One positive thing to come from the general dysfunction in Oklahoma government is that we've received a huge bump in travel dollars from out-of-state journalists looking to chronicle our state's embarrassing problems.
Whether it's a police shooting of an unarmed black man, botched execution, deadly extreme weather, man-made earthquake epidemic, syphilis outbreaks, or how oil companies have corrupted our elected leaders, Oklahoma has become the go-to spot for reporters in search of sad profiles on American life that make you question the stability of society and foundations of democracy.
The same even goes for satirical news outlets looking for the cheap, easy material that we in Oklahoma are blessed with on an almost daily basis. Earlier this week, The Opposition with Jordan Klepper aired this semi-humorous and sad feature on the draconian cuts to our education funding:
First of all, let's give it up to the panhandling teacher. That was an excellent publicity stunt. Social media bandits just can't resist a clickable headline like "Oklahoma teacher panhandling for school supplies." It's nice to see it all pay off for her.
It's also nice to once again see our state shine in the national spotlight. Sure, it's an embarrassing shine, but any publicity is good publicity. If a producer from The Opposition – or any of the other satirical cable fake news shows – wants to scour through our archives, there's a shitload of more material for you.
