Soap Opera Brewing at 23rd & Lincoln. Why is the Oklahoma Press Silent?

We’ve heard it.  If you are a political junkie in Oklahoma you’ve most likely heard it, and there is no doubt that the folks in the media rooms out at 23^rd and Lincoln have heard it.

‘It’ is the story of one of Oklahoma’s most influential elected officials being caught in an illicit affair with a top staff member by the elected official’s spouse. We’re also hearing that the subsequent staff member may have retained legal counsel in an effort to protect their job. Sources tell us that the charge of sexual harassment is being considered by the high level staffer if they are terminated.

If true, the situation is very dangerous and fraught with peril for the politician, the staff member AND the taxpayers.  It would be far more than a ‘private’ matter for the official, as so many philandering politicians so self-righteously like to state when caught red-handed.  In this situation, the politician is known as an ambitious sort who craves power and higher office.  But the circumstances of this internal sex-scandal at a major state agency suggest the resolution could involve the operations of the agency and state tax dollars.  The public has every right to know if a philandering dirt-bag is buying off their trouble with a big fat settlement or job in another agency.  The whole situation has the stench of corruption attached.  The only antiseptic is pulling back the shroud and letting the public know if this elected official’s business is legitimate, or more of the monkey variety.

The public has a right to know, and the folks on the 4^th floor have an obligation to ask.  We’ve mocked the Oklahoma press corps for their often indolent and lazy attitude toward news that matters, and their evident indifference to scandal, but there’s smoke here.  We’ve done our job.  Let’s see if the press can figure out how to do theirs. Here’s a hint for the press. The elected official will be announcing soon that they are not running for re-election.