Senators and Congresscritters Deserve to Suffer. But Their Constituents Don’t.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

136. "They" as in who? Coburn/Inhofe, or ordinary Oklahomans?

Listen, there's two things that are pretty much a given in this situation:

1) Oklahoma will receive federal disaster relief aid, as it should. The President will not stand for anything otherwise.

2) Notwithstanding Oklahoma's receipt of federal disaster relief aid, Inhofe and Coburn will continue to rail against the "evils" of the federal government.

You're wasting your time if you think we, as Democrats and liberals and progressives, should be settling scores with Republicans who were hesitant to support aid for Hurricane Sandy by denying federal aid to a disaster ridden state simply because its elected representatives just happened to be said Republicans. It's stupid, it's petty, and it makes us look like total assholes. People are hurting, they need help, and the government should help them. Period. Not doing so because of petty political matters would confirm every single negative stereotype people harbor against the federal government. Cutting off your nose to spite your face just isn't a wise choice in any respect.

So then what to do with Inhofe or Coburn? Simple. Next election cycle, during the debates or what have you, when Inhofe/Coburn go on a rant against the federal government, the Democratic challenger can bring up how important the federal government was to the people of Oklahoma after the May 2013 tornado, and note that even Inhofe/Coburn knew how vital that aid was. And hopefully that will help exposes those two individual's gross hypocrisy to the electorate?

Will it change every Oklahoman's heart as it relates to who they believe their elected representatives should be? No. But it's a lot more practical than advocating denying federal aid to people who've lost their homes, or demanding some odd mea culpa from 3.8 million Oklahomans.