OKLAHOMA CITY — Billed as “Oklahoma’s first-ever indoor Tea Party at the Capitol,” the Oklahoma Constitutional Alliance held their indoor Tea Party on Monday less than two hours before Gov. Brad Henry gave his final State of the State address before a joint session of the Legislature.

This loose coalition of groups includes the Sooner Tea Party, AxXiom for Liberty, Moore/Norman 912 Project, Oklahoma Chapter of the John Birch Society, the Muskogee Tea Party, Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, OKforTea.com, Shawnee/Tecumseh 912 Project, Fair Tax, Oklahoma Second Amendment Association, Tulsa Town Hall, Tulsa 912 Project, OKC 912 Project, ROPE, Tulsa County GOP *(this group is not a part of OCA, despite OCA’s claim that they were at the time of this article), Oklahoma 10th Amendment Center, REPO, We Are Change, Remember the Bailout, Lincoln County 912 Project, Kill The Maps 3 Tax, Americans for Prosperity, OSU Tea Party, Oklahoma Conservative PAC and Radio Free Oklahoma.

The purpose, according to organizers J.W. Berry, Al Gerhart, Norm Seaberg  and others, was to further organize citizens and have them politely but firmly approach their legislators and urge them to follow the Constitution and support bills that support freedom and liberty in Oklahoma.

Mike McNeil, a Lawton activist involved with the Lawton chapter of the John Birch Society said he came up to the Capitol to participate in the indoor Tea Party in hopes of meeting with a representative from Southwest Oklahoma whom he said was supporting legislation that would be able to track people.

“The people are not going away,” McNeil said, noting that legislators cannot legislate away our “right to privacy.”

And legislators who support “right to privacy” and the entire Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution spoke out.

“If you’re here, you’re sick of politics as usual,” said organizer Al Gerhart, adding that Oklahoma has been receiving a lot of attention nationally in light of the large number of bills that have been authored in 2010 that support the Bill of Rights.

Rep. Mike Ritze, a Broken Arrow Republican and a physician, spoke about HJR 1054, the Healthcare Freedom of Choice Act which has support from Rep. Mike Reynolds, (R-Oklahoma City) and Sen. Randy Brogdon, (R-Owasso) who is also running for governor.

This measure, noted Ritze, would send a message to Washington that messing with existing health-care options is a bad idea, especially in the Sooner State.

“HJR 1054 is a very simple bill,” Ritze said. “It allows citizens of Oklahoma, a sovereign state, to opt out of ObamaCare.”

Ritze said this would assure Oklahomans that if they decided federal health care was not for them they would “not be fined, subjet to prison sentences or attacked.”

“This is a common sense solution to what’s coming out of Washington these days,” Ritze said.

“Thirty-three states are plagiarizing our bill, HJR 1054,” Ritze said with a smile. “They are looking to us for leadership.”

Reynolds, who supports HJR 1054, also spoke, adding that he is “an ardent supporter of state’s rights.”

Brogdon spoke as well, noting that he was the Senate author on the bill and that considering his successful move to opt out of REAL ID three years ago, opting out of ObamaCare is also possible.

“We have an opportunity to stop ObamaCare,” Brogdon said.

Other speakers took to the lectern as well, including Reps. Charles Key and Paul Wesselhoft, both who are pushing pro-freedom bills that have been noted here at Oklahoma Watchdog. Additionally, former Rep. Kevin Calvey, a Republican who is also running for the 5th Congressional District seat being vacated by US Rep. Mary Fallin.

Calvey’s issue was the Council on American-Islamic Relations, better known as CAIR. Calvey suggested that the organization is a hate group tied to terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Do you ever wonder why they’re afraid to call a spade a spade when it comes to terrorism?” Calvey asked rhetorically. “We intend to continue speaking out about (CAIR’s) terrorism connections.”

Calvey has attended protests, including a recent protest at the University of Oklahoma, that have spoken out against CAIR due to their alleged terrorist links.

By Andrew W. Griffin

Oklahoma Watchdog, editor

Posted: February 1, 2010

andrew@oklahomawatchdog.org

*CORRECTION made April 19, 2010

Copyright 2010 Oklahoma Watchdog