Perspectives: Sam’s Perspective – Dueling Banjos

Hello, I’m Sam Jones.

Well, we’ve finally reached a point in Oklahoma where no matter who is elected to the legislature, its pretty clear Oklahoma’s problems are not going to be solved. Oh Legislators will get together and stand behind a monument with the Ten Commandments on it and then ignore those commandments, but there just doesn’t seem to be any love between any of them.

Back in the 50s a novelty song made the charts titled “I’m My Own Grandpa.” In that song a poor guy, through a series of marriages and births wound up as his own Grandfather. A confusing but funny and popular song at the time. Jump ahead to 1972 and the movie “Deliverance” came out. It was a story about four friends from the city who decided to get away for a week of canoeing in rural Georgia. But they are not welcomed by the backwoods locals who stalk and then savagely attack them in the woods. That movie gave us the hit song “Dueling Banjos”. Now days, anytime I read anything to do with the Oklahoma Legislature I can hear that song. But I heard it the other day when I came across a story out of Duncan, Oklahoma that didn’t have anything to do with state lawmakers.

It seems a Duncan woman, Misty Velvet Dawn Spann pleaded guilty to committing incest. How did she do that? Well, it seems she married her biological mother, Patricia Ann Spann. Oh I need to point out that Misty Spann was once married to her biological son. But that marriage had been annulled. So was the mother-daughter marriage.

The mother said she lost custody of Misty and her other two offspring, when they were children, but reconnected with them in 2014. The mother reportedly said she and her daughter just “hit it off”. Incest is illegal in Oklahoma so the daughter got a 10 year deferred sentence. The mother goes to court in January. Note to self: send this story to Newt Gingrich and those who like to push family values. Include an update on the Adams Family. So what does that story have to do with the state Legislature you ask? Well to my way of thinking we need a little more love in the legislature. Now I’m not suggesting they marry each other but holding hands would be nice. It would be a lot better than watching them just sit on their hands. And maybe, just maybe if there were a little more love in the legislature, who knows… they might even get around to doing what they were sent there to do in the first place. But this bunch won’t so I guess it’s back to Dueling Banjos. They might want to stay out of the woods though.

And that’s my Perspective.