We’ve made sport of the slow-moving and seemingly curiosity-challenged capitol press corps in Oklahoma City. But the press’s feeble performance since our blockbuster series began one week ago has baffled many.

First, the press swallowed hook, line, sinker, rod, reel and even the boat when they bought Sen. Harry Coates’ claim that the documents were ‘stolen,’ although no evidence was presented. Normally, reporters are skeptical of such sensational and easily-disproved claims, but not the Oklahoma capitol corps. That whirring sound you may hear is Richard Nixon spinning in his grave, thinking what might have been if only Oklahoma’s capitol gang had been covering Watergate instead of Woodward and Bernstein.

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Attorney General Drew Edmondson is apparently very popular with Oklahoma's lazy media. Our continuing investigation into the media's appalling silence in the "poultrygate" scandal has turned up another interesting development.

World publishing Chairman Richard E. Lorton donated $2,000 to the Edmondson re-election effort last year. Coincidentally, Edmondson also won the World's endorsement. The AG's republican opponent James Dunn was outraised and outspent almost three to one in the race and was soundly defeated in a landslide. (61% -39%) Read more...

Privately, some law enforcement officials familiar with the case say there is no basis for Coates’ claim of theft, and that in fact the whole situation suggests the Senator is demonstrating some “erratic” behavior. It will be interesting to see how Coates’ and the press play it if no villain is apprehended when the approximately two weeks it takes to investigate Coates’ bizarre claims passes.

Second, the press corps apparently ignored more curious partisan developments. Dirty Harry was accompanied by Democratic House Minority Leader Danny Morgan, and other members of the house minority party. Virtually all of Coates’ plotting has been in concert with Democrat lobbyists and liberal Republicans. The press corps missed Coates’ cryptic threats to “turn the Senate upside down,” but we didn’t. Expect the beleaguered Senator to at the very least publicly threaten to switch parties before the session is up if he doesn’t get his way.

Recent campaign reports for the Attorney General show contributions from the station's owner Bill Drewry and the station manager Larry Patton. Mr. Patton even uses KSWO's P. O. Box as his "address for the contributor." Read more...

Thirdly, while the press corps obsessed about how OKPNS came to have the documents, they completely ignored what was IN the documents. If the cure for cancer and a map to the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa were contained in the notes, Oklahomans wouldn’t have known. Nobody asked Coates about his insulting and unintelligent notes about Oklahoma business leaders and especially his threats against fellow Republican Senator Glenn Coffee, the Co-President Pro Tem.

Frankly, we can reasonably conclude that the press corps is sympathetic to Coates’ plight and that they oppose HB 1804, so don’t expect any tough questions aimed at Senator Coates or any other of the dull-witted conspirators of the anti-1804 gaggle, as evidenced from the Daily Oklahoman’s boneheaded and boorish editorial yesterday.

But don’t worry: we at OKPNS will bring you the truth, focusing on the important issues that the Oklahoma press and their cronies DON’T want you to know. Posted at 4/14/2008 11:58:00 AM