I’m beginning to feel sorry for Oklahoma.

That may seem a little strange to regular readers. They know that Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is prosecuting me, along with two other activists, for work on a 2005 petition drive to cap state spending. He’s trying to throw us in prison for ten years.

This legal assault is “unjust” and “politically-motivated.” Those words aren’t mine: An Oklahoma City University law professor argued that this prosecution is “unjust,” and a state senator charged the AG’s actions are “politically-motivated.”

Since Edmondson began his chilling attack on the right to petition one’s government, poor Oklahoma has been compared to some horribly tyrannical regimes. An editorial in Forbes asked, “Has Oklahoma Been Annexed by North Korea?” A Wall Street Journal editorial connected the Sooner State to the kind of repression practiced in Pakistan.

And now, columnist Paul Mulshine with the New Jersey Star Ledger condemns Edmondson, saying Russia’s Vladimir Putin “could learn a thing or two from the Oklahoma boys.”

But wait a second. There are great people in Oklahoma. They don’t support this outrageous abuse of power.

As those of us threatened in Oklahoma finally have our preliminary hearing, I’m confident that this vicious attack has awoken Oklahomans . . . and Americans. Eyes wide open, Americans in Oklahoma and elsewhere will fight to protect the initiative process.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Far left groups like the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center cry “fraud” whenever conservative groups make any mistakes in petition or voter registration drives. In fact, they scream “fraud” even when there aren’t mistakes made.

Funny, then, that I haven’t heard a peep from these creeps concerning the serious fraud allegations leveled at ACORN.

ACORN — that’s the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now — has deluged election officials all across the country with hundreds of thousands of fictitious voter registrations. In one state, the group knowingly hired convicts to register new voters.

The FBI is now looking into the group.

Even before these fraud allegations hit the national news, several outfits were highlighting ACORN’s conduct.

Just recently, Americans for Limited Government began a nationwide campaign, StopAcorn.org, to demand investigation into the group’s wrongdoing.

Ballotpedia.org has launched the Voter Integrity Project, which chronicles voter fraud, including ACORN’s activities.

Of course, ACORN isn’t limited to election-related shenanigans. The group also has a long track record of helping politicians bully banks into handing out high-risk, so-called “affirmative action” mortgage loans. Which, thanks a lot, helped bring us the housing crisis.

You might also be interested to learn that ACORN does it all on your nickel. About 40 percent of ACORN’s funding comes from taxpayers.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

It’s time to face the fact: We don’t have much say-so in Washington. Take the bailout plan. Please. Though much opposed by the public, politicians insisted on passing something nonetheless. So they did, over outpourings of popular opposition.

And if you think your vote for president will change something, remember: Both major party candidates supported the bailout. And both are heading campaigns run by the same old insiders.

My advice? Get involved closer to home. State and local voters will get the opportunity to make a change this November — not by electing some a politician who will betray them, but by passing or rejecting proposed laws directly.

In Washington State, for example, voters can un-jam traffic with I-985. The initiative is a common-sense measure requiring that traffic lights be synchronized and a higher percentage of current funding be spent to ease congestion.

In South Dakota, voters can prevent the abuse of public money by passing Initiated Measure 10, which stops government funded associations from using tax dollars to further their own political agenda. The measure is being opposed by — you guessed it — government-funded associations.

North Dakotans get a chance to decide Measure 2, a 15 percent cut in corporate income taxes and a 50 percent cut in the personal income tax.

There are, of course, plenty of measures on the ballot with which I don’t agree. But even then, better the people deciding than career politicians.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Rose Bogeart reminds me of my mother. Both are from Michigan. Rose is the president of the Wayne County Taxpayers Association. Mom hails from Jackson. Both love their Detroit Tigers, hate tax increases.

Rose led this year’s charge to recall Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon. I’ve talked before about the tax hike state legislators imposed against the clear wishes of Michigan citizens. I’ve also exposed the establishment’s incredible intimidation campaign to block Rose’s recall drive.

This harassment included bad actions by state employees working for Dillon and even some police groups. Despite this, Rose and company collected nearly twice the number of voter signatures needed.

In June, Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land ruled that the petition lacked the requisite signatures, after she had opted to enforce restrictions already ruled unconstitutional in very clear U.S. Supreme Court decisions, throwing out a huge batch of signatures. Then, the Michigan courts refused to give Rose and Redford Township recall advocates any relief.

So, Rose went to federal court, where a judge quickly granted an injunction requiring Secretary of State Land to count the disputed signatures.

Now, against every sling and arrow imaginable, Speaker Dillon’s recall will be on the November ballot.

For the first time ever, a state’s House speaker may be removed by popular vote.

Rose, I thank you; history thanks you; my mother thanks you.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.