When in doubt, stoke fear. That’s Republican Electoral Politics 101. And it’s on full display in the GOP legislative supermajority’s xenophobic HB 4156 that would give police the power to stop “others” whom they deem potentially guilty of a new crime: “impermissible occupation.”

With April 22 as Earth Day, television network morning shows that week interspersed their Big Pharma commercial campaign with info and tips of ecological significance – some segments helpful, others not so much. On Monday ABC meteorologist Ginger Zee greeted viewers from an Earthship rental in northern New Mexico. Stuffed tire adobe construction, solar panels, indoor greenhouse, water recycled four times through the structure. The structure? About 5,000 square feet sitting on what looked to be a few acres, costing about $400,000 though that sounds low to me – though too high for me at the same time.

Since the 2016 election, I’ve been carrying a sense of unease. How could it happen that so many voted for a man who bragged about watching teen beauty contestants undress? Four years later, the worry backed off when Biden took office, but the lecher’s minions were still around. And here we are in 2024, learning how Trump bends all the rules and watching some members of the Supreme Court question if maybe that’s OK.

I've been very lucky to be allowed to lead 62 different courses for adults over the last 10 years. I get to participate in the program known as Lifelong Learning which is led by one of the very finest executives I've ever worked for – Chris Elliot, by name. He's a well-educated, funny, smart, deeply informed and talented leader and has very gifted folks working with him in a program that I think is among the best at the entire University of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Legislature’s 2024 session has had plenty of headline-grabbing moments: thwarting an attack on judicial independence, undermining The People’s initiative powers, embracing a show-me-your-papers expansion of police powers that could target almost anyone who’s not lily-white. But it’s often the legislation that flies beneath the radar that ends up with the potential to have the greatest effect on Sooners’ lives. So it is with HB 3278 mandating changes to graduation requirements that could adversely affect everything from marching band to foreign language instruction. For the latest Observercast –