Perspectives: Sam’s Perspective – Get Shorty

Did you see the movie “Get Shorty”? It starred Gene Hackman, John Travolta and Danny DeVito. It was a 1995 American crime thriller/comedy film. The story line involved a mobster that travels to Hollywood to collect a debt and discovers that the movie business is much the same as his current job.
Get Shorty is now playing in Oklahoma, but it’s not a thriller and it’s not a comedy. This version is a tragedy, a very sad story, with bad decisions, families destroyed and a career ruined. It’s about Ralph Shorty, a Republican State Senator at the time who got caught in a Moore, Oklahoma motel room with an underage boy. This is the same Ralph Shorty who advised former state Representative Dan Kirby of Tulsa, during a sexual harassment scandal. Kirby resigned.
As of now, Shorty is charged with engaging in child prostitution, engaging in prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church and transporting a minor for prostitution. He is out on $100,000 bail.
Shorty, 35-years-old, is married to his high school sweetheart and has spoken of her importance to him repeatedly. They have three children.
He will have his day in court but the damage caused so far can never be repaired. The underage boy and his family have to live with this as well. And believe me, social media is having a field day with this one.
So, how did we get to a point where an Oklahoma State Senator is involved is such a mess?
I’m not sure that I am able to answer that. I have an opinion but it’s not suitable for public broadcasting. I will tell you this, he had an opportunity to walk the straight and narrow.
He studied at Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City. He wanted to do mission work in Uganda. Somehow he ended up in politics.
You know as well as I do that not all politicians engage in this sort of behavior. And too Heartland Baptist Bible College works very hard to instill the promises of faith, caring and giving in all of its students.
Shorty claimed to be a Christian, which would lead one to believe at some point he was baptized.
That may have been true once, but if he was baptized, they didn’t hold him under long enough.
And that’s my perspective.