Based on his looks, you'd think it would be impossible for James Lankford to turn even more red and pasty than he already is, but here we are.
Earlier this week, our skeletal Senator swung by the US – Mexican border to lament that Joe Biden halted construction on the border fence. It's part of Lankford's attempt to show people on the far right that he's just as mad, nutty and racist as they are:
I know I'm not an incompassionate conservative Senator facing primary challengers in my hardcore red state, but shouldn't Lankford be blaming the stupid bozo who thought wasting time and money on building a fence between two countries was an effective way to stop illegal immigration?
In a normal reality, the correct answer would be "Yes," but as we know, the Oklahoma political world is anything but normal.
Also, leave it to James Lankford to be the guy in the neighborhood who complains when a new homeowner doesn't finish the previous owner's vanity home improvement project. I bet when he was done recording the video he shot a second one for his wife where he complained about the lack of decorative landscaping around the fence posts.
Lankford's pandering turn to the far right is due to a couple of reasons.
The first one is that Lankford's actual political beliefs are probably more reflective of the far right, and for the last 8 years or so, he's been forced to play things cool by pandering to the moderate-conservative middle. Now he's free and unleashed!
Second, the MAGA insurrectionist crowd (a.k.a. The Oklahoma GOP's base) doesn't like Lankford and would like to see him lose in the primary to a more Trump-loyal lunatic. These people genuinely believe that Lankford – a Baptist church camp director who almost always tows the party line – is a fake, weak, conservative RINO because, well, they're kind of nuts.
Yesterday, a Tulsa-area pastor named Jackson Lahmeyer tossed his hat into the ring. He was joined at his press conference by disgraced former general Michal Flynn:
Is "Cowardly" really the right word? When you consider Lankford's procedural vote to certify another state's election results may result in him being voted out of office by the nuts in his own party, you could actually call it brave.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to this upcoming Senate election almost as much as a desperate virgin looks forward to going to Falls Creek. It will be fun to watch Lankford derp it off with people who have equally, if not more, insane views than him. It will also be kind of neat to watch Democrats not capitalize on it.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.
