This was the headline of a story in the Tulsa daily news(?)paper on November 11, 2019 (Veterans Day): “Lawmakers seek to condemn Congress.”  It was ‘buried’ on Page A-11, but sufficient to catch my attention.  The sub-heading read: “State legislators propose a resolution condemning the impeachment inquiry.”  Credit for the story was given to Barbara Hoberock of the staff in Oklahoma City.  The story states that my own Senator, Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, and Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, had joined to author House Concurrent Resolution 1000.

The fourth paragraph states: “The Oklahoma Legislature hereby condemns the members of the United States Congress for pursuing impeachment proceedings against President Donald J. Trump, the duly elected President of the United States, instead of performing the serious work required by the United States Constitution that the American people elected them to fulfill and that each member swore an oath to uphold.”

Further into the story, Rep. West is quoted in a press release as saying: “The proceedings should ‘shock and terrify’ Americans.’” In the same release, Sen. Dahm is quoted: “We’ve seen numerous laws passed and introduced that violate due process, and now this attack on the president is another example of how little regard is being shown for the protections in our Bill of Rights.”  He is quoted as continuing: ‘If there are those willing to violate these rights in going after a duly elected President, the future of what may be used against our citizens is of great concern.  We must take a stand for our rights.”

Being an “assumed: journalist, Ms. Hoberock goes on to include a quote from the House Minority (Democrat) Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, saying: “My initial reaction is we have a lot of important issues to focus on in Oklahoma, and spending time on a resolution that has no legal effect and that Congress probably will pay no attention to is not a good use of our time and resources, and further that the resolution is ‘purely political’ in an effort to make headlines.” 

One wonders if Ms. Virgin thinks the four-year attempt at impeachment completely without reasons required by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress on the part of her fellow Democrats was a waste of time, while essential actions, such as funding bills, were ignored has not been such a waste.

That last paragraph is included to show what appears to be editorial bias on the part of the paper, since as evidence the “letters to editor” section almost always contains an editor’s comment against any letter written as favorable to Republicans or Conservatives but rarely, if ever, follows a letter in favor of actions by Democrats, no matter how false or erroneous they may be.  It is doubted that editorial policy will change with the sale of said paper, and others, that was recently announced by the owners.

Frankly, it would have been more like Republicans to use a slightly less strong accusation than “condemn” such as “admonish” and limit it to the House of Representatives, since until very recently the Senate has not had anything to do with the fiasco going on across the Capitol building.  Also, the Constitution provides each House of Congress a process for removing members for improper conduct, by a vote of its members.  It seems to me that such an action is very much in order, especially given the extent of outright lying, false evidence, and changing of rules on the fly  being used in the impeachment investigation.

It is most unlikely that any of the culprits involved, including Speaker Pelosi, will have to be concerned, unless the constituents of the most offensive House members decide they have seen enough and replace the offending members in November, in which case mission accomplished. It really would not surprise me to see another change in majority in the House after the election in November.  By the same token, the Republican National Committee should wake up and declare those elected officials who deserted the Party Platform and RINOS and deny them access to candidacy as Republican as was done in 2009 by one State Executive Committee.