Trapped in the closet
Regardless of whether or not you like comic books, we implore you to check out this one: http://downloads.newsok.com/documents/rinehartcartoon.pdf.
This appalling piece of literature was created by Brent Rinehart, an Oklahoma County Commissioner who is up for re-election and handed this out to members of the Oklahoma Republican party.
Is this what we want representing Oklahoma?
Aside from the numerous spelling and grammar errors, the libel and outlandish claims, the comic contains blatant attacks on the homosexual community.
If he’d made the same attacks on the black community, there would be public outrage.
Why is Oklahoma OK with letting yet another public official target the homosexual community?
How quickly we forget the transgressions of Sally Kern.
Does Rinehart not realize that gays have the right to vote, too?
Targeting potential supporters is probably not regarded as a good political move.
Oklahomans, you must ask yourselves if you want a bigot as a public face.
Gay or straight, you all need to ask yourselves if you’re OK with the U.S. seeing only the close-minded side of Oklahoma.
Show your true feelings at the polls. Ignorance like Rinehart’s should not be tolerated and encouraged. Show him how ashamed of him you are come this election day.
—The Daily O’Collegian
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Perhaps I misunderstood you, but it sounds as if you think Rinehart represents the state of Oklahoma. In fact, he only represents Oklahoma County, District two. When I read the comic last week, I couldn’t decide if words were purposely misspelled and it was just incredibly tacky on purpose or not. I doubt it but it’s fun to think someone is that clever. As far as the attacks on homosexuality v. attacks on blacks, the Bible says homosexuality is wrong but it doesn’t say it’s wrong to be black. That’s the difference there.
I forgot to add that the only people who can vote for County Commissioners are residents of the relevant county.
Perhaps I am simply misinterpreting here, as today’s Campbell cartoon is rather difficult to comprehend. But, is Jeff Campbell’s cartoon implying that Rinehart is himself a homosexual, and that he is “trapped in the closet”? If so, then Campbell’s cartoon begs the question, what is wrong with being a closeted homosexual? Would it reflect badly on Rinehart if he was a homosexual? Again, if I am mistaken, I’d be glad to hear what the cartoon is really saying, but it appears that Campbell’s cartoon is simply trying to counter homosexual prejudice with more homosexual prejudice.
Okay I think i get it now–he’s trapped in the closet with his skeletons, but blaming his problems on gays? I understand. But why the toga?
Don’t think about it too hard Justin, your head may explode from the incoherence.
Heather, did it ever occur to you that the national publicity that this story is generating creates an impression across this country that *all* of Oklahoma is a backwards, ignorant, and bigoted state (regardless of what district Rinehart represents)? The answer is no. No you didn’t.
Rinehart went on CNN and proudly displayed his poor spelling and functionally retarded (with apologies to those who are) grasp of basic English vocabulary that solidly cements Oklahoma’s hard-earned legacy of dwelling in the cellar of the Education House.
Now that corporations are recognizing the buying power of 10% (yes, GLBT are 10%) of the population, what makes them think that Oklahoma is a good place to do business? Before you think that 10 percent is a marginal amount, understand that they are the most economically active of all minority demographics, spending more per person that anyone else. So by creating a hostile economic environment that keeps lucrative consumption-based businesses (and therefore valuable tax monies) away from the county, how is Rinehart fulfilling his duties as County Commissioner?
Thirdly, the Bible also says that as a woman, you should keep your gullible, snake charmed, traitorous harlot-mouth shut and that your ideas are worthless in the presence of a man (1Tim2:12). Not such a great guide now, is it? The Bible has been used as justification for all sorts of inhumane acts (slavery, sexism, war, segregation, genocide, racism) and using it as the be all, end all of morality only betrays your level of thinking and serves to perpetuate the stereotype that the rest of the country has about Oklahoma.
As thelostogle.com so aptly put it, the only thing this spam was missing was a picture of a Liger. This stuff makes Chick Tracks look like Shakespeare. Is this a great state or what?
Lastly; Heather, fictional stupidity is funny. An example would be how Michael Scott is an inept boss on The Office. Actual stupidity is a very dangerous thing (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/07/21/seg.rinehart.comic.book.cnn) that impedes civil progress. That’s the difference there.
I get the impression, Rudi, that you think I for some reason sympathize with or support Rinehart. Don’t make that assumption.
If a person in another state sees a County Commissioner (a county commissioner-whoo-big damn deal)from Oklahoma acting like an idiot and they therefore think all Oklahomans are idiots, then that person is an idiot.
Unfortunately, my level of thinking has been betrayed. I do view the Bible as the be all, end all of morality. However, I do not view crazy people’s interpretation of it with any importance.
It’s similar to the way judicial activists may twist the Constitution to mean what they want it to mean. However, when something is written there in the clearest possible way-you can either believe it or not. I do. You don’t. Okay, then.
Whether you believe it or not, please don’t misquote it. That’s immature and presumptuous. Paul says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man,” the implication being that women ought not to occupy the office of elder or overseer in the church. Notice the words gullible, snake charmed, traitorous, harlot-mouth and worthless are all missisng.
My original post was meant to clarify that I found the article basically irrelevant to OSU in that most of us can do nothing about Rinehart. I think the author was either confused or the article was misleading. I also refuse to accept that Rinehart represents Oklahoma.
These moronic politicians don’t give Oklahoma a bad name, or reflect badly on the people of Oklahoma. Hell, Tennesseeans once elected Al Gore for congressman and senator, and he’s a lunatic. New Yorkers elected Hillary Clinton senator! God knows how many whackos the state of California has elected–Nancy Pelosi comes to mind.
Kern and Rinehart don’t reflect badly on me, at all, period. Anyone who is incapable of differentiating between a bigoted county commissioner’s comic book and the entire state of Oklahoma is obviously not adept at the art of reasoning.
How many people in Oklahoma County do you think even knew who this Rinehart clown was before this comic came out? How many people in Oklahoma County even know what a county commissioner is, or care?
Perhaps some people already have prejudices against Oklahoma (or other “Bible belt” states), and when they hear about a couple of stupid politicians doing something stupid they just allow it to further cement their own prejudice?
Rudi, did it ever occur to you that it is backwards, ignorant, and bigoted to judge 3.6 million people based on the actions or statements of just one individual? The answer is no. No you didn’t.
Kern and Rinehart don’t reflect badly on Oklahoma, they reflect badly on politicians. Politicians say and do stupid things. All the time. Always have. Always will.
Heather:
I never assumed you were sympathetic or a Rinehart apologist. Like most anything, when it comes to Bible interpretation, “crazy” becomes a time dependent term. Perhaps 20 to 30 years from now, the idea that using the Bible to justify discrimination based on sexual orientation will be considered “crazy” too.
However differing we are, we can find some happy common ground within a common argument. Namely, that Rinehart’s irrelevance to the rest of the state’s business is akin to the irrelevance of homosexual behavior to Reinhart’s duties.
Justin:
Politicians are a representation of their constituents, so yes, what they do as public figures can give their constituents a bad name. Perception becomes the truth, especially when judging the actions of public officials. It’s not fair, but it’s the truth and indicative of the power that the media has over how we perceive things, especially when you consider that Rinehart has now been given a national podium by the media to declare his crusade as if it was a mandate charged by the people of Oklahoma. Of course that’s not the truth, but now 296.4 million people get a crazy man paraded in front to them as it’s implied, “Aren’t you glad this guy isn’t in your state? This must be the norm in Oklahoma.”
We may think that we resist the constant bombardment by those talking heads out there to shutter our minds, but ultimately we’re not as strong as we’d like to think. If somehow you can resist these influences, then good for you. However, there are many more who cannot differentiate and unfortunately, they control what the perception of what Oklahoma ultimately is, regardless of what the facts are or whether or not they are Oklahomans themselves.
Hey, Rudi, I think I found your soulmate! Here ya go:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2754&dept_id=574610&newsid=19867602&PAG=461&rfi=9
Don’t be offended, I just saw this today and thought of you.
HAHA!, none taken. Except, we are now in the 21st century. See what I mean?
The struggle continues….
Yeah, I thought that was funny. I thought maybe he meant we were still a century behind…lol
” . . . Politicians are a representation of their constituents . . . ”
On the face of it, this would seem to be the plain truth–that politicians are a representation of their constituents. But, I don’t think it is necessarily true. To start with the obvious–and to use Brent Rinehart as an example–not everyone votes for county commissioner. Unless you’re one of those people who believes non-voters are second-class citizens, then it can be said right off the bat that non-voters are not in any way, shape, or form represented by Rinehart.
Then, when we’re dealing with those who did vote for county commissioner, how many people were well and truly informed about who they were voting for? I may be wrong, but I suspect that the vast majority of voters simply vote along party lines when it comes to county commissioners, without knowing very much at all about who it is they’re voting for.
And finally, the most important thing–county commissioners are bureaucrats, often working in a corrupt system, with a history of corruption–just do a google search for “county commission corruption” and you’ll get an idea–links will pop up from all over the country.
Even if county commissioners are voted into office “fair and square” then, it’s still the case that 1) not everyone voted for the winner, 2) some people don’t vote at all, 3) most people know very little about who it is they’re voting for, and 4) the county bureaucracy itself is often tainted by corruption.
Therefore, I believe it is a bit of a stretch to say that Rinehart “represents” all of the people of his district in any meaningful sense of the word.
And as for all these people out there who are supposedly watching the news without any preconceptions and being led by the media to develop a prejudice against all Oklahomans due to the actions of one foolish bureaucrat–I think perhaps you are overestimating the potential fallout due to this. I think maybe you are being led by the media to believe it is more significant than it really is. The media loves stories like this, because stories like this get ratings–people are both shocked and amused anytime a politician makes a fool of themselves, and Rinehart is no exception. But it doesn’t mean corporations are going to stop investing in Oklahoma, and it doesn’t mean the state is backwards.
Also, there is simply a blatant double standard operating here. If a politician says or does something bigoted or offensive in California, or New York, for example, people don’t start making assumptions about all the people of California or New York being backward and bigoted. There is an ingrained prejudice against certain states, such as Oklahoma, and the media gets a hold of Rinehart’s comic and just feeds people’s prejudice to get ratings. People start shouting doomsday and saying Oklahoma is full of hateful bigots and Oklahoma is backward, and all this nonsense, not even fully aware of how much they have been led by the media to think in such an illogical way.
Regardless of the rest, it is blatantly false to compare homosexuals and “pedifiles” (as it is spelled in the comic) as equals. Homosexuality and pedophilia are not the same thing and they do not cause each other. It’s that kind of blatantly wrong and inflammatory characterization, like Sally Kern and her comparing homosexuals to terrorists, that betrays the backward, hateful nature of his arguments.
It’s also worth pointing out that in Rinehart’s cartoon, the homosexual is wearing a toga–apparently Rinehart associates homosexuals with the ancient Greeks and the cradle of western Civilization. Interestingly, Jeff Campbell’s cartoon portrays Rinehart in a toga–apparently suggesting that Rinehart himself is a homosexual, which apparently is an insult?
Needless to say Campbell’s cartoon is not bigoted like Rinehart’s, and the main point of his cartoon seems to be the felony charges against Rinehart, but nevertheless it does seem to display a bit of homosexual prejudice, since it mimics Rinehart’s cartoon’s toga and is titled “trapped in the closet.”
Well, looks like the comic did him in.
Take heart Heather–you are not alone. There are plenty of people who feel that 2,000 year old fairy tales should be made into law–they are called Islamic fundamentalists.