And, one more thing before we leave Tuesday night's results, and for it, we have to pay a visit one day early to the great state of Oklahoma, wherein resides Blog Official Giant Roadside Cross Safety Inspector Friedman of the Plains. You may recall that, back in April, the state's public school teachers staged a massive walkout in protest, demanding an increase in salary. (They'd gone 10 years without a raise.) This prompted national attention, not only because it involved the government of a very red state, but also because it came while teachers in West Virginia and Tennessee were engaged in similar direct action. The teachers got most of what they wanted, and they smartly collected their winnings and departed the field, but not before leaving a warning behind them. From The New York Times:

In a deep-red state that has pursued tax and service cuts for years, teachers won a raise of about $6,000, depending on experience, while members of schools’ support staff will see a raise of $1,250. But the biggest pieces of legislation passed before the walkout, not during it, and Ms. Priest acknowledged that many of the protesters’ demands for more schools funding would not be met, because, she said, Republicans in the State Senate would not consider additional revenue sources.

“We got here by electing the wrong people to office,” Ms. Priest said. “We have the opportunity to make our voices heard at the ballot box.”

See? This is the way you do it. This, right here. You engage in mass direct action in such a way that the public is engaged on your side. You get what you can get, declare victory, and then live to fight another day. As it happens, Tuesday was that Other Day. From The Republic in Oklahoma City.



Six more incumbent Republican state House members in Oklahoma lost their jobs Tuesday, and all six voted against a tax hike used to fund a teacher pay raise. The tax hike on fuel, cigarettes and energy production was used to pay for an average teacher pay raise of $6,100 annually, the first salary increase in a decade. But 19 House Republicans voted against it, and many of them are paying for it at the ballot box. Of the 19 House Republicans who voted against the tax hike, eight have now been defeated. Seven others decided not to run. Only four have advanced to the general election. Incumbent representatives who lost Tuesday are: Reps. Bobby Cleveland, Jeff Coody, Travis Dunlap, George Faught, Mike Ritze and Tess Teague, according to complete but unofficial results.

Democracy smash!

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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