Oklahoma

'Victim' of 'Islamophobia' Three Years Ago Arrested in Turkey as Part of ISIS Cell
By Tom Blumer | November 24, 2015 | 9:49 PM EST

There are plenty of problems with the government's "no-fly list," and especially the plans by some congressmen and senators to abuse it. That said, it appears, almost three years later, to have gotten one name right.

In late 2012 and early 2013, leftists like Chris Hayes at MSNBC, Glenn Greenwald and Kevin Drum at Mother Jones were upset that Saadiq Long, a U.S. Air Force veteran who was living in Qatar, had been put on the no-fly list. After making a stink, Long's name was apparently removed so he could fly into Oklahoma to see his ailing mother, only to see his no-fly listing reinstated so he couldn't leave. He returned to Qatar, but only after taking a bus down to Mexico City and flying from there. End of story? Hardly, as PJ Media's Patrick Poole reports:

Networks Ignore Oklahoma Court Calling for Removal of Ten Commandments Statue
By Curtis Houck | July 1, 2015 | 12:28 AM EDT

On Tuesday night, the major broadcast networks refused to cover the latest news regarding the fight for religious liberty as Oklahoma’s Supreme Court ruled hours earlier that a Ten Commandments monument at the State Captiol grounds in Oklahoma City must be removed due to it being “obviously religious in nature” and “an integral part of the Jewish and Christian faiths.” While the networks ignored this story, the Fox News Channel’s The Kelly File dedicated a full segment to the decision with host Megyn Kelly  explaining that it’s “what some are calling a new blow to the faithful” and possibly the start of “religiously based divisiveness.”

To the Left, Sanctimony and Grandstanding Are More Fun Than Free Speech
By Ann Coulter | March 19, 2015 | 8:33 PM EDT

Frustrated at their inability to locate evidence of the endemic racism in America we keep hearing so much about, liberals have turned with a vengeance on the kids.

What a 'Bizarre Coincidence': A Second Beheading Story in Oklahoma
By Tom Blumer | September 29, 2014 | 10:16 AM EDT

As I noted Sunday evening, Fox News's Megyn Kelly, on her Friday show, characterized the beheading of Colleen Hufford at the hands of Alton Nolen, if true, as "the first American beheading on American soil reportedly in the name of jihad."

It turns out that someone allegedly tried to beat Nolen out for that distinction, and failed. Take a look at what the Oklahoman's Nolan Clay described as a "bizarre coincidence" in a Friday report (HT Ed Driscoll; excerpted nearly in full because of the story's importance and the paper's subscription wall; bolds and numbered tags are mine):

AP, MSNBC Trying to Downplay Terrorism in Reporting on Okla. Beheading
By Tom Blumer | September 27, 2014 | 9:31 AM EDT

The establishment press, and now apparently the FBI, have a problem on their hands: an alleged killer who converted to Islam; expressed sentiments favored by terrorists; killed a woman by employing terrorists' favored method, i.e., beheading; shouted Islamic slogans while carrying out his evil deed; and was trying to kill someone else when another armed person shot and wounded him.

Their problem is that political correctness demands that they try to convince the public that Alton Nolen's deeds weren't linked to terrorism, and that they weren't even terrorist in nature.

Daily Beast: Workplace Beheading a 'Tragedy'; No Mention of Potential Islamist Motivation
By Ken Shepherd | September 26, 2014 | 3:27 PM EDT

UPDATED (18:10 Eastern): Daily Beast now describing attack as "Like ISIS"

Yesterday in Moore, Oklahoma, a woman was brutally murdered and decapitated by a former coworker, Alton Nolen, who reportedly had repeatedly proselytized folks in the company, urging them to convert to Islam. 

But when the liberal Daily Beast picked up the story and teased it in their Cheat Sheet digest, they tagged the incident not as an "outrage" but a "tragedy." What's more they didn't note the potential Islamist dimension to the attack.

Nationally Promoted Hobby Lobby Protest at Flagship Store Draws (at Most) 'Several Dozen'
By Tom Blumer | July 1, 2014 | 1:11 AM EDT

Shortly after 3 PM Eastern Time Monday afternoon, an outfit called "Faithful America" issued a "Media Advisory" for an event which would take place at 7:30 PM Central Time.

In the email, Faithful America claimed to be "the largest and fastest growing online community of Christians taking action for social justice," and to have 300,000 members. They may have that many members, but only about 0.01% of them showed up for the event involved: a "vigil" opposing today's Supreme Court decision at Hobby Lobby's flagship store in Edmond, Oklahoma. In covering the titantic event, Edmond Sun reporter Mark Schlachtenhaufen appears to have exaggerated the puny turnout, and made the same misstatement concerning the circumstances of the case we've seen constantly in the national press (bolds are mine):

Daily Kos: Oklahoma Tornado Casualties Show That 'Free Market Conservatism Kills'
By Tom Johnson | May 25, 2013 | 8:36 AM EDT

If you were looking for righty-bashing blog posts related to the Moore, Oklahoma disaster, Daily Kos was the place to be this past Wednesday.
 
Ian Reifowitz argued that conservatives' childish hostility to government regulation boosted the tornado's death toll because neither state nor local law requires safe rooms or shelters, and that absent a mandate, such life-saving structures quite often won't get built.  Reifowitz wrote (emphasis added):

Daily Kos Week in Review: Lance Lied Like a Republican?
By Tom Johnson | January 19, 2013 | 7:35 AM EST

Kossacks often put a lefty spin on non-political stories, and it happened again this week with Lance Armstrong's admission of doping. One resident of Kosland declared that Armstrong wasn't merely an athlete who cheated, but someone who, in terms of mendacity, thievery, and hypocrisy, behaved like a typical Republican.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

Oklahoma Paper Smears Conservative Groups as ‘Controversial’ for Advocating Bipartisan School Reform
By Brandon Dutcher | December 2, 2012 | 8:35 AM EST

One fact of politics that has not received much attention is that many of America's most conservative geographic areas are also home to radical left media outlets that regularly produce stories sneering at the values of their neighbors.

In Oklahoma, one of the most conservative states, the perfect example of this is the Tulsa World newspaper which frequently derides conservative ideas and groups. The publication provided a perfect example of this tendency earlier in the year running a piece that smeared several well-established and accomplished conservative organizations as somehow being "controversial."

NYTimes' Tavernise Pushes Heaping Helpings of Speech and Food Regulation in the Name of Better Health
By Clay Waters | September 13, 2012 | 8:03 AM EDT

New York Times reporter Sabrina Tavernise pushed nanny-state initatives in "deeply conservative" Oklahoma City on the front of Tuesday's Science Times: "Door to Door in the Heartland, Preaching Healthy Living."

Like a missionary, Michael Bailey, a county health worker, spends his days driving his beat-up Nissan around this city’s poorest neighborhood, spreading the word in barber shops and convenience stores about the benefits of healthy diet and exercise. “Look at the kids,” he said. “Overweight, huffing and wheezing. Their lives will be miserable if this doesn’t change.”

NYT's Paul Krugman: U.S. Students 'Could Learn A Little Bit' From Violent Protests in UK, France
By Clay Waters | February 28, 2011 | 12:33 PM EST

It’s not quite leftist academic Frances Fox Piven calling for violent Greece-style riots in America. But in an interview with the University of Oklahoma’s student newspaper (he was in town February 22 for a talk), Paul Krugman, respectedeconomist turned partisan liberal New York Times columnist, suggested American college students should pick up some tips from students in London and Paris about fighting public spending cuts.

The Daily: You mentioned how children and students suffer from cuts to public agencies. What advice would you give students to impact the political scene?

Krugman: “Well, you know, maybe we could learn a little bit from British students or French students who actually demonstrated against these cuts. What happens, we’ve got actually in America, the seniors are very noisy. Everybody knows you don’t dare cut programs for the elderly, so let’s cut programs for the youth. If we can change that, then we’d do a little better.”