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The worst Senator in a body replete with really bad and odious senators tells us why Tornado relief is different than Hurricane relief.

Via WaPo

In the wake of the devastating tornado in an Oklahoma City suburb, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) rejected comparisons between federal aid for this disaster and the Hurricane Sandy relief package he voted against.

That was a “totally different” situation, Inhofe told MSNBC, arguing that the Sandy aid was filled with pork. There were “things in the Virgin Islands. They were fixing roads there and putting roofs on houses in Washington, D.C.”

“Everyone was getting in and exploiting the tragedy that took place,” he said. “That won’t happen in Oklahoma.”

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Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe (R), who maintains that global warming is a hoax created by former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations, said on Tuesday that it was "hard to explain" why Monday's tornado was "so much worse."

During an interview with John Berman on CNN, Inhofe remarked that the storm had transported a photo 80 miles from Shawnee to his neighborhood in Tulsa.

"So many things happen that are so hard to explain," he told the CNN host. "This thing was huge. This is one of the largest ones that we've had."

"What you're looking at now in Moore, Oklahoma is what you could have seen had you been there in 1999 or in some parts of of Shawnee. Devastation is devastation. And it's just that this is so much worse. Because you're talking about a two mile by 20 mile area. That's very unusual."

In terms of disaster aid, Inhofe said Oklahoma had "everything that we need," but he recommended donating to the Salvation Army and the Red Cross.

"It's going to be necessary to raise a lot of money."

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Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) on Wednesday explained that Al Gore and the United Nations get most of the blame for what he called a global warming "hoax," but filmmaker Michael Moore and billionaire George Soros deserved some credit too.

At a Environment and Public Works Committe on President Barack Obama's nomination of Gina McCarthy to be the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that he wanted the agency to listen to scientists instead of climate change deniers like Inhofe and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY).

"What Sen. Inhofe has written and talked about is his belief that global warming is one of the major hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people, that it's a hoax pushed by people like Al Gore, the United Nations and the Hollywood elite," Sanders told the committee.

"I think that is a fair quote from Sen. Inhofe. Is that roughly right, Sen. Inhofe?" Sanders asked the Oklahoma Republican.

"Yes," Inhofe agreed. "I'd add to that list MoveOn.org, George Soros, Michael Moore and a few others."

"That's exactly the issue," Sanders said, turning back to the committee. "Do we agree with Sen. Inhofe that global warming is a hoax and that we do not want the federal government, the EPA, the Department of Energy to address that issue? Because it is a -- quote -- unquote -- hoax, according to Sen. Inhofe and others? Or do we believe and agree with the overwhelming majority of scientists who tell us that global warming is the most serious planetary crisis that we face, and that we must act boldly and aggressively to protect the future of this planet? That is what the issue is."

(h/t: The Hill)

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The founder of a tea party group in Oklahoma was charged with two felonies on Tuesday for allegedly sending threatening emails to a Republican lawmaker after he refused buy in to the notion that the United Nations was conspiring to transform the country into a communist dictatorship.

According to the Oklahoman, 54-year-old Sooner Tea Party founder Al Gerhart faces up to five years in prison for blackmail and violating the state computer crimes act.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation determined that Gerhart admitted sending an email to state Sen. Cliff Branan (R) "that was intended to threaten and intimidate him."

Gerhart had been angry because Branan refused to allow a vote on a bill that would have ensured Oklahoma cities do not participate in Agenda 21, a United Nations initiative to promote environmentally sustainable development. Conspiracy theorists on the right have long thought that Agenda 21 was a "conspiracy to transform America from the land of the free, to the land of the collective” through “a mind-control" tactic called the Delphi technique.

Although the Oklahoma state House had passed House Bill 1412, Branan refused to bring it up in the state Senate because he said it was based on a "fringe conspiracy."

"Branan, Get that bill heard or I will make sure you regret not doing it," Gerhart wrote in the email. "I will make you the laughing stock of the Senate if I don't hear that this bill will be heard and passed. We will dig into your past, yoru [sic] family, your associates and once we start on you there will be no end to it. This is a promise."

At a press conference last week, the tea party leader admitted that he sent the email.

"Political pain and embarrassment will be necessary if the citizens expect to regain control of this Senate down here from the state chamber of commerce and special interests," he insisted. "The time for ‘nice' behavior is over with."

Gerhart suggested to reporters that there was "scuttlebutt" at the state Capitol that the state senator pushed for criminal charges because he was afraid the Sooner Tea Party would reveal infidelities.

On Tuesday, a judge set a bail of $15,000 and ordered Gerhart to stay at least 1,000 feet from Branan and his family.

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Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) on Sunday said that Republicans would block any effort to extend background checks to include private firearms sales unless Congress agreed to "eliminate the recordkeeping" on guns in the United States.

Coburn, who is one of four senators working for a bipartisan bill to expand background checks, recently refused to comment to The Washington Post about his position on keeping records on private sales, saying that "I don’t negotiate through the press."

But on Sunday, the Oklahoma senator drew a line in the sand.

"I don't think we're that close to a deal, and there absolutely will not be recordkeeping on legitimate law-abiding gun owners in this country," Coburn insisted. "And if they want to eliminate the benefits of trying to prevent the sales to people who are actually mentally ill and the criminals, all they have to do is create a recordkeeping. And that will kill this bill."

"So if you really want to improve it, you have to eliminate the recordkeeping and give people the right and the responsibility to do the right thing. And that's check on the [National Instant Criminal Background Check System] NICS list to make sure you're not selling a gun to somebody who's in one of those two categories."

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Authorities in Oklahoma on Monday were unable to confirm if bullying was involved after a 15-year-old male killed himself with a gun in a Cowetta school bathroom.

Speaking to reporters at press conference, Superintendent Jeff Holmes explained that a "ninth grade student at Cowetta Intermediate High School died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound" soon after school began on Monday morning.

Coweta Police Lieutenant Donnie Krumsiek praised the school faculty for their response, saying that "unfortunately a life was lost but it could have been a lot worse."

"You've seen the same coverage I have, school shootings where multiple lives are lost," Krumsiek told reporters. "We're very fortunate that didn't occur today."

Several reporters noted that witnesses had said bullying may have been a factor in the student's death, but Krumsiek said he had no evidence to support that claim and Holmes refused to release any personal information regarding the victim.

"We do have a bullying policy," Holmes remarked. "There's zero tolerance for bullying in each of our schools -- starting from elementary school on up -- have extensive character education programs and a component of each of those would be suicide prevention."

"I'm not going to comment on the student," he insisted, noting that the principals and counselors described the ninth grader as "a very fine young man."

Holmes said he was not yet sure if criminal charges were possible if bullying was suspected in the case.

"We want parents to know that we care about their kids, we care about every single one of their kids," the superintendent added as he choked up. "That's all I have at this point."

You've just got to love these Republicans. They attack teachers and their unions and their collective bargaining rights, and then turn around and expect them to do double duty as law enforcement. Here's what's becoming an all too common idea from the wingnuts out there who think more guns is the solution to everything: Oklahoma Republican’s bill would arm teachers and train them like law enforcement:

McCullough plans to introduce legislation that would give school teachers and administrators the right to carry firearms in school. Under current law in Oklahoma, it is a felony to possess a gun on school property.

“I’m going to err on the side of trusting my teachers if it comes down to it,” the lawmaker explained. “I am not going to trust a madman.”

And McCullough explained to KOKH’s Marisa Mendelson that parents shouldn’t worry because teachers would required to get the same type of Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) certification that police officers have.

“These teachers would be trained at the same level as our law enforcement are currently trained,” he said. “They would be trained in target acquisition, in marksmanship. They would be trained in all of the things that our current police officers are trained in.”

Oklahoma parent Tom Jones, however, wasn’t comforted by McCullough’s assurances.

“I don’t believe that’s the answer, I really don’t,” Jones insisted. “I’d have to ask, how are you going to screen the teachers? How do you know you don’t have a mentally ill person?”

Republican state Sen. Ralph Shortey is also on board with McCullough’s plan, but he said that he would allow any teacher with a concealed-carry permit to bring firearms into the school without additional training.

“When citizens have the liberty to protect themselves, they will do so, and they will do so responsibly,” Shortey told The Oklahoman.

These people aren't going to be happy until they take us back to the days of the wild, wild west. Virginia's Governor Ultra-Sound-McDonnell wants to do the same thing in his state as well: Virginia Governor McDonnell Wants More Guns In Schools.

And we heard the same from Texas wingnut Gov. Rick Perry: Rick Perry Tells Tea Party: Allow More Guns in Schools .

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Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist says that President Barack Obama did not win re-election because of his promise to raise taxes on the wealthy, but it was because attack ads made voters thing that Mitt Romney was a "poopy-head."

During a Monday interview on CBS, Norquist suggested that Republicans had a mandate not to raise taxes, even it meant going off the so-called "fiscal cliff."

"The House of Representatives was elected, committed to keeping taxes low," the Americans for Tax Reform president explained. "The president was elected on the basis that he was not Romney and that Romney was a poopy-head and you should vote against Romney. And he won by two points. But he didn't make the case that we should have higher taxes and higher spending, he kind of sounded like the opposite."

"Well, I'm not sure that's what the president called Mitt Romney," CBS host Norah O'Donnell pointed out. "The debate that was had -- and I listened very closely to it -- he said very clearly throughout the debate that the wealthiest Americans should pay more. And he won eight of the nine battleground states. And Republicans failed to reclaim the White House or the Senate. What about the exit polls that show a broad support on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans? Are you wrong?"

"Again, you saw those ads that suggested Romney gave people cancer in Ohio for months and months unanswered," Norquist insisted. "You can trash an individual and get them to vote against him. Again where we have an election, there are 30 Republican governors, okay? And they're running campaigns against raising taxes and in favor of, frankly, phasing out the income tax in North Carolina and Kansas and Oklahoma."

O'Donnell pointed out that even House Speaker John Boehner had said that Republicans were willing to accept new revenue as part of a compromise.

"In 2011, Obama said the world would end and we should pass around smelling salts because he wanted to raise the debt ceiling," Norquist opined. "We got a debt ceiling agreement. It was a great compromise. We cut spending. We didn't raise taxes. We didn't cut spending as much as the Republicans wanted. The [Paul] Ryan plan would have reduced Obama's overspending by $6 trillion, we only got two and a half trillion in restraint."

"That's a compromise, it's not as much as the Republicans wanted. The Republicans have already compromised."

In exit polls released on Tuesday, six in ten voters said they supported raising taxes. Almost half wanted to see tax hikes specifically on those making more than $250,000 a year.

“On this particular issue, it wasn’t close,” Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod told CBS News on Sunday.

“You need new revenues, and every objective person who has looked at this agrees on that, so the question is where is that revenue going to come from?” he pointed out. “The president believes it is more equitable to get that from the wealthiest Americans who have done very well and frankly don’t need those tax cuts and who benefited disproportionately from the tax cuts in the last decade. Most Americans agree with that.”

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The Fox station in Oklahoma on Wednesday gave supporters of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney some helpful tips for fleeing the country before President Barack Obama starts his second term.

In the Fox 23 "Beat the Traffic" segment on the morning after Obama won re-election, traffic reporter Jeff Brucculeri took a look at some of the delays around Tulsa before having some fun with disgruntled voters.

"We had some folks make a special request," Brucculeri explained. "I know a lot people said that if their candidate lost the election, they'd be moving to Canada -- not sure why, but that was some of the folks' promises out there."

So, the traffic anchor proceeded to give "the quickest and directest route" up north, where big government, same sex marriage and universal health are a part of everyday life.

Brucculeri advised Tulsa residents to take Highway 75 to Omaha, and then I-29 to the Canadian border.

"This is serious stuff," he told laughing staff in the newsroom. "When you get to Canada, you're going to hit the border here, make sure you got either your [passport] card or your passport, OK, to get into Canada now. Then you're going to get back on Highway 75 in Canada or it's actually the Lord Selkirk Highway. If you're moving to Canada, you're going to need to know this. Lord Selkirk Highway, OK?"

Montreal-based immigration lawyer immigration lawyer David Cohen told CNN that he had received calls from all over the United States after Romney lost on Tuesday.

"That's the amazing thing, when they speak on the phone. They're adamant. They feel very, very strong about it," Cohen said. "This government doesn't speak for me' is the language that we often hear."

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Ron Paul decided to break from conservatives who are opposed to the Islamic center being proposed near ground zero and called them out for their demagoguery but refused to throw his own son under the bus along with the rest of them on CNN's AC360.

From Justin Elliot over at Salon's War Room --Ron Paul vs. Rand Paul on the mosque:

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is out with a strong new statement going after conservative critics of the Islamic community center near ground zero that implicitly criticizes his own son, Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul.

The background here is that Rand Paul has been on the record several times saying that, while he doesn't support any federal intervention, he does not think the so-called "ground zero mosque" should be built. "I think reconciliation is best promoted by -- instead of having a multi-million dollar mosque -- maybe having a multi-million dollar donation to the memorial site, would be better for all," he told the Daily Caller. (His opponent, Democrat Jack Conway, has said much the same.)

You can read all of Ron Paul's statement here: Ron Paul to Sunshine Patriots: Stop Your Demagogy About The NYC Mosque!.

Apparently he wasn't willing to offer his son up as one of those demagogues during this interview on CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta filling in for Anderson Cooper.

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