Not to say that Yen is the only authoritarian among Oklahoma’s vaunted governing body, but there is something refreshing about his candid disdain for personal choice among us peasants. For proof, just peruse his month-old Twitter feed for 30 seconds.
It seems his sole political goal is to restrict choice for the average, not-politically-connected person. He opposes high school football, medical marijuana, vaccine choice, alleviating the profound doctor shortage that afflicts all of rural Oklahoma. Etc.
Chances are, if it expands your ability to make your own choices and those of your children, Yen is casting a skeptical eye, and preparing a tweet.
“Medical marijuana has no place in #Oklahoma. I encourage all citizens to vote NO on SQ788. Only doctors should be able to prescribe medications and when re-elected I will again introduce new legislation to ensure we continue to protect our children.”
That’s right, Yen sells his variant of authoritarianism under the rubric of “it’s for the children”. He seems to envision a future technocratic utopia of the prairie, where the only ones making any choices at all are a cabal of “highly-trained professionals”…for the children, of course.
On the bright side, a highly organized group of activists is pushing to oust the Senator and Health and Human Services chair, through their “Yank Yen!” campaign. The group, Oklahomans for Vaccine and Health Choice, have a pro-vaccine choice candidate lined up to topple Yen, Joe Howell.
Looking at Yen’s political career and public statements in another light, one could see that he’s probably just building his resume for what will almost certainly turn into a lucrative, post-political career nestled somewhere within the tangled web of Big Pharma. I can imagine that his public pronouncements are a siren song to those cronyist giants.
