Last week we shared some of the hipster-fabulous happiness from Christina Fallin and Matt Bacon's wedding page. We shared it with you because we thought is was pretty damn funny.
Now, as a result of that post, some local news agencies are reporting something that we already knew. That something is the inconvenient fact that Matt Bacon is a convicted drug dealer and former addict. From KTOK Radio via the obscure local conservative blog The McCarville Report:
A spokesman for Governor Mary Fallin has declined comment about Oklahoma County court documents that indicate her new son-in-law, Matthew William Bacon, once was convicted of selling drugs and received a 7-year suspended sentence.
The governor returns this weekend from Ireland where she attended the wedding of her daughter, Christina, 24 to the 32-year old Bacon. A check of records in the state court system indicated a Matthew William Bacon was arrested in 2003 for selling Oxycodone within 2,000 feet of an Oklahoma County school. Bacon pleaded guilty in December of 2004 and drew the 7 year suspended sentence but had to spend 7 weekends in the Oklahoma County jail.
His mug shot from the Oklahoma County sheriff's office indicates it is the same Bacon who married Christina Fallin. Bacon was arrested by a State Drug Bureau agent and has not been in any trouble with the law since the bust.
When asked about it, Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz told KTOK News the office wasn't commenting about the records. However a comparison of Bacon's mug shot with pictures obtained from the website, "Lost Ogle' shows he is the apparent same person. And the ages of the two Matthew William Bacons are the same--32.
I know that some people out there are going to jump all over this story. They're going to flash Matt's mug shot and claim it's just another example of Mary Fallin's hypocrisy. They're going to cry that he goes against Fallin's strong conservative stance on social issues and say it totally contradicts Fallin's campaign slogan of "Faith, Family and Freedom."
And you know what, they're going to be totally wrong.
You see, I don't really think you can blame a politician for the past transgressions of some hipster in-law. For better or for worse, Mary's daughter fell in love with the guy and married him. That's beyond Mary's control. And Mary did the right thing by being supportive of it.
Also, I can see this story maybe being an issue if the arrest was recent, but it took place way back in 2003. That's a lot of time for change, growth and recovery to take place in a someone's life.
Hell, back in 2003 I was a single guy with only slightly graying hair and was just getting started on what I thought would be a long career in marketing in PR. I even liked Incubus. Now eight years later I'm a divorced single guy, the hair is much grayer, and I'm a full time blogger. And Incubus...I still like some of their older stuff.
Basically, people can change and do change over time. Some change for the better, some change for the worse, and some just change. Let's hope that Matt Bacon is one of those "change for the better" type of people. Lets hope that he no longer uses or deals narcotics, and lets hope the only stupid thing he does is take funny hipster photos in a Chanel scarf.
And if you are going to attack Mary Fallin for being a hypocrite, chose the stuff Mary Fallin controls. There's plenty of it out there.
You know, like taking a vacation to the Bahamas (and now Ireland) just after pleading for Oklahomans to keep their money at home and travel in state. Maybe go after her for the stupidity of her campaign ads and wanting to accept the Federal stimulus funds that she adamantly opposed in campaign speeches. Or best yet, just bring up the **alleged** affair she had with a bodyguard while running on a campaign platform of Faith, Family and Freedom. That's what I would do.
