Pour a can of beans over my head. I was wrong.
Proving there are some things in life that you truly can't make up, the Garvin County GOP Bean Feed is a totally real and spectacular event. It's not a prank.
On August 24th, Garvin County Republicans really are going to set around, eat beans and cornbread, fart, and talk about the good old days of the Klu Klux Klan. It's the type of thing they call in rural Oklahoma a "typical Saturday night."
Via Business Insider:
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) will not be attending a fundraiser for a local Republican Party chapter after the group distributed a flyer promising the event would feature a discussion of "some things that you may not know" about the Ku Klux Klan. However, one of the event's organizers insisted the fundraiser was not "connected" to the KKK and was simply going to include information about how Democrats can be linked to the group.
Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz told Business Insider on Wednesday that the governor's office contemplated having her attend the GOP Bean Feed hosted by the Garvin County Republicans on Aug. 23, however, she will not be going to the event.
"They had invited her to go, we had said we would look to put it on her schedule. She is not going," said Weintz.
A flyer distributed by the Garvin County Republicans promised the event would feature a "great agenda" including remarks from Fallin and an opportunity to "discuss issues with fellow conservatives and find out some things that you may not know about the NRA, Planned Parenthood, Ku Klux Klan, and other organizations. Weintz would not say whether the flyer prompted Fallin's decision not to attend the event.
"All I can tell you is she is not going and certainly that flyer was not something that is run by our office. ... If she had gone, she would have talked about her plan for economic growth in Oklahoma," Weintz said, adding, "The governor was never going to speak about any of those topics. Her plan was always to speak about her re-election campaign and her goals for the state."
Before talking to Weintz, Business Insider spoke with Allie Burgin, the chairman of the Garvin County Republicans, who said he hoped the governor would still attend the event. Burgin said the flyer sparked a "firestorm," but he described it as having been "taken out of context."
"Apparently, we put out a flyer that was not sanctioned by her campaign staff and the flyer had some information that was, I guess, controversial and had some negative connotations," said Burgin.
Burgin insisted his group was not "connected to the KKK in any way." He also pointed out Republicans are the "party of abolition."
Well, at least Mary Fallin is not attending the event. It's good to know we got that part right. However, why did Alex Weintz give these long explanations to Business Insider, but when I contacted him he just provided a simple a one word response? If he would have been more forthcoming, it would have saved me some embarrassment. Did I do something to make him or his boss not like me or something?
Oh well, I guess this is what I get for being an impatient cynic. It goes with the territory. Sometimes it works out well, like when a lady is filming a "Real Housewives of Oklahoma City" or a media pundit glorifies his high school basketball career. Other times, it just bites me in the ass like a can of Habanero chili beans. Welcome to the life of an obscure local social blogger.
To make it up to you and regain your trust, let's bring back our friend Brak:
p.s. - I still have that bag of magic beans that I'd like to sell to the Wallace Collins.
