By John Michener

What can we take away from the primary elections held on June 26? Broadly speaking, we see that historic trends repeat themselves, and the state of Oklahoma is following the trend of states and nations to become more and more socialistic. The history of nations is that prosperity leads to moral apathy. The people become more interested in free handouts and entertainment than in liberty. Governments enter a cycle of growing taxes to grow programs to grow power to leverage more votes to grow taxes, and the feedback loop accelerates at an alarming rate.

We are now at a tipping point. Just a few years ago, Republicans still understood that taxation is legalized plunder. Those legislators who voted against tax increases were considered principled heroes. Today, however, those legislators who voted against the massive spring tax increase find themselves defeated at the ballot box or in a runoff.

We have seen the media continually reference the tax hike as the “tax increase to fund teacher pay,” as if tax increases and teacher pay were inseparable. This is an outright lie, of course, especially when both revenue and waste are running at an all-time high. But the media has repeated it so often and so insistently that it has become a fait accompli in the mind of the average citizen.

The government school industry has figured out that they need not simply lobby the Legislature for more funding; they can take over the Legislature to open the spigot wide. We predict the educrats who are infesting the Capitol will soon drive government school funding up to 60% or more of the state budget.

There is now no end in sight to the growth of state government. With a huge revenue surplus projected for next year, you can bet that a state legislature controlled by state employees will gleefully throw huge wads of money in the air and roll in piles of cash. It certainly does not look like the new governor will try to stop them, which brings us to the governor’s race.

Three candidates (Fisher, Jones, and Richardson) presented platforms based on principles. For their efforts, they collectively received only 79,000 votes. Three other candidates (Cornett, Stitt, and Lamb) presented only slogans and empty rhetoric, yet they received 351,000, or 82% of the votes. The modern electorate no longer has any concept of proper government or the rule of law.

More depressing than the condition of the electorate, is the condition of incorporated Christian churches in Oklahoma. These election results also reveal that the average self-identifying Christian in Oklahoma is now only a nominal or cultural Christian. When presented with the opportunity to back Pastor Dan Fisher who promised to abolish murder by abortion, the vast majority of Christians said, “Yeah, but Thunder basketball. Yeah, but top-ten state. Yeah, but renew our neighborhoods.”

The numbers do not lie, and what they tell us is that modern evangelical mega-churches have become nothing more than corporate religious-service providers. They are like gas stations providing a commodity, where church shoppers choose the one that has the cleanest bathrooms and the least bad coffee.

Now, more than ever, the true church must shine like a beacon to push back the threatening darkness. There are at least 35,000 abolitionists in Oklahoma who will not cease to trumpet the efficacy of state sovereignty and our duty to establish justice for our preborn neighbors.

Putting State Question 788 on the primary ballot was a stroke of genius from Mary Fallin, who likely wanted to bring out more non-traditional and progressive voters. The strategy worked, as 188,000 more Republicans voted in this primary election than in the one four years ago. The vast majority of voters have not critically analyzed the details of people or polices upon which they vote. The majority are in favor of legalized marijuana, so when they see that word on the ballot, they vote for it. These thousands of first-time primary voters were likely the ones who gave Mick Cornett such a big boost in his numbers. It will be interesting to see if they return to the polls for the runoff, or if Stitt will win in a landslide.

We will now find out how serious the legislators are who voiced concerns over the wording of SQ 788. Its passage created only simple statutory changes, not constitutional changes. Therefore, our legislature can easily change them, or even completely repeal them, by a simple majority vote.

While we are spiraling ever faster towards a socialist state, there are some lines a statist still cannot cross in Oklahoma. Had the defeated Senator Ervin Yen (R-Oklahoma City) stuck to voting for tax increases, growing government fees and regulations, and growing the police state, like almost every other Republican, he likely would have gotten away with it. Our people are now accepting of these policies. But he went one step too far by attacking basic human rights and parental choice. Thank God, Oklahomans still draw the line at state-mandated medical procedures and believe parents, not the state, are the rightful guardians and decision-makers for children. However, if California and Europe are any indication, we will soon be losing these battles, as well.

One thing we learn from the yanking of Yen is that to defeat someone in power requires targeting that seat with massive force and focus. Yen was not defeated by one opposing candidate; he was defeated by passionate, principled citizens from all over Oklahoma who focused their resources on his district. Grassroots activists, take note. Fighting a little here and there and everywhere will only lead to losses everywhere. Pick the most important fights and make sure you win them.