautiful biscuit or crisp, golden chicken fried steak in some reconstituted wallpaper paste. On the other hand, the bagged mix gravy is a far cry better than the other extreme, and that’s so-called gravy that results from a cook who doesn’t properly cook the flour when making the roux for his gravy. You gotta really cook that flour in the fat (preferably bacon or sausage grease) until it smells nutty, goes runny, and begins to color (yes, even for white, cream gravy). If you’ve ever had that thin, sweet gravy, you have experienced gravy that is a result of an undercooked roux, and it’s a shame.

And speaking of chicken fried steak, it is another menu item that is sometimes relegated to the shortcut category. When eating at a small town cafe, I will usually ask my waitress (and let’s be honest, 99% of the time the server is female, either a high school girl or a middle-aged gal who’s been working there for decades, often still in the uniform dress) what’s good there. Most of the time that works like a charm. It’s a tad disappointing, though, when I ask what’s good, and they say, “Oh, the chicken fried steak!” and I order it, only to discover it is a pre-purchased, pre-fab CFS. One look is enough to tell you that this steak was not gently battered and fried in the kitchen. No, someone ambled to the freezer, knocked a frozen chunk of meat loose with an icepick, and tossed it in the deep fryer. I’m not blaming the waitress, though, as I would have probably made the same decision without her recommendation; I have a predisposition toward CFS anyway. I just can’t fathom what kind of home life she must have had to think that the beige disc of meat product on my plate (likely covered in bagged mix gravy) qualifies as “good.”

The types of good CFS are plenteous, and I like many of the varieties. Whether it’s the dredged and deep fried to a hot-as-fire, crisp specimen bigger than the plate like Shortcakes diner in Stillwater or lightly breaded and pan fried to a light, even somewhat soggy, finish like Thomas in Pryor and Dot’s here in Claremore, or somewhere in between like Clanton’s in Vinita, I love them all. Unless they didn’t actually make it back in the kitchen. Then my sensibilities are offended.

I still remember eating at Shortcakes in Stillwater during my college days. With limited seating, a 24/7 schedule, and a grill out in the open just across the counter, Shortcakes typifies what a diner really is. And I can still remember the care with which the short order cooks would grab that fresh piece of beef and massage the flour mixture into it before deep frying it to golden perfection. It made a real impact on my life.

And, while we’re talking about shortcake (the food not the diner), let’s be clear. Strawberry shortcake is not made with angel food cake. Angel food cake is good. And angel food cake with strawberries is excellent. But angel food cake with strawberries is not strawberry shortcake, mainly because angel food cake doesn’t absorb all the precious strawberry juice. My preference is strawberries over pie crust, though that’s not technically a shortcake either. My mother prefers her shortcake to consist of strawberries over a Twinkie, which still isn’t real shortcake, but it’s certainly an option, though not my preference. Genuine shortcake is strawberries and a slightly sweet biscuit (akin to a scone). And the strawberries need to be prepared and sugared much ahead of time to allow them time to macerate properly. I prefer more juice than berries, over the biscuit or pie crust, and maybe a touch of whipped cream. Heaven on earth, especially if the berries were lovingly cultivated in my father-in-law’s garden.

Overall, Oklahoma’s diners are doing a great job of keeping me fat and happy. If they’d just commit to real mashed potatoes, genuine gravy, homemade chicken fried steaks, and pie-crust shortcake, I’d be on cloud nine, and they’d really have an answer when the fat guy from Claremore walks in and ask, “What’s good here?”

I was recently whining to a friend that for the first time I can ever recall (going back to when i was 14 or 15) I am completely bored and unmotivated during an election season. I have been the guy who lambastes people for not taking part in the political process. And then 2008 came along.

The least conservative Republican won our primary. The bloodletting continues in the Democrat party. And here I sit, disgusted with them all and with very little to say about the whole mess. However, I would like to echo everything Patrick J. Casey over at the American Thinker blog said in his recent post, “If The GOP Wants To Govern Like Democrats, Why Have a Separate Party?”

Casey points out:

What we’re watching is the culmination of the decade-plus deterioration of the conservative Republican brand. Put simply, no one, including base conservatives, trusts the Republicans to govern effectively while following anything even faintly resembling a conservative platform.

Ain’t that the truth. Some of us (and many more than me) have worked and contributed and campaigned to give power to conservatives. And when they had the power, did they enact the changes we need? No. They used that power to retain power. Casey goes on to say:

…the only time that the Republicans really took the country by storm was in 1994, when they all ran on a set of firm, well established conservative values and issues. When the GOP strayed from that, falling back on the Democratic Party tradition of retaining power through excessive pork barrel spending and questionable ethical practices, they first lost seats – then lost their majorities. To regain what they have thrown away they must return to those conservative principles. If successful, they then must reject the compromising allure of power and promise to govern in the future as conservatives, not as the Democratic Party Lite.

And there he hits the nail on the head. Thats’ the cause of my boredom and malaise this election year. I’m not going to work and contribute and campaign for Democrat Lite. I might reluctantly have to vote for someone I am largely dissatisfied with in order to save the country from someone I am wholly dissatisfied with, but that does not make me well up with pride or motivate me to storm the country for my reluctant choice.

Casey goes on to cite the malfeasance of Republicans:

By their actions, or inactions, the Republican leadership has permitted the Democrats and the media to define down the GOP, recreating the word “conservative” as a pejorative. Think family values and the image is of Mark Foley and Vito Fossella. Think wasteful pork barrel and earmark spending – and the image is of Ted Stevens. Think corruption and the public thinks Randy Cunningham. Think “against tax cuts” and the image is of … John McCain.

All of these issues define the Republicans as a party that promises to both reform government and to address the major problems that the country faces today, but delivers no more and acts no better than Democrats. As such, are we supposed to be surprised that the voters would rather have the real Democrats, rather than the fake?

Basically, he concludes, McCain might win, but conservatives all lose (which, come to think of it, is petty much how McCain has always treated the grassroots conservatives):

McCain will be all over the map this fall – conservative on some important issues like the war and judges, but liberal on other issues such as the global warming, immigration, and perhaps even taxes. The past few years has shown that such vacillation – such an inability to enunciate a clear set of conservative governing principles across the policy spectrum – might work for an individual GOP candidate here and there, but represents disaster for the overall political party.

His post is a worth a read.

Eddy Arnold passed away today.

When I was in high school and spinning vinyl (yes, vinyl) at KITO in Vinita, Eddy was certainly on the playlist. At the time, he also released a new album on CD, titled “Last of the Love Song Singers,” that included old hits and new recordings. It was a good album, and I remember giving some of the singles some airplay.

Country music is a broad spectrum of sounds and styles, and Eddy Arnold was a pioneer of what has become known as the Nashville sound. According to Wikipedia:

With the advent of rock and roll, Arnold’s record sales dipped in the late 1950s. Along with RCA Victor label-mate Jim Reeves, he continued to try to court a wider audience by using pop-sounding, string-laced arrangements, a style that would come to be known as the Nashville sound.

As a fan of much music, I have appreciated both Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves. Some of the Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline duets were great. I can’t sing at all, but I sure have tried to replicate, “Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone…”.

But, back to Eddy. NewsOK reports that Eddy has several Oklahoma ties:

Oklahoma ties
Arnold made many trips to Oklahoma City during his lengthy career, as a performer, business mogul and crusader against music piracy.

The crooner made his first concert stop in Oklahoma City on March 2, 1949, performing two shows at Municipal Auditorium.

He also performed in Oklahoma City in 1950 and 1967.

Arnold returned for a pair of shows in 1969 at Civic Center Music Hall. Arnold received the title “Cowboy Extraordinaire,” a distinction given to famed film and stage stars, from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. The late John Kirkpatrick presented the singer with a Western hat and a certificate naming him an honorary life member.

Along with Conway Twitty, Charley Pride and Henson Cargill, Arnold spoke passionately to the state House Judiciary Committee in 1974 in support of a bill to prohibit reproductions of stereo tapes without written permission from the owner of the master records.

The Legislature passed the tape pirating ban in 1975.

In 1977, the singer/businessman returned to the city on behalf of his food company to introduce his line of Eddy Arnold Country Style Beans.

Eddy must have made pretty penny off the songs and the beans, because one of the lines in the Statler Brothers’ song, “How to Be a Country Star,” gives this advice:

Be rich like Eddy Arnold.

In his career he worked closely with two of my other favorites, Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer.

Eddy made it to 89, and he is just another part of a great heritage of music that we are losing day by day. I’ll be listening to some Eddy Arnold recordings tonight in his memory, and I’m sure they’ll include this:

Make the World Go Away (lyrics and music by Hank Cochran)

Make the world go away
Get it off my shoulder
Say the things we used to say
And make the world, make it go away

Do you remember when you loved me
Before the world took you away
Well if you do, then forgive me
And make the world, make it go away

Make the world go away
Get it off my shoulder
Say the things we used to say
And make the world, make it go away

Now I’m sorry if I hurt you
Let me make it up to you day by day
And if you will please forgive me
And make the world, make it go away

Make the world go away
Get it off my shoulder
Say the things we used to say
And make the world, make it go away

Rest in peace, Eddy. The shoulders are bound to be a bit lighter now.

[Update 5/9/08]

Tom Fink of the Progress has fuller details today.

[Update 5/8/08]

While I was crafting this post, The Progress posted their report on it, too. This once, they have more information than me. You can read their report here.

[Original Post Below]

I was not able to be in the courtroom for Tywone Parks’ preliminary hearing today, but the OSCN site reports the following:

• The state was represented by Abitbal.
• Parks was represented by Charles Graham.
• Witnesses were called and sworn. Testimony was taken.
• Defendant renewed his motion to suppress and defendant’s demur was overruled. The court noted an exception for defendant.
• The court found probable cause that a crime was committed in Rogers County.
• Defendant was bound over for district court arraignment June 2, 2008, at 1:30 PM before Judge Steidley.

That’s the extent of new information I have in the Parks matter. I will do my best to be at the arraignment so that I can provide a more detailed report.

Over the last few years, I have become a friend of John Wylie, publisher and editor of the Oologah Lake Leader (not to be confused with Joe Wiley, president of RSU and FHU and often-recipient of the WynnBlog’s insightful, poignant, and dead-on criticisms). Wylie, of the Leader, produces the finest local paper I have ever seen. It’s the only newspaper to which I subscribe, and I can’t even bring myself to use it to start the charcoal in the summer (for that purpose I buy a Sunday Whirled a couple times a summer). My friendship with Wylie is an odd-couple relationship of sorts, as John is a loyal Democrat and I am a conservative/libertarian. We, though, have some joint interests and values that are much greater than our differences. These have to do especially with open records; freedom of speech, press, and religion; transparency in government; accountability of office-holders; basic fairness, etc.

Oologah is the birthplace of Will Rogers, and we all know he said all he knew is what he read in the papers. Sadly, if our knowledge was limited to what is printed in today’s papers, we’d all be miserably ignorant and uninformed (about everything but celebrity underwear and reality show winners, that is). Wylie’s Leader is the exception. A weekly, the Leader publishes real news of import to the readers it serves. Small but mighty, the Leader is proof that quality journalism peppered with sharp editorializing are needed, desired, and welcomed by 21st Century readers.

Wylie’s expertise in hardball investigative journalism (he is late of the Kansas City Star where his beat included KC’s organized crime world) is not lost on folks outside the boundaries of Rogers County, either. You may recall I reported that Wylie’s exposé, “The $40 Billion Scam,” detailing the rip off that asbestos litigation in America has become was published by Reader’s Digest (January 2007). That story got him the attention of the folks at New York’s Manhattan Institute, who then contacted him to do a follow up for them.

And, I am happy to report that the report has been released today. Wylie Communications, Inc. of Oologah (the principals of which are John and Faith Wylie, both of the Leader) provided the principal research, writing, and graphics for the in-depth, year-long project. In a national conference call announcing the report, Wylie said,

“The more I have dug into the asbestos litigation industry, the more shocked I am by the unconscionable greed and chicanery.”

The 32-page report unveils the asbestos litigation industry, which imposes

“staggering costs, causing $70 billion in direct losses, bankrupting 80 companies…(and threatening) the very integrity of the legal system itself.”

No one is saying that there are not some genuine asbestos-related heath problems out there. It’s obvious there is. The problem is that lawyers have grown wealthy while their clients with legitimate asbestos-related illnesses have received little compensation, and in some cases they have gotten nothing.

While I have previously shared my belief that 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name (having known a lawyer or two in my day), attorneys can be agents of truth and justice. Other can be real jerks, seeing nothing but dollar signs and constantly valuating a person’s injuries, the expected judgment amount, and their percentage of it, plus expenses. Those who fit the money-grubbing, sleazy stereotype make it hard on the good ones (and I am told there are one or two out there, though they seem to be like the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot, more often heard about than actually experienced). And, I’m not opposed to attorneys and other professions receiving payment for their services; however, it is plain from Wylie’s detailed research that many if not most of the lawyers in the asbestos litigation industry (Did you catch that? It’s an industry!) have gotten rich on the backs and – sometimes dead bodies – of their clients.

Reading at times like a Grisham novel (remember The King of Torts?), this report from the Manhattan Institute shows us just what the current state of the American judicial system can spiral into when it refuses to police itself. And, it is an Oklahoman, the editor of a weekly newspaper from a small community in Rogers County, John Wylie who pulls back the curtain on the mass tort system in America in a big way. You should take a long, hard look.

For Further Reading:

• The Manhattan Institute Report, “Asbestos” in HTML
• The Manhattan Institute Report, “Asbestos” in PDF
• LegalNewsline post regarding “Asbestos”
• The previous Reader’s Digest story, “The $40 Billion Scam” in HTML
• The previous Reader’s Digest Story, “The $40 Billion Scam” in PDF
• The Manhattan Institute website
• The Wylie Communications website (with links to the MI and RD works)
• The Oologah Lake Leader