Earlier this week, Oklahoma was once again hit by a deadly and damaging blast of severe weather.
The whole thing followed the same familiar May sweeps script we’re now used to…
1. Meteorologists spend a good couple of days hyping diabolical forecasts on TV and social media, with some even giving reckless, incredibly bad advice that they later delete, claiming the only way to survive the outbreak is to be underground.
2. Thunder players who aren’t from here nervously ask questions on social media regarding how worried they should be.
3. Most areas of the city and state preemptively shut down so people can stay home and watch their favorite TV meteorologists coordinate their storm chaser squadrons while dancing in front of the radar graphic for a special live broadcast of Severe Weather Theatre.
4. The storms eventually arrive and bring with them a lot of rain, wind, thunder, hail, and, in isolated areas, tornadoes that do a lot of damage.
5. Emergency responders quickly do their thing, and the community rallies to clean up the damage, support one another, and all that Oklahoma Standard stuff.
6. Ryan Walters – the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Education – needlessly arrives on the scene to exploit the tragedy for photo ops and publicity, and I then write about it.
Yep, that’s right!
Even though it’s the “radical left” that will “Never let a good tragedy go to waste,” Ryan Walters hauled ass up to Barnsdall this week to grandstand in front of tornado damage.
Check this out:
I’m often critical of Ryan on this site, but I do want to give him credit for containing his excitement when he said a lot of teachers (a.k.a. terrorists) suffered devastating damage to their homes. I bet that news made him happier than finding a secret stash of porn in a high school library!
Also, quick question – When did our State Leadership put the Oklahoma Department of Education in charge of helping people find hotel rooms and generators following a tornado?
Is that a new thing, or has it always been that way? Do we now call them instead of OKIE next time we dig? They should really clarify this stuff.
In addition to the video above, Ryan also shared some pictures of the image. His team also put together one of those fancy text-based videos complete with sad music:
“You can’t keep Oklahomans down for long.”
Well, that is unless Ryan Walters gets his way and successfully destroys Oklahoma public education from the inside. Then we’ll be down for a long long time.
Also, the next time Ryan tries to exploit a town's tragedy, can he at least spell its name right?
I know I'm not the Oklahoma State Superintendant of Edumacation, but I'm pretty sure the town's name is Barnsdall.
Anyway, we have another couple of weeks of prime severe weather season left on the calendar, so Ryan Walters still may have another opportunity or two to milk a tragedy for all it’s worth. When and if he does, we’ll be sure to let you know about it.
In the meantime, you can support tornado recovery efforts by donating to the Oklahoma Red Cross.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
