Oklahoma Politics: December 2003 Archives

(Note: A "bleg" is a blog entry that involves begging for something. "blog" + "beg" = "bleg".)

My searching has been in vain. I would like to read the letter to trial lawyers from Oklahoma Sen. Stratton Taylor (D-Claremore), which brought a response from the Wall Street Journal editorial page (reprinted in Sunday's Whirled). Having read responses from the Tulsa Whirled, Brad Henry, Boy Governor, and the Claremore Daily Progress (which writes that Taylor has nothing for which to apologize and his critics are hypocrites), I wanted to read Taylor's letter for myself. If anyone can assist me with this, e-mail me at blog at batesline dot com. Also, let me know if you have a better link to the WSJ editorial. I'd prefer to link directly to their site, but cannot find the editorial there. [UPDATE: An Alert Reader has provided the requested link to the WSJ article. Thanks. Still looking for Taylor's letter.]

I noticed something strange about the Whirled's Monday editorial, linked above. They have this to say about the former leader of the State Senate:

State Sen. Stratton Taylor has written a shameful, self-serving letter to national trial lawyers inviting them to bring lawsuits in "friendly" Oklahoma.

It's not the first time the longtime senator has used his position of public trust to feather his own nest. He ought, at the very least, to resign his position in the Senate.

They say it's not the first time, but I scanned the Whirled's archives and could find no previous occasion on which the Whirled criticized Taylor for using his position of public trust to feather his own nest. The Whirled reported Taylor's legal work for the chicken industry's defense against the City of Tulsa's lawsuit, but there was no editorial denunciation or call for resignation. Strange too that the Whirled editorial board criticizes Taylor for taking campaign funds from the hog industry -- I'm not aware that the Whirled has condemned the hog industry or its practices. They certainly don't have a problem with business interests giving campaign dollars to influence public policy: They've never said an unkind word about the contributions of F&M Bank officers to city council candidates in the 2002 elections, or the heavy giving by development interests in city races.

But for real amusement, click on the links to read the Claremore paper's defense of their hometown boy. Here's a sample, from the newspaper that touts its connections with Will Rogers:

When Wall Street, Republican legislators, state chamber of commerce and the Daily Oklahoman all jump on Claremore's Sen. Stratton Taylor at once, be assured Taylor is probably protecting the best interests of the average citizen.

Taylor was hotly attacked by this coalition of partisan forces for offering his law firm s service to Texas trial lawyers who face new, severe and untested limits on the amount of money they can recover for injured clients.

While Oklahoma has clamped down on torts, the workers compensation rates north of the Red River are markedly less than those in Texas. This happened under Senator Taylor's legislative leadership.

In a letter to Texas attorneys, Taylor simply outlined the advantages of his highly successful law firm and suggested that Oklahoma law was more open to equity and fairness than Lone Star justice....

In another editorial they absolve the Whirled from involvement in the conspiracy against Taylor. They must not have read Monday's paper.

For more amusement, search the Daily Progress' site for the word Stipe, and read as they fall all over themselves mourning for the loss of this great humanitarian.