A Bubbaworld Guest Commentary By Bobbie McAuliffe
January 14, 2007
I pulled the following comment from the LEFLORE COUNTY NEWS archive story:
Poteau Daily News - Why Now? To begin this new story of LITTLE DIXIE POLITICS.
At 10:57
AM, said…
I spoke with the reporter about the story of Barbara's arrest appearing on the front page a week after the event and was told they had received a number of phone calls asking why the paper had not published it because it was "all over the internet" with "pictures and everything" This amateur sleuth suspects those phone calls came from the Oklahoma Forums "reporter" and "photographer" who ran the shameful thread and hoped to embarrass Barbara.
I have in my personal archives a copy of the thread on Oklahoma Forums where
Barbara was made fun of for being
arrested. It is not a far stretch
to imagine those making fun of her are the ‘reporter’ and ‘photographer’ and the
ones who put that information ‘all over the internet’. But that is another story. I posted that comment to introduce you
to the ‘reporter’. There is an
unwritten rule in internet forums not to identify a member even if you know them
by their real legal name and post under a pseudonym or user name. That rule does not apply to this
report. The ‘reporter’ is heavily
involved in local Democratic politics and a strong supporter of Senator Kenneth
Corn. She has known him since he
was a toddler and loves him dearly.
On December 21, 2006 she
submitted this letter to The Heavener Ledger. It was probably in the Poteau Daily News
as well, but I threw that paper out before this unexpected confrontation
began. Here she is responding about
a letter another citizen had written the previous week about our ballot
initiative to apply an additional fee to cell phones not passing. She writes:
I appreciate the letter written by
Cody and April Smith concerning the IMPORTANCE of the enhanced 911 cells Phone
use and it’s failure to pass in the last election.
I would also like to point out a
major problem that I feel caused the failure of it to pass plus a problem that
1,013 VOTES were NOT counted in the
District Judges race in LeFlore County alone due to the layout of the
ballot……791 votes were not counted on the 911.
On the ballot it appeared YOU could
VOTE Straight Party on those 2….when in reality YOU must have marked BOTH of
them separately.
The State Election Board in
Our Senator & Representative
Kenneth Corn and Neil Brannon will be carrying a bill to do away with “Straight
Party Voting” which should have been done years ago. And we would not have had this
problem. I also want to say that
our
Never the less that didn’t happen so
we live with what the system printed until we make the needed changes….Thank You
for printing this letter and letting 1,013 people know their Vote didn’t count
because of Straight Party
Ruth Wilson
Since the primary election last July I have spent a lot of time and money to get people interested in and informed in voting. In my mind it is a responsibility and a privilege too few take advantage of. It makes me sad when only 10% of registered voters show up at the polls. I worry that if more do not take responsibility we will loose that privilege . I read legislative news daily.
I responded to the above letter with this one, printed in the December 28, 2006 issue of The Heavener Ledger:
Regarding the letter by Ruth Wilson
in the December 21 issue of the Heavener Ledger: Senator Corn and Representative Brannon
did announce they would co-author a bill to remove the straight party voting option from our election ballots
in the Poteau Daily News in late November,
but this bill (SB 16) has
been filed by Senator Debbie Leftwich, D- (from Tulsa, I think). This is going to be an interesting
year in the State Legislature. You
can follow all the news and activity from this website: http://www.okinsider.com/home.oki
I agree the ballot was poorly
organized and I did support the $6.00 a year cell phone tax, but I personally
like the straight party option and think removing it will create just as many
errors on the ballots. The real
answer to these problems of over votes and under votes is an educated
voter. Perhaps not all, but many of
the under votes on the Cell Phone Tax question were people who just did not care
one way or the other and chose not to vote, just as the 2100+ voters who chose
not to vote on retaining judges and changing the State Constitution on the back
side of our ballots.
The latest information I have found
is 33 of our 50 states do not have a straight party option on the election
ballots. People who oppose
eliminating the straight party option say this causes people to spend more time
in the voting booth, creates longer lines and discourages turnout.. Eliminating the straight party option
‘forces’ voters to think about who they are voting for. Something many are not willing to do,
IMO. The bottom line is voting
straight party is an option.
It can be ignored and the voter can
vote “for the candidate and not the party” if they choose. I found this interesting story about
straight party voting on the internet :
http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=4642
Bobbie
McAuliffe
Poteau
Ruth responded with this to the Heavener Ledger and Poteau Daily News.
I must say i was a bit surprised and
amused that Bobbi McCaulilffe would respond to an article I placed in the
Heavener Ledger. And I haven't yet decided , just WHY...she has
a little chat board on the computer and I put several post there which was much
too Democratic
for her Republican views and she chose to ban me from posting on her
board.
Now all of a
sudden, because she thinks I might be wrong and in her intellectual and most
experienced knowledge of WHO is carrying a bill and where that author lives, she
just MUST express her intelligence via the
Ledger.
Miss Bobbi
(her computer title,) I must tell you Senator Debbie Leftwich happens to live in
Also Ms
Bobbi, for your correct information, Senator and Rep Kenneth Corn and Neil
Brannon made a personal visit to the State Election Board because so many
complaints were made concerning the 'LayOUT' of that ballot...and the many
people who thought they voted for all the candidates including the 911 and the
District Judges race.
The State
Secretary told both Corn and Brannon , that the law needed a change and
Legislation needed to pass a low to do away with "Straight Party Voting"
Both men
filed papers in order to be able to carry that bill when they convene back to
the Capitol.
In the meantime, Senator Leftwich
heard about their plan for the bill and decided to write a bill of her own which
I suppose is legal but I happen to know how and when the idea was broght forth
for the changes.
Course Ms. Bobbie mentions some
are not educated enough and it might make some "Think" It might take longer in
the booth for others and all the other excuses that is normal for her to
introduce folks with all her knowledge of the Political World.
With that
knowledge she questions that the 1,013 under votes in the Dist Judges race might
have been a lack of interest as was on the State Level Judges
race.
Most people
in Leflore county knew that was the hotest race in the county and in my humble
opinion...I feel that OUR FREEDOM TO VOTE has a high price tag paid for by the
life's of our Military...If it means do away with "Straight Party Voting" so be
it.
Sincerely
Ruth Wilson
At least two people
called me to ask if they had missed something. They had read my previous letter but
could not relate this response to it.
This is not the first time Ruth has made efforts to discredit me. Ruth has brought up to me a number of
times about my knowledge and experience.
For many years I had a job that required travel by car over 5
states. I did not spend very much
time at home, I am not acquainted with all the “movers and shakers”; but I
listen to the radio and I read news papers. I know a little bit about politics and
right and wrong.
I AM NOT
AMUSED
First off, my name is Bobbie McAuliffe. I have been acquainted with Ruth nearly
20 years. She has seen my name in
print many times in many places and has never spelled it correctly. In this very letter she butchered it 4
times. My ‘computer name’ is msbobbie. She never gets that right
either. Ruth tends to twist things
the way she thinks they should be, regardless of reality, as evidenced in the rest of her
letter.
Secondly, I did not ban
her from my “little chat board” .
http://theokforum.com/ . where she was registered as Hawkeye and
BusyBusy30. There are 4
administrators on that board, which by the way is twice the size of the two she
participates on regularly http://users.boardnation.com/~stumpburners
and http://oklahomaforums.com/ where her username is Starbright. She has also been known to post with the
username of Snakeyes, She was banned but I am not the one who did it and posted
that information to her on the stumpburners board in early
November.
At the time I submitted
the information that Senator Leftwich had entered a bill to eliminate straight
party voting was true. When the
paper was distributed that information was still true. Senator Corn’s bill was not drafted for
several days after that, and was
not posted until after the holidays. It does not matter where Senator Leftwich
lives.
I never denied anyone a
right to vote. I never said I want
the straight party option to stay on the ballot. I did not mention the District Judges
race at all, and did not say
anything about Democrats or Republicans.
Ruth is more than upset
that Marion Fry did not win the District Judge race. She seems to think it is
because so many people thought they were voting for him in a non partisan race
when they voted straight party democrat. When she was running around campaigning
for him she should have made sure the voters she talked to understood how to
vote. After all, we have had straight party voting and non partisan elections
since statehood. What is so
different about this race than the other 25-50 elections we have had? The bottom
line is Marion Fry lost the race because more people voted for Judge
Williams. It is as simple as
that. I made the statement that the
answer to the problems of over and under votes was an educated voter, but she
chose to imply that I thought the voters were
uneducated.
I also submitted this
letter that was published in both the Heavener Ledger and Poteau Daily
News.
I have had quite a few emails and excited phone calls from people wanting to know about SB-16 introduced by Senator Leftwich, D-OKC and SB-40 introduced by Senator Corn, D-Poteau into the Oklahoma Legislature for consideration this upcoming session that will eliminate straight party voting and any kind of party designated emblem from our ballots when we vote. Some have the idea that that means ‘open primaries’.
This legislation will only affect the General Elections in November when there is only one ballot printed for everyone with an option to vote straight party, or ignore that section and go down the list of candidates voting for the person and not the party. It will not have an effect on the primary elections when everyone only gets a ballot for the party they are registered with.
NO! it does not mean that we registered Republicans and Independents will finally have a say in local and county elections when only Democrats file for an office. It only removes the straight party option from the top of the ballot in the General Election. It will also prevent any party from displaying their emblem on the ballot to identify which party they are representing. People are going to have to take more responsibility for getting informed about who to vote for, then spend a lot of extra time in the voting booth.
I like having the straight party option but I can live without it. I feel removing it will discourage turnout, and create even more ballot errors than we have now. From research on the internet I have learned that 33 of our 50 states do not have a straight party option on their ballots, and of the states that do have that option, far more Democrats than Republicans vote straight party.
Read the text of Senator Corn’s bill here:
http://www.okinsider.com/topic_01RI143LMO/viewtext.oki?SB0040
And the text of Senator Leftwich’s bill, taken two weeks earlier, here:
http://www.okinsider.com/topic_01RI143LMO/viewtext.oki?SB0016
Bobbie McAuliffe
Lastly, I submitted this letter to the readers of
Heavener Ledger defending myself over the way Ruth Wilson misconstrued my
letter. It was published January
11, 2007.
I have just read the letter by Ruth Wilson on the
forum page of the January 4, 2007 issue of the Ledger and am only going to
respond to the first paragraph.
First I want to say I have known Ruth for nearly 20 years and she has
seen my name in print many times in many places and still cannot spell it
correctly.
Ruth seems to shape things the way she thinks they
should be and ignores reality. If
she does not know something she makes it up. I learned long ago to consider the
source when I see her name attached to anything political.
I participate on several internet forums, as does
she. The one she refers to being banned from, I am one of four administrators on
and am not the one who banned her.
I posted that information on another forum where she is a member and my
post was deleted. So There. (I
enjoyed the banter and helping Ruth make a fool out of
herself)
I have banned no one from our discussion except
overseas pornography spammers and won’t.
I use my own name in these discussions but have known Ruth to post under
at least four different ones and never her own.
I invite anyone who is interested and has internet
access to log on to http://theokforum.com/ and read for yourself in LOCAL NEWS AND
POLITICS and STATE NEWS AND POLITICS.
The topics we discussed were the Tom Lannigan and Kenneth Corn campaigns,
the Danita Williams and Marion Fry campaigns for District Judge and the MURDER
SUICIDE IN STIGLER topic. You do
not have to register to read these discussions. She posted with the user-name hawkeye
and I am as always msbobbie.
Bobbie McAuliffe
Poteau.
I participate on several internet forums,
as does she. The one she refers to being banned from, I am one of four
administrators there and am not the one who banned her. I posted that information on another
forum where she is a member and my post was
deleted. So There. (The missing post has since been restored)
Time will tell if Mrs. Wilson chooses to take another
public stab at me. The next Ledger
will not come out until January 19.
I would expect any letter she submits to the PDN to not be printed until
the weekend,
I have duplicated much of this on a TOPIX forum where no one has buttons, and put
the url in my signature line knowing someone would lead her to
it.