Editor's Note: Bill Graves, owing to term limits was not eligible to run
for re-election in 2004. His wife, Connie, unsucessfully ran to succeed him.
The editors of Bubbaworld are leaving this page intact in the
interest of Oklahoma history.
Throughout the following direct quotes from various sources will be presented in
Bold.
Commentary of the Editors of Bubbaworld will appear in Italic.
Oklahoma Representative Bill Graves, Republican, from Oklahoma City is, in the opinion of this writer, Oklahoma's answer to the Taliban's Mullah Omar in that he appears to believe that governance is conducted by devine right and that all law should be derived from "religious law".
Rep. Graves has been a member of the Oklahoma Legislature twice with a three year break in between. Graves was first a member of the Oklahoma House from 1978 to 1986 and then again from 1989 to the present.
To call Rep. Graves a "conservative" is akin to calling a Lexus "just another car". Graves consistently strives to "out conservative" practically all of his brothers in politics and in the Oklahoma Legislature this is not an easy task. Time and again, in practically every legislative session, Rep. Graves introduces one or more bills which may well come right out of the Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Ralph Terry political playbook.
The Oklahoma Constitution which bills itself as "Oklahoma's Conservative Voice Since 1979" gives Rep. Graves outstanding marks in it's annual "Oklahoma Conservative Index", rating him with 99 out of a possible 100 points in its most recent rating.
On 8/05/2000, following the US Supreme Court decision regarding prayer at high school football games, Rep. Graves penned a piece in the Daily Oklahoman, titled "Jesus, Prayer, and Judicial Tyranny". In this piece Rep. Graves took to task not only the US Supreme Court but also Congress, as well as conservative Christians and Republicans in general.
Quoting from Rep. Grave's Daily Oklahoman piece:
The appropriate response is righteous anger, moral outrage, and demands for removal of Justices who abuse their powers or for limiting those powers. Nevertheless, Republicans and conservative Christians contend the solution is to elect Republican Presidents to appoint conservative Justices except, that is a part of the problem. Seven of the nine current Justices were appointed by GOP Presidents. Others urge constitutional amendments, but this concedes the Courts were right.
We here at Bubbaworld can only opine that Rep. Graves being a member of the Oklahoma Bar should realize that under the US Constitution the Supreme Court is the final arbitrator of what is and isn't right in regard to both the law and constitutional issues. Maybe Rep. Graves missed class on the day they covered this topic at law school. Or was Graves simply engaging in a bit of "Mullah Omar type rhetoric"?
Following the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, Oklahoma Representative Charles Key attempted to raise funds to support his calls for a grand jury to investigate what Key alleged was a federal cover up and conspiracy regarding the bombing investigation. When questions surfaced regarding Key's fund raising efforts and Key was called before a grand jury in 1997, Rep. Graves served as his legal adviser.
Rep. Key was defeated in his re-election bid the following year and was in 1999 reportedly selling Hydroxygen Plus and as well as distributorships for the product via a web page. Supposedly Hydroxygen Plus is a cure for a variety of ailments from wrinkles to unsafe tap water. We at Bubbaworld have no idea if Rep. Graves is still associated with Mr. Key or a user of his "products"...
In 1997, in the midst of The Tin Drum Fiasco in Oklahoma City Rep. Graves spoke at various area libraries in support of the OCAF, a local organization which was at the heart of the censorship fiasco that made Oklahoma the laughing stock of the world.
As the Junk Justice and Okie Science Scandal was sweeping Oklahoma, with several falsely convicted individuals being released after many years in prison, a call was going out to "compensate" these innocent men for the grave injustice the State of Oklahoma had dealt them. Rep. Graves always the "conservative" and therefore tight with a dollar took the position as quoted below:
"People are guaranteed a fair trial, they are guaranteed justice. That's what the Constitution provides for. It does not provide for a perfect system"
At the time of this writing 102 individuals in the United States have had their convictions over-turned on the basis of DNA testing. Of those 102 individuals, 8 were falsely convicted and sentenced in Oklahoma. We here at Bubbaworld have no idea what Rep. Graves considers "perfect" but in our opinion it damned sure isn't a system which leads the nation in false convictions.
During the first session of the 47th Oklahoma Legislature, in 1999, Rep. Graves introduced House Bill 1706. The intent of this bill was to authorize placing the Ten Commandments in the public schools of Oklahoma. The text of the bill as introduced by Rep. Graves is available here: House Bill 1706.
Rep. Graves introduced House Bill 1707 during the first session of the 47th Legislature. In addition to specifying who may adopt a child under Oklahoma law this bill specifically bared any homosexual or lesbian person from adopting a child. The text of this bill is available here: House Bill 1707.
During this same session Rep. Graves authored House Bill 1802
which addressed issues involved in child custody and
guardianship. A portion of this bill specified that:
If it is established that a parent of the child is engaging
in homosexual activity, there shall be a rebuttable presumption
that it is not in the best interests of the child to have custody
of the child granted to that parent.
House Bill 1802 is available in committee substitute form here:
House
Bill 1802.
During the second session of the 47th Oklahoma Legislature, Rep. Graves introduced House Bill 2671. This bill would have provided up to a $500 credit against Oklahoma income taxes for those parents that paid tuition for a child in either a public or private elementary or secondary school. You can read the text of this bill as introduced here: House Bill 2671.
This proposal by Rep. Graves leaves us here at Bubbaworld to wonder just how many public elementary and secondary schools actually charge tuition.
The 48th Oklahoma Legislature was one in which Rep. Graves shines with another round of bills reflecting his ultra-conservative views. For example House Bill 1147 introduced by Rep. Graves contained a prohibition on same sex marriages or "civil unions". House Bill 1147 specifically holds as invalid any such marriages or civil unions regardless of their status elsewhere. House Bill 1147 is available here: House Bill 1147.
Rep. Graves like most ultra-conservatives is strongly anti-abortion. This view was reflected in House Bill 1038 introduced by Rep. Graves during the first session of the 48th Legislature. This bill would have out-lawed the sale of the drug mifepristone, also known as (RU-486). You can read the text of House Bill 1038 here: House Bill 1038.
When Rep. Graves introduced House Bill 1145 during the first session of the 48th Legislature he was having another go at getting the Ten Commandments into the public schools of Oklahoma. You can read the text of the bill here: House Bill 1145
A portion of that bill as introduced by Rep. Graves is quoted here:
10. Knowledge of and belief in the moral law as enumerated in the Ten Commandments is essential to the maintenance of morality and law and order in the public schools of Oklahoma and in the public at large,
Here at Bubbaworld we can't help but notice that in spite of all the "moral law" afflicting the residents of Oklahoma our state is a national leader in rates for divorce, out of wedlock births, births to teenage mothers and that we have one of the highest per-capita rates for locking our citizens up, often after falsely convicting them of crimes they did not commit. Can we really stand any more "morality"?
Never one to miss an opportunity to capitalize on any opportunity, Rep. Graves decided that the wave of patriotism sweeping the nation following the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01 would be great time to introduce House Bill 2027. You can read the text of that bill here: House Bill 2027.
A portion of that bill is quoted here:
Any board of education of a school district in this state
may authorize to be posted in each classroom, library,
auditorium, and cafeteria of each public school in the district,
the following:
1. If materials are made available through private donations,
the national motto of the United States of America "In God
We Trust", as provided for in 36 U.S.C., Section 186;
2. A true and correct representation of the American flag, which
shall be centered under the national motto; and
3. A true and correct representation of the Oklahoma state
flag.
Never let it be said that Rep. Graves ever misses an opportunity to insert his version of God right into the middle of every public school classroom in the state of Oklahoma.
In addition to sexuality and abortion another "hot button" issue for Rep. Graves appears to be "cloning", specifically any form of cloning involving human tissue. Rep. Graves has previously introduced bills to ban all cloning. His most recent attempt is House Bill 2011. The entire text of the bill is available here: House Bill 2011 .
A portion of that bill is quoted here:
2. The Declaration of Independence states that all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights"; and the Oklahoma Constitution invokes "the guidance of Almighty God" in the government of the state; that God's protection of those rights and His guidance in government cannot be expected if men mock and play God through the cloning of human beings;
First and foremost in the minds of us Heathens at Bubbaworld is why would anyone want to clone an Okie, anyhow? In reaction to Rep. Graves bill which seeks to totally prohibit all cloning of human tissue, other House members have introduced legislation which would prohibit the cloning of human beings while still permitting the cloning of human tissue for research and medical purposes.
During the 2004 legislative session Representative Graves introduced an "Evolution Disclaimer" amendment to HB 2194, a measure intended to update the format for Braille versions of instructional materials in Oklahoma's schools. Regarding his amendment Representative Graves stated:
"I think so many of the textbooks make it appear that
evolution is a scientific fact and it’s not. Even the U.S.
Supreme Court says it’s a theory, so I was just trying to
make that clear."
"I think it’s very important for children to know. If
they just believe that they came from some slime in a swamp
that’s a whole lot different from being created in the
image of God.”
Representative Graves' "Evolution Disclaimer" in its entirety is Available Here
During debate over a proposed house bill which would ban the execution of developmentally disabled individuals Rep. Graves appealed to his fellow legislators to reject the bill which would bring Oklahoma law into agreement with recent federal court decisions. Rep. Graves made the following statement:
"Our laws have been based on Christian justice for many years,"
Rep. Graves went onto to opine:
Murder victims killed by a developmentally disabled person "are just as dead" as those killed by someone who is not.
We here at Bubbaworld would like to commend Representative Graves for his remarkable honesty and candor in so readily admitting that we Oklahomans live in what can only be considered a Theocracy and one closely resembling that of the former Taliban government of Afghanistan.
Representative Bill Graves, we SALUTE you as the closest thing Oklahoma has to Mullah Omar of the Taliban.
Would it be considered in bad taste to wish you the same fate?
Mr. Mark Mathews e-mailed the Webmaster of Bubbaworld with a commentary on our coverage of Representative Graves. Click Here To Read Those Comments You may also Click Here To Read Our Reply
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