In the Pouch of the Kangaroo

photo from: http://www.animalpictures1.com


(OKLAHOMA CITY) On Tuesday, November 2, voters in HD 85 in northwest OKC (vicinity of Lake Hefner, http://tinyurl.com/2fc3kvz) will for the first time have three candidates to choose from.

I'll be voting for Ed Shadid who's on the ballot as an Independent candidate with the endorsement of the Oklahoma Green Party. As you'll read below, Shadid represents for me a candidate with the platform I wish more Oklahoma Democratic candidates would promote.

His two opponents are David Dank, GOPer, and Gail Vines, pseudo-Democrat.

Continuing the 16-year dynasty started by the term-limited GOPer Odelia Dank is her husband, the incumbent David Dank.

Challenging in more ways than one in the Democratic column is Gail Vines, currently an OKC school board member, who only switched from Independent to Democrat when she first ran for school board in 2005.

Ed Shadid is unequivocally in favor of GLBT anti-discrimination laws for which I have a vested interest.
You can view the candidate questionnaire from OGLPC (Oklahoma Gay & Lesbian Caucus) at http://www.oglpc.com .

Another favorite topic of mine is reproductive freedom. Ed Shadid wants to repeal the recently passed (and court challenged) Oklahoma law requiring the invasive, unnecessary, forced ultrasound examination of pregnant women and the accompanying right of doctors to lie to their patients if the doctor thinks the patient is seeking an abortion.

Quoting from a two-page paid advertisement in the Oklahoma Gazette (October 27) Ed Shadid writes:

"Mr. Dank has supported and voted for the State to be able to arrest scientists who participate in embryonic stem cell research. Mr. Dank would argue and has voted for the ability of the state to force a physician to perform medically unnecessary transvaginal ultrasounds on women seeking an abortion after having been raped or having been the victim of incest. Mr. Dank has voted for physicians to be protected by the State if they lie to parents about the results of birth defects in order to prevent an abortion even if the condition were to result in excruciating suffering and guaranteed death of the newborn. Mr. Dank has worked towards using the power of the state to interfere with the patient-physician relationship in profound ways the Obama reforms do not come close to emulating."

In her time on the OKC school board, Ms. Vines has twice voted to appeal a court verdict that clearly states the school board wrongly fired a tenured teacher, Mr. Joe Quigley.

Quoting again from Shadid's Gazette ad:

"...Ms. Vines left thousands scratching their heads as she defied Judge Barbara Swinton’s order and voted to fire gay teacher Joe Quigley. Despite both Judge Swinton and now an appellate court condemning the board, Ms Vines and the rest of the school board have now announced that they are going to spend even more of the taxpayers’ money (potentially several hundred thousands of dollars) appealing the decision to the [Oklahoma] Supreme Court."

In the kangaroo court atmosphere that was palpable during the first school board hearing, Ms. Vines voted to abstain from firing Mr. Joe Quigley. When I asked her why she abstained, she said, "I didn't know enough about the case."

What kind of school board representative can Vines be when she didn't do her own homework prior to a very important vote on the possible dismissal of a tenured and respected teacher? Now she's voted affirmatively twice to an issue to which she admitted she knew too little about.

I'd say she was in the pouch of the kangaroo court of the OKC school board.

Ed Shadid is a committed progressive who's put his money, time, and career where his mouth is.

If you've got a shred of gay/lesbian self-respect for yourself or for others, you'll vote for Ed Shadid this election.

There's more at Shadid's website where you can see the Gazette ad and read more about the scurrilous funding sources of Dank's and Vines's campaigns.

See for yourself at his campaign website, www.voteshadid.org .

This article represents my own views and is not coordinated with any political party or candidate.