Brent Rinehart: Repub, Christian, Indicted, Homophobe, Comic Book Author
There’s a County Commissioner in Oklahoma who is trying as hard as he can to make an even bigger baffoon of himself. He’s headed to trial on campaign contribution carges, and the IRS wants to put him in jail for contempt of court. So the guy has his campaign come up with an amaturish comic book featuring Satan.
Yeah, this Republican, Oklahoma County Commissioner (that’s Oklahoma City), is a multi-talented guy. Here’s what Mr. Rinehart lists as his accomplishments on his own web site:
Brent ’s notable accomplishments and memberships include:
Nominated Public Official of the Year – Governing Magazine
Voted favorite City Council member – KTOK online poll
Lone voice against removing the cross from the Fairgrounds and advocate in fighting for the cross in the courts
Lone vote against Gay Pride banners on Oklahoma City streets
Pushed veterans preferences for City hiringsCharter Member of the 2nd Amendment Task Force
Life Member of the National Rifle Association
Life Member of Oklahoma Rifle Association
Life Member of Gun Owners of AmericaMember of Rotary Club – Paul Harris Fellow
Member of Lions Club
Member of Moose Lodge
Member of Midwest City Chamber of Commerce
Member of Choctaw Chamber of Commerce
Member of South Oklahoma City Chamber of CommerceUS Air Force crew chief on AWACS– Tinker AFB
Civil service mechanic KC-135’s – Tinker AFBActive Member of First Southern Baptist Church
Of course, he didn’t list those indictments last year. Rinehart was the subject of an investigation for campaign finance law violations, and he got indicted. Indeed, the IRS, as of just a week ago, wants Rinehart in jail for contempt concerning failing to cooperate in an ongoing investigation. (From KSWO in Lawton, OK.) Yes, Rinehart is still awaiting trial. So what does he do to distract the public from his ethical woes? Brent Rinehart has written a comic book trying to tie his political opponents to radical gay activists.
Most folks, facing a trial and with the IRS breathing down their necks, would consider dealing with those legal troubles. Brent Rinehart has instead drawn a truly amatuerish comic book with the goal of insulting citizens he thinks are out to get him. What a pathetic weasel. You can find the story at Reason Magazine (with pictures of the amatuerish comic), Wonkette (with more pictures), at NewsOK.com, and some of the back story of his shenanigans at California Chronicle. Here’s a little bit of the article from the Tulsa World:
Some Oklahoma County voters can expect to receive comic books in the mail soon, but the subject matter will have a serious tone.
The 16-page publication prepared by Commissioner Brent Rinehart’s re-election campaign lampoons gays and criticizes Rinehart’s political opponents. It also features an angel who supports the embattled commissioner and Satan, who supports his critics.
“It’s more or less a story of my experiences of the last four years of being the county commissioner of District 2,” Rinehart told The Oklahoman, which obtained the comic on Wednesday.
Toga-wearing gays, political figures, trench coat-clad henchmen, concerned residents and Rinehart make up the rest of the comic’s characters.
In one sequence, Satan says: “If I can get the kids to believe homosexuality is normal!”
The angel replies: “Hey Satan, not with Brent around you won’t!”
Yes, Rinehart even recruited Satan to appear in the comic book. What a complete weasel. I suppose this is the proof that the Republican Culture of Corruption lives on, as does their tradition of ugly campaign tactics.
The connection is there.
McCain is trying to slay the Obamable man, heck Obama is giving change you could believe in, that is change faster than a micro processor clock. What’s really funny is how McCain now admits he is not Computer literate. Sheesh we all know you don’t have to go to Harvard to be Computer literate, so can be some fun. Here, now the New Yorker turned into a comic book calling it sophisticated humor, but really smacks of plain old smear.
If one does a goggle it can be perceived that National Security formations after World War II are as paranoia as Clark Kent. Here, that super alter ego of the comic book character of the Daily Planet reporter, and Mainstream Media first line Journalist, is placed in a super cultural bubble that can only be penetrated by kryptonite. The two personalities delivered for decades to the America audience is about to haunt those powers that promoted the double life. This is more fun.
Heck for me, as long as Obama seeks the help of Clinton, he will have an interesting advantage in any debate for National Security. My hind sight tells me Clinton could very well read what strategies the Neo-Con’s are up to. After serving in office for eight years, plus watching the sidelines for another ten and battling a Republican Congress back then, along with hatching the rise of newt the hoot Gingrich, Clinton with reflection after shedding the gay stray of Fox news, Dick Morris, and with Gore’s serious concerns for the future of America, all couple with the Limbaugh shuffle, they will develop more than an October surprise. The prophecy is even taking over Limbaugh; he will support Obama, because we know the temperature in hell is getting colder.
Interestingly enough, today our elected officials are finding out that being in the luxury of this discernment of the government bubble once was a duality fill with opacity like Clark Kent, and clever legal ease. Now, the transparency of the Internet is the Kryptonite American’s needed to unveil the enchantments and horrors of our leadership. And, today is giving way to public scrutiny; of course American’s want to know what the real story is behind Valerie Plame.
Actually the list of America’s history has been ditched in National Security Secrets from the get go. Here, the horror of the monsters under your bed or “Bloob” of the fifties is daunting growing wildly and real including a free market system that never was, but always was the Federal Reserve. All controlled for a century by the wealthy kept secret and buried in the Egyptian like tombs called classified secrets in our National Security Agency with a lock and key, the key masters used to be Rocky and Bullwinkle, now our contemporary educational programming now has changed to transformers, blasters or Jimmy neutron.
Now, for me, after doing a goggle about our government way back then in 1947 they obviously had a super ego after wining the demons of World War II. Homeland security was in a shuffle then with Truman planning the new security approach. All those politicians, even up to now, with good intentions followed the IRS path to glory and secret trust funds, Blind Trust funds too. Isn’t that funny, making money blindly? There is good one to tax, and those on Canary Island is laughable, here an Island off the coast of Africa has tax exempt status yet home to hundreds of front companies to Arabian’s that front money to Osama Bin Laden and his family also front companies connected to the Carlyle group Bush friends of the family all silently channeling money form the American treasury to secret bank accounts all endorsed by Congress and ATM’ed by Rockefeller.
Mr. Rodgers said it very well “It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood”, or when the media with fair and balance deliver platitudes of Gort Clatoo Nikto connecto. You know when it took an alien to tell humans to get squared away before we get vaporized.
The comic book is hilarious, and I myself have had several hours of chortling over it.
But I am also from Oklahoma City - and I can tell you that this does NOT represent the worldview of the vast majority of Oklahomans or Republicans - as evidenced by the many quotes from Oklahoma public officials (many Republicans) and academics who rightly condemn Rinehart. The Oklahoman, a conservative newspaper, condemned the comic book in a scathing editorial this week.
Rinehart is a mentally-disturbed narcissist with a penchant for pencil mustaches and corruption, and his (few) supporters are very unbalanced people.
Oklahoma City is a thriving metroplex of more than a million people (named by Forbes as among the top 10 recession proof cities, while a suburb, Norman, was named the 6th best small city in America by Money Magazine last week).
I also hope that those with an axe to grind against Christianity will not somehow take this comic book as indicative of a Christian worldview. Frankly, that’s like shooting fish in a barrel. This is a theologically-bankrupt work, if I may put it bluntly. Christians do not believe in a little midget-man Satan with a pitch fork, nor in malnourished angels with magic wands - any more than we believe heaven is filled with angels playing harps (see C.S. Lewis for a better explication of this). That’s a caricature of a caricature of a caricature.
If you’re an atheist, and wish to dispute Christianity, I would not use this comic book for the foundation of your arguments. It is not at all a representation of Christian beliefs - but is instead the product of a diseased mind.
One aspect of the “comic book” requires a little background - the references to “liberal good ol’ boys”: You should know that the Oklahoma was controlled by a one-party corrupt Democratic machine for its first century (the state just celebrated the centennial). This only has recently changed, but Rinehart is playing on old superstitions about corrupt Democrats who ran the state for so long - and literally almost ran the state into the ground because of THEIR culture of corruption.