We’re living in bizarro times, Oklahoma!
Earlier this week, I was mining through all the insane bills our state lawmakers have filed in search of good old-fashioned outrage bait that gets people's attention. You know, crazy, clickable gold like this.
While doing this research, I stumbled across something both shocking and puzzling.
It appears Republican State Senator Dave Rader – the former head football coach of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane – has filed a bill that would help protect the rights, property and possessions of people living in homeless encampments from the surprise invasions and sweeps that Kevin Stitt unleashed with Operation S.A.F.E.
If you need a refresher on that cruel, compassionless, crazy police-state style crackdown that Stitt enacted over the summer, you can read this article or this article or really any article about it to get a general idea.
Rader’s bill is wild for a Republican, because instead of trying to ban shelters, cut homeless assistance or criminalize living in a tent underneath a highway like virtually all other insane proposals, he wants to enact some very basic, very boring, and very constitutional guardrails on encampment sweeps.
For example, under his bill, Stitt and OHP wouldn’t be able to roll up on horses unannounced and round up homeless people onto trucks like they’re cattle. They’d actually have to provide advance notice before clearing an area, document what they take, and even store seized items for a set period of time.
If any Oklahoma Republican introducing a bill like that seems suspicious, I agree with you, but here’s the proof:
Two quick thoughts…
1. I’m for this bill. From the people living in them to the people driving past them to, most of all, the people owning homes near them, I don’t think anyone likes homeless encampments.
Sometimes they do need to come down – but stupid things like Operation S.A.F.E. only make the problem worse. Putting some rules in place to protect homeless people when these raids occur seems like a smart and decent thing to do.
2. What the hell is a Republican doing introducing this bill?
Seriously, what’s going on here?
Sure, the bill still lets the state plow through homeless camps like an F5 tornado in the springtime, but since when do Republicans care about homeless folks and their possessions with even a speck of dignity and compassion? Doesn’t Rader know he’s supposed to be demonizing them instead?
It makes me wonder. Did he file this bill by mistake? Is he bored and craving a primary opponent? Did he lose the State Senate Fantasy Football League and have to file the bill as punishment?
To get to the bottom of it, I sent Mr. Rader the following email.
As of press time, Rader still hasn’t responded. If he does, we’ll let you know.
In the meantime, we’ll continue to follow Rader’s bill to see if it gains any traction. I doubt it will – once again, Oklahoma Republicans really hate homeless people, and any law that even minutely helps them will be considered “woke” – but you never know.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
