Hat tip: TheFoundryBlog 

Is J. C. getting closer to making a decision or is he simply tired of getting media inquiries at his office? We received this press release late this afternoon:

MEDIA ALERT

To: Political Reporters, Editors & Producers

Re: J.C. Watts, Jr. Contact Information

Former Congressman J.C. Watts, Jr., requests all media seeking comments concerning the possible 2010 gubernatorial campaign or any inquiries into the 2010 governor’s race be directed to Chad Alexander.

Alexander can be reached by phone at 405-822-1092 or email at chad.alexander4@gmail.com

Alexander is a former Watts’ campaign manager and a longtime friend and associate. He also is former Republican party state chairman.

Is that a rug Mick is wearing?

Hat tip: kocotv

“During a live shot in 1992, Mick Cornett is calling the game and ends up on the field high fiving Keith Miller on the 3rd base line. The 89ers ended up winning the pennant later that week.”

Red Dirt Report:

OKLAHOMA CITY — It appears that things have settled down somewhat in Adair County following three installments of Red Dirt Report’s Adair County Blues series as well as a report on comments from State Rep. John Auffet, D-Stilwell.

Adair County Board of Commissioner’s Chairman Russell Turner told Red Dirt Report that the county-owned computer, that was infected with all sorts of pornography and other illegal materials, reported on in Adair County Blues Pt. 1, has been returned to the the Commissioner’s office at the Adair County Courthouse. It was then put under lock and key by Adair County Sheriff Austin Young.

“It was pretty clear (Young) didn’t want anything to do with it,” Turner told Red Dirt Report.

Turner specifically said that the computer at the center of this case was returned to the Board of Commissioner’s office this week by Assistant District Attorney Larry Langley. He told Turner that there is still an “active investigation” into the computer, which was riddled with pornography and other illegal material. Langley added that “the findings will never be disseminated to the public.” Read more…

Aubrey McClendon’s compensation package, one of the largest for any corporate executive last year, included a one-time $75 million bonus, a $975,000 base salary, and $32.7 million in stock.

We’ve taken some flack over the years for our criticism of Chesapeake CEO and founder Aubrey McClendon on the way he and his company does business. After reading this article yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, we now feel justified. We agree with the Chesapeake investor who says in the piece that MClendon’s compensation package, in light of the company’s recent struggles, is “shameful.”

* Siteowner is a shareholder of Chesapeake Energy Corp.

By Ben Casselman

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and its directors are under fire from shareholders for paying Chairman and Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon $112 million last year even as the company’s stock price tumbled.

The compensation package, one of the largest for any corporate executive last year, included a one-time $75 million bonus, a $975,000 base salary, and $32.7 million in stock, according to the company’s proxy statement.

Chesapeake, one of the biggest U.S. producers of natural gas, also disclosed several transactions involving Mr. McClendon or companies in which he has an interest, including a deal to buy Mr. McClendon’s collection of maps and artwork for $12.1 million.

“I have never seen a more shameful document than the Chesapeake proxy statement,” investor Jeffrey Bronchick wrote in a letter to Chesapeake’s board. “If I could reduce it to one page, I would frame and hang it on my office wall as a near perfect illustration of the complete collapse of appropriate corporate governance.”

Related:

OKPNS (2/6/09) WSJ: Is Aubrey McClendon Selling Off His Prized Wine?

By Rep. Joe Dorman

I had the opportunity to visit with the folks over in Apache on Friday at the Rattlesnake Festival. I had the opportunity to film a portion of the activities for Wild Oklahoma, a local wildlife show that is broadcast on Sunday mornings. If you get the chance, check it out on their website for the day it will air. Ron Orf put me in the snake pit once again this year and I was able to help him with one of the shows he put on for the public. I cannot begin to tell you how much fun this experience in and I appreciate the Rattlesnake Association for allowing me to participate each year. Read more…

DURANT, Okla. – Hello again, everyone! We have reached the point in the 2009 session where every bill still alive has passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives, albeit in different forms.

Before any bill can go to the governor, it must pass both the Senate and House in identical form. The remaining four weeks of session will be devoted to hammering out those final versions.

The most important job of the Legislature each year – writing the state budget – is largely undone. This, to me, is very strange as we face a significant budget shortfall.

Cuts will be unavoidable; the challenge is to ensure the cuts do not unduly impact state services on which Oklahomans depend. I certainly hope during the final four weeks of session, more attention must be given to what should have been “job number one.” Read more…

Official English Approved – The Final Month of Session

By Rep. Jason Murphey

Last week marked yet another deadline by which the House of Representatives and Senate had to take action on legislation or risk having the legislation not be heard this year.

Much debate centered around whether or not the Senate would approve a bill that would allow the people to vote on making English Oklahoma’s official language. Due to the insistence of the leadership of the House of Representatives, House author Representative Randy Terrill and Senate author Senator Anthony Sykes, House Resolution 1042 was approved shortly before the Senate’s deadline.

It appears there was a significant amount of negotiating between the advocates of a “common English” proposal and those who wanted an “official English” distinction. In the end, the compromise proposal states that all official actions of the state shall be conducted in English, except as required by federal law. The proposal would not limit the use, study or encouragement of American Indian languages and also says that an agency cannot be sued if it cannot provide materials in a language other than English.

The Senate approved the proposal by a vote of 44-2 and it now returns to the House where the House will have the option of accepting the Senate amendments sending the proposal to a vote of the people. I would have preferred a stronger version of the bill. Read more…

From Examiner.com:

By Dr. Goose:

If you are a political junkie, you have to love the Flaming Lips controversy, but you got to love the moonbat reactions even more.

You know the short story: rockers The Flaming Lips go to the Capitol. One member shows up wearing a commie t-shirt and House members protest by voting down a resolution proclaiming one of their songs the official rock and roll tune. Governor Henry, whose only sighting until recently had been on milk cartons, trumps the House and signs an executive order fixing the slight. All Hades breaks loose.

Now like most Oklahomans with lives, I hadn’t paid much attention to this tempest. Then I heard about the video daily newspaper editor/anchor(??) Ed Kelley made which ripped the House for its actions. I watched it and I agree: Ed Kelley is out of his gourd.

Let’s get one thing straight: it’s clear the sour-looking Kelley is not exactly a happy camper. It’s said he doesn’t have much stroke at the paper anymore (as if anybody cares) and he’s stuck making awful videos nobody watches. He wears bad looking suits (I’m sure they’re haute couture, but they’re just too progressive for us hicks to understand), has a haircut only Rod Blagojevich could appreciate with the looks and delivery of a mortician doing screen tests for pre-planned funeral commercials. Read more…

Related:

Twitter:

OkDemocrats “The crowd at the signing of the Executive Order to honor The Flaming Lips, true ambassadors of Oklahoma.”  

mtdewlvr74 “who is the flaming lips never heard of them must not be county “

DBGardenhire “News9’s live feed of Lips’ signing is loading awfully slow.”

To all the aspiring bloggers out there, this is what can happen to you when you over rely on press releases for content for your blog. To restore you’re credibility, you’ll eventually have to resort to posting a lengthy diatribe on “playing with fire,”

One would think that a veteran journalist would  have known better than to put up a press release touting fund raising numbers without seeing the proof first!

Examiner.com:

Like a snowball rolling down hill, the advocates of abortion that are tied to Sen. Coffee’s lawsuit reform bill have unwittingly “outed” themselves less than 24 hours after a Oklahoma Political News Service report tied pro-abortion doctors to the process.

State Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa, is blasting Oklahoma’s three largest chambers of commerce after they began lobbying Gov. Henry to veto a stem cell research bill that pro-life groups say defends innocent human life. Read more…

According to a press release sent out this morning, Sen. Coffee will be appearing at a news conference this afternoon to tout a worthwhile pro-life piece of legislation.

Perhaps the capitol press corps will ask him why abortion advocates are so hot to trot for his bill that is so admired by abortion advocates and dirt-bag nursing home owners. The press corps has spent enough time on the OKPNS site the past few hours that they should have lots and lots of questions for the Senator about why on one hand he encourages pro-lifers, and in the next sticks the knife in their back.

But wait: it’s the OKLAHOMA capitol press corps. Never mind, they won’t ask him a darn thing!