Among the many wise words of Mark Twain is the suggestion that “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” In Oklahoma the GOP holds every statewide executive office, both Senate seats, all five Congressional seats, and all three spots on the Corporation Commission. In the Legislature forty-two of forty-eight senators and seventy-five of one hundred and one representatives are Republican. No Democrat presidential candidate has carried a single one of the state’s seventy-seven counties in November in this century. The most powerful elected Democrat in the state may well be Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel who recently won re-election for the fifth time despite ongoing problems with the county jail he operates. It’s not quite North Korea, but more extreme examples of one party rule in the United States are hard to find.

Prior to the Republican takeover of the state Legislature(2004 in the House, 2010 in the Senate), the Democrats had reigned without interruption since statehood. During that time the minority GOP had regularly decried the corruption and heavy-handed tactics of the majority party. In fact, some reforms were implemented by the new legislative leaders, culminating in 2013 with the implementation of a House calendar committee to schedule what bills would be heard on the floor by all members, previously a power held solely by the Speaker. Once that session was over, that reform and many others went with it, ushering in what one legislator termed “the beginning of a three year transparency dark age” that continues today.

In terms of performance, a majority of Oklahomans think the state is headed in the wrong direction and also hold an unfavorable opinion of the state Legislature. It’s not surprising given the state’s budget woes for which the ruling party cannot dodge considerable responsiblity. Worse, after using well over half a billion dollars in one-time funding to fill the budget holes in 2016, the Legislature will be dealing with yet another massive shortfall in 2017. Another indicator of state legislators being out of touch with the people whom they purportedly serve is that two of the four state questions on the November ballot placed by them were defeated badly. When Republicans can win nearly 90% of the elections but lose on their ballot questions about farming and religion it speaks to a lack of confidence in their judgement even among their supporters, just the sort of attitude that develop in a monolithic political atmosphere.

For generations the Oklahoma GOP railed against the corruption of the Democrats who held all the levers of power. Much of this is detailed at the blog Corruption Chronicle. Since coming in to power, the new boss seems eerily similar to the old boss, with incidents such as Rick Brinkley forced to resign over embezzlement charges, sexual harassment complaints against Rep. Dan Kirby secretly settled with state taxpayer money, and of course the conspiracy to elect Joy Hofmeister which involves one of the top Republican political consulting firms in the state.

During all those years that they were in the minority, Oklahoma Republicans were right about the dirty dealing Democrats. Now that the roles are reversed we find strong evidence of the truth of Lord Acton’s claims regarding the propensity for power to foster corruption. All voters who wish to curtail the power of the state have a compelling duty to work to overthrow one party rule no matter where it occurs and what party it is. ¡Viva La Revolución!