Say what you want about Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters and his scorched earth attempt to destroy Oklahoma public schools from the inside, he’s obviously learned from his mistakes!
For example, last year, Ryan tasked one of his staff members – the now aspiring congressman Justin Holcomb – to secure a speaking gig at CPAC so Ryan could promote his grifty education agenda, and more importantly, boost his standing and future income opportunities, with the right-wing political propaganda machine.
Justin’s attempt to score his boss a CPAC slot failed miserably. They wouldn’t even let Ryan be part of the fittingly named “Education For Dummies” panel, a big black eye for one of the biggest education dummies we know! Instead, CPAC offered to sell him some general admission tickets in the bleachers with all the other loser conservative nut jobs...
Before you could say “BLM kitty litter trans library porn,” Justin was sent to the back of the line and got the hell out of town. He was quickly replaced with long-time conservative propagandist Dan Putzett and some fresh-out-of-water, long-legged, blonde 20-something.
You can see them below over Ryan's left shoulder, pondering how in the world this guy is their boss while he blabbers to a congressional committee about anti-woke voucher book bans or whatever.
Although you’d think Putzett and Blondie are more than qualified to waste taxpayer money and score Ryan national speaking gigs and cable news appearances for his own personal benefit, I guess Ryan wanted them to be more focused on run-of-the-mill tasks, like attacking teachers, filming car videos and exploiting a teen’s suicide for political gain:
To get the big-time fringe cable news appearances, Ryan used taxpayer dollars to hire some media fixer consultant to do the job.
We know this thanks to a report by Wendy Suave-Suares and the newshounds at Oklahoma Watch:
Public money for Oklahoma students is paying for email pitches like this one:
“Good morning! Ryan Walters, state superintendent of Oklahoma, banned porn/explicit reading materials and graphics from classrooms in Oklahoma, but Edmond Public Schools is appealing this action, asking the state Supreme Court to allow porn back in classrooms.”
That pitch goes on to say:
“School board members won’t even allow adults to read these books out loud, yet Edmond Public Schools are begging for kids to be reading this sexual garbage.”...
Vought Strategies, a communications firm in Arlington, Virginia, sent those emails in recent weeks to national media outlets. The Oklahoma Department of Education hired the firm to write speeches and op-eds and book Walters on at least 10 national TV and radio appearances per month.
That has some people questioning whether Walters is boosting his national profile at the public’s expense — something Mary Vought, president and founder of the firm, made clear she is working to do.
First of all, who are the "some people" that are questioning whether Ryan “is boosting his national profile at the public’s expense?” Of course he is! This would be like "some people" questioning if Ryan knows how to spell ‘Sanctuary’?” Of course he doesn’t!
As Oklahoma Watch reports, the contract to boost Ryan Walters' image on the state’s dime was awarded to Mary Vought with Vought Communications.
It’s time for one of my favorite mean jokes…
Mary Vought walked into a bar and ordered a drink. The bartender looked at her and said “Hey, Mary! Why the long face!”
Mary is a DC-area politico and is married to Russell Voight – a stalwart conservative nerfherder who briefly ran Trump’s budget office, and is now part of the team looking to overthrow the American government as part of Project 2025…
According to Oklahoma Watch, Mary is getting $5,000 a month to boost Ryan's image and standing.
I hate to admit it, but she's doing a hell of a job!
Usually when the media files a report about an expensive and needless state contract, the focus is on corruption, cronyism, or excessive billing, but that's not an issue with Mary!
Whether he’s talking about manufactured controversies like banning porn in schools, vilifying teachers, librarians, and people in the LGBTQ community, or simply going on rants about toe licking, she’s gone above and beyond to score Ryan speaking gigs on Fox News and the other fringe conservative media outlets that Mike Gundy watches at bedtime.
Seriously, this lady knows how to get people on national TV!
Next week, expect Shelly Zumwalt to reach out to see if Mary can score her a show on the Travel Channel!
You can read more about Ryan's quest to use taxpayer funding to boost his national image over at Oklahoma Watch.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
