Costello Rejected By Fallin

Mark & Cathy Costello

  Governor Mary Fallin appointed Melissa McLawhorn Houston, who had been in the state attorney general's office, as the labor commissioner for the remainder of the term of Mark Costello, whose life was cut short on August 23, when his wayward, troubled son knifed him to death outside a restaurant in Oklahoma City.  Fallin made the appointment on November 10, which would have been Mark Costello's 60th birthday.  Her appointment of Houston was not a happy, postmortem birthday present for his widow, Cathy, who had asked for Fallin for the appointment.  A governor's appointing the surviving spouce of an officeholder to hold the office for the remaining duration of the decedent's term is a time-honored, respectful tradition.  Governor Fallin didn't honor that tradition.  I think I know why.

Under Arnett's Skin

First David Arnett lied to me now he lies about me.

In the spirit of kicking a man when he’s down, David Arnett wrote a recent attack on Randy Brogdon after Brogdon stepped down as Republican state chairman. 

Then he wrote about me, “Beginning with his assumed Republican credentials...”

Theodore King discusses issues on Fox News Channel

A few points:

•  I DID run for public office as a Republican in 1988 when I was 20. I was the only candidate representing the Republican party in Rogers County that year.
• I DID work at the Republican National Committee on Capitol Hill during the summer of 1994.
• And I HAVE worked on over 100 campaigns for Republicans over a period of 30 years.

  Assumed Republican credentials? That’s really pretty sad David, but you do like to bend the truth don’t you?  He even took a swipe at KFAQ radio. Perhaps this is due to the fact his name and website are never mentioned there.

  But here’s where I am personally compelled to respond to David Arnett’s libel: He wrote, “King still attacks this publisher because I fired him.” David Arnett did not fire me but he did lie to me about the story he wanted me to write on the state superintendent’s race. Please see my July 15 story about David Arnett here on Sooner Politics especially the part about David’s December 2014 phone call to me. He didn’t fire me, quite the contrary.

THERE WILL BE PAIN!

NOTE:   The following is my advice column regarding the forced resignation of Randy Brogdon as Oklahoma Republican party chairman. If you prefer polite columns, you won’t like this one. If you are fed up with everything, keep reading.

 First, I need to mention my background. I ran, as a Republican, for Rogers County Clerk at age 20 in 1988 when the local party was dormant. In 1994, I worked over the summer at the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C. From 1980 to 2010, I volunteered in over 100 campaigns and served as State Committeeman from Rogers County 1989-1991. I know the system well.

Breaking Away From Arnett

Last year, I did some freelance work for David Arnett of Tulsa Today.

  In October of 2014, David Arnett called to ask me to do a story on the state superintendent's race. I told him I would do the story provided I could write it down the middle in other words not take sides. David said that would be fine. I did write the story which you can see on the link below. One of the things he took out of my story was the fact that Linda Murphy, who was the 1994 Republican nominee for superintendent, had chosen to endorse Dr. John Cox the Democrat in the race because of his opposition to Common Core. Mrs. Murphy posted her endorsement on her facebook page. I submitted this story to David and he called and said, "Ted, I'm not getting PAID for what you have written." He then told me he would pay me $25 dollars instead of the $100 he promised me.
  I told him to take my byline off the story and he did.  In mid-December David called me to say he had my $25. I told him to keep it. He then hemmed and hawed about how he hoped we could work together again someday. I simply said, "Merry Christmas" and hung up.