Oklahoma fail

bottom line

On November 9, the Center for Public Integrity’s nationwide State Integrity Investigation made official what most of us paying attention already knew: Oklahoma’s government is largely unchecked, inaccessible and bursting at the seams with cronyism, despite the mouth-service our slack-jawed puppet-leaders like to pay to public accountability. 

The investigation, conducted by Tulsa reporter Cary Aspinwall and verified by CPI, gives Oklahoma an “F” for overall accountability and transparency, ranking us 40th in the nation. 

The failing grade of 59% (even Texas managed to score a 60%) is based on a number of factors which are graded separately and then averaged together. Our highest grades are a 78% in procurement and an 85% in internal auditing, the lowest a 33% for public access to information. The rest of the categories—political financing, electoral oversight, state budget processes, state civil service management, lobbying disclosure, ethic enforcement agencies, state pension fund management, and accountability across the three branches—received either a D or an F (most were Fs). 

BOTTOMLINE: While my own knee-jerk reaction to this information tends toward a cynical “No shit,” Aspinwall and the good folks at CPI have done us a service by conducting such a thorough, objective assessment of the damage. The detailed analyses of all 50 states can be found at stateintegrity.org; Oklahoma’s is well-worth reading. 

Speaking of government corruption and Texas…

A recent joint investigation by The Frontier and The Dallas Morning News revealed that in 2013, Oklahoma’s medical board suddenly dropped a three-year investigation into Tulsa spinal surgeon Steven Anagnost after former Texas governor Rick Perry called Mary Fallin to complain. 

Anagnost was being investigated for mishaps that left 23 patients dead, paralyzed or charged for surgeries never performed, and the medical board was apparently ready to revoke his license. 

The surgeon, however, happened to be a donor to Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign. Anagnost and Perry also shared a mutual friend—a significant Perry donor named Dick Powell (great name) who called Perry on behalf of Anagnost. Perry then called Fallin and reportedly threw a fit about the investigation. Fallin in turn sent one of her lemmings to deliver the message to the medical board, which promptly folded and cut a deal with Anagnost that involved him paying a fine but, terrifyingly, keeping his license.

Anagnost is still mired in negligence lawsuits; in the past decade, he’s settled 19 suits, with another nine still pending against him. 

BOTTOMLINE: “I know that I’ve never done a perfect job on any patient I’ve worked on … but it’s not fair to look at anybody at a single point in their career.”
– Dr. Steven Anagnost, spinal surgeon 

Battle-scarred Blue Bell comes home

Embattled ice cream brand Blue Bell finally returned to Tulsa store shelves this month after a 7-month absence. Local news outlets interviewed a slew of insane people celebrating the return of their favorite 99% listeria-free ice cream. One woman cried on camera, and numerous other people spoke in the excitedly reverent tones usually reserved for something like a war hero returning home. Mary Fallin tweeted in celebration. 

That the ice cream carried listeria that killed several people in Kansas due to reportedly less-than-sanitary conditions in its Austin and Broken Arrow factories was glossed over by local media.

BOTTOMLINE: Am I the only one who thinks this is insanity? I love ice cream, and I grew up with Blue Bell in my freezer. But it just killed some folks. Call me paranoid, but I’m switching to Blue Bunny.*

*UPDATE: I just googled Blue Bunny and learned that just a month ago they recalled their Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate flavor for possibly containing egg, an unlisted allergen. :-(

For more from Joshua, read about his experience at a Ted Cruz rally.