With the holiday weekend behind us and no new tragedies available for him to exploit, I guess it’s time to turn our attention back to the “Ryan Walters Is A Right-Wing Chode” news beat.
This time around, Oklahoma lawmakers have finally attempted to neuter Ryan and his right-hand puppeteer and campaign manager – Texas resident Matt Langston.
If you’re not familiar with Matt – or as his Austin cohorts call him, “Assmat” – consider yourself lucky. From all accounts, he’s a Grade-A terrible guy.
Basically, he’s the type of career opportunist who identifies a dopey, easy-to-control Manchurian Candidate to run for public office, helps that candidate get elected, and then, once the candidate takes office, works behind the scenes to set everything on fire and watch it burn, all while enriching himself and his buddies in the process.
Although Oklahoma lawmakers generally have no problem watching our public school system burn – they did just give more taxpayer money to private schools than public ones in the recent budget deal – they are not happy with all the fame and fortune Ryan and Matt have achieved from it.
As a result, the lawmakers – led by State Rep. Mark McBride – have engaged in some combative measures to snip both Ryan and Matt’s abilities to promote and enrich themselves.
For example, last week the House and Senate passed a law that will prohibit the Department of Education from hiring Matt’s out-of-state PR firms to create propaganda and promote Ryan on the national stage. Not coincidentally, all of these firms have connections to Matt Langston.
Via KFOR:
After a fiery, lengthy back and forth between House lawmakers on Thursday afternoon, a bill banning the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s spending on public promotion passed and is now headed to the Governor’s desk.
Last year, News 4 reported OSDE paid Texas-based video production company Precision Outreach $22.5K in taxpayer dollars to produce 30 minutes of videos for the department.
One of those videos included a “public awareness campaign” with clips of people speaking at events for national education and teachers’ groups, while ominous music played in the background. It also featured clips of interviews State Superintendent Ryan Walters gave to national media outlets in which he criticizes teachers’ unions.
As of Thursday evening, that “public awareness campaign” only has 3.8K views on YouTube.
I know this looks good from a PR perspective, and I’m all for it.
If Ryan wants to use state resources to spew misinformation, warped rhetoric, and right-wing distortion to both promote himself and attack Oklahoma teachers, he needs to hire an internal staffer to do it! He can’t just hire all of Matt’s buddies!
That being said – and ironically enough – this is probably the one area of Ryan and Matt’s wasteful spending that actually delivers a bang for its buck!
Channel 4 points out the video “only has 3.8K views on YouTube,” but that stat is as misleading as the info in a Ryan Walters Tan SUV Vlog. It totally disregards the views the video received on other platforms and the impact it made.
For example, we leaked the video on Xitter before it was released on YouTube. That tweet, on its own, got almost 100,000 views. I’m sure it got even more when outraged people shared it on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc.
KFOR’s also not taking into account other inconvenient-for-those-who-hate-Ryan-Walters truths like, for example, all the earned media coverage the video created.
Just think of all the news stories, social media shares, and teachers’ lounge water cooler conversations from across the country that little video generated, which in turn helped Ryan pander to his base and amplify his stick-it-to-the-libs promotional messaging.
Basically, what I’m pointing out is that you can criticize the content, purpose, and messaging of the video – and you totally should – but for only $22,500, the state definitely got its money's worth and then some!
On the topic of getting its money’s worth, the state is also now looking into Matt Langston’s employment.
After numerous unfulfilled requests for the information, Rep. McBride and House Speaker McCall filed a subpoena to get Matt’s employment contract, job description, and other things that are generally filed with HR for a bureaucratic state job.
Usually, when Ryan and Matt are asked to do something, especially if it helps reveal their shady shenanigans, they’ll treat the task like it’s an aging barrel of whiskey and take their sweet time.
This time around, however, they promptly delivered the information:
That’s weird. You have to wonder why they were able to respond so quickly. Here are three theories:
1. There was nothing to provide.
2. There are some shady shenanigans regarding Matt's employment, and they figured cooperating may help keep it under wraps.
3. They realized the Trump guilty verdict was about to be issued and wanted to get the news out so it would be easily buried.
Actually, considering grifter opportunists like Matt and Ryan are able to obtain political power for the sole purpose of promoting and enriching themselves and their allies to the detriment of the people they serve, yeah, it does feel like we live in a banana republic at times.
Seriously, Ryan and Matt are like gorillas who chew up the government banana, throw it up, and then stick it back in their mouths all while beating their chests for the right wing world to see. They're the worst.
KFOR has more information on the subpoena and the ongoing insult game between the parties involved.
Although discrediting Langston – a political foil – and exposing him as the grifter everyone suspects is an obvious motive, I do wonder what long game McBride is playing.
According to the Ogle Mole Network, a woman from Texas who was once close to Matt has reached out to some people in the media with scandalous details about his personal life, revealing “Assmat’s” true character. This makes me wonder if this same person has contacted McBride and lawmakers, and if so, if the details about his mysterious employment are just one layer of a well-deserved character assassination campaign that will burn the strings of Ryan’s puppet master.
If so, that will be more fun to watch than a deadbeat dad buying his mistress a house in some posh area of Texas!
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
