Three refreshing days in Tulsa

Where seldom was heard a political word

I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma earlier this week, finally accomplishing my goal of visiting all 50 states. I want to thank the clients who sent me to various out-of-the-way states on lawyering business, as well as Bill and Lee Otis for hosting me in Hawaii back in 2013.

When I travel, I like to listen in on conversations and to chat people up. It gives me a feel for the place I’m visiting.

At home, where I have a feel for the place, it’s the opposite. I try to tune out the conversations of others and almost never talk to strangers.

What struck me in Tulsa was that in three there, I never heard anyone discuss politics. This couldn’t happen in the parts of the D.C. area I frequent, which is one reason I tune out conversations here.

The only reference to Joe Biden I heard in Tulsa was during a baseball game at beautiful ONEOK Field, where a few fans changed “Let’s go Brandon.”

The only reference to Trump was at the Woody Guthrie Center. But that reference was to Fred Trump, Donald’s father, who was Guthrie’s landlord when the folk singer lived in New York City.

Guthrie considered Trump the landlord from hell, and he said so in his music. One song highlighted at the Center is called “Mister Trump made a tramp out of me.” Another song, “Old Man Trump,” accuses Fred Trump of racism for having “drawed that color line” at the Beach Haven property where Guthrie lived.

Most of Guthrie’s songs contain social messages from a leftist point of view. However, these are the only ones I know of that contain personal attacks on an individual (though it’s possible there are others that haven’t gained attention because the targets are now obscure).

In any case, as I said, I heard no one talking about Biden or Trump in Tulsa this week. Nor did I hear anything about Israel, immigration, or inflation. Nothing about culture wars, either. Instead, people were talking about their jobs, their families, their friends, and sports.

Maybe come October, things will be different in Tulsa. But my guess is they won’t be that different.

I’m sure many Tulsa residents have strong political views. Their congressman, Kevin Hern, is a leading House conservative. But even when I fished for political commentary by saying I was from the D.C. area, no one took the bait.

At the baseball game, my disclosure elicited a question about Jackson Holliday, the young Baltimore Orioles prospect who comes from Oklahoma and whose uncle coaches the Oklahoma State baseball team. That’s my kind of conversation.

If I “got out more,” I’m sure I’d see that this absence of incessant political talk is the norm in America. And an encouraging norm it is.