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ADDING: If you're trying to get a sense of where this is all taking place, the map below is centered on the Plaza Towers Elementary Schoool. Due west is the Orr family farm. Due east is the shopping complex that includes the Warren Theater.

Oklahoma Rep. Dennis Johnson (R)

Let's see, in recent months we've seen Republicans make ugly and offensive remarks about African Americans, Latinos, women, the LGBT community, Native Americans, and Middle Easterners.

Is there anyone left? Of course there is (thanks to my colleague Nazanin Rafsanjani for the tip).

An Oklahoma lawmaker apologized Wednesday for using an ethnic slur while debating on the House floor for a bill that would allow merchants to legally offer deep discounts on goods. [...]

[Republican State Rep. Dennis Johnson], a businessman, was debating on the floor of the House of Representatives for Senate Bill 550, which would legalize low-price retail sales in Oklahoma for the first time since 1941.

He said small businesses can compete with larger stores and chains because they offer customer service, even though customers might try to "Jew me down on a price."

Told by a colleague what he'd said, Johnson said, "Did I? I apologize to the Jews. They're good small businessmen as well."

At which point I hope most of the lawmakers who heard him smacked their foreheads.

Johnson eventually made a less-ridiculous apology, saying, "It just came out of one of the wrinkles of my brain and it was not something that was intentional. I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone and I apologize for the folks I did offend. It is a comment that should never be made. I will never do it again."

To reiterate a point from yesterday, I suspect Republican officials would say the entire party can't be held responsible every time a Republican lawmaker says something offensive like this, and that's not an unreasonable argument.

But the point is, the party already has a tarnished reputation, after years in which the GOP deliberately cultivated a small, old, white, Christian, male-dominated base. All of these incidents, in turn, create a pattern that tells a diverse, forward-thinking nation that Republicans are stuck in a narrow-minded past.

Pretty much every day that state legislatures are in session, there is movement of some kind, somewhere in the country on legislation affecting women's health rights. We talk about what's going on every day here at TRMS world headquarters, but these stories don't always make it into the show. So we thought we'd experiment with listing the last 24 hours' worth of happenings here, Morning Maddow/Mini-Reports style.

*Remember that 6-week ban turned 12-week ban making its way through the Arkansas state legislature? It's being further delayed while more changes are considered. 

*Also in Arkansas, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe has signed into a law a bill to ban insurance exchanges created under Obamacare from covering abortion. 

*In Virginia, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is working to make sure that the insurance exchanges created in that state are banned from covering abortion, but the Virginian-Pilot is reporting that even some Republicans are skeptical of the move. 

*In Colorado, Democrats defeated in committee a Republican-backed bill that would have required doctors to investigate why a woman was seeking an abortion. 

*A similar bill has been proposed in Kansas this year, too and is seen as likely to be passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. 

*Lawmakers in Oklahoma are considering a bill that would tighten the state's existing parental notification law for girls under age 18 seeking abortion.

*In Arizona, a federal judge has overturned the state's effort to defund Planned Parenthood. The measure had already been blocked, pending this week's ruling.

Politico election map

We've been following the story of Republicans in the states pushing to change the rules for electing a president. The pattern is that when a state in under Republican control at the state level but tends to vote Democratic for president, those state Republicans want to divide their state's electoral college vote, typically by congressional district. They're especially eager to do that, since their redistricting campaign in 2010 resulted in millions more votes for Democrats in Congress but 33 more Republicans in office.

Today I noticed that the question has reached our nation's reddest state, Oklahoma. Will Republicans there change their rules so the electoral college is divided by congressional district? Um, no. From the Shawnee, Oklahoma, News-Star:

District 17 Senator Ron Sharp, a [R]epublican, said he had not seen any legislation relating to this filed for this session of state legislature. He added that if any came up he would likely oppose it.

“I would be very hesitant about something like that,” Sharp said.

He explained the Electoral College is historical, and that it maintains our two party system. Countries with more than two parties are typically very unstable, he added.

For the record, Oklahoma is sending an all-Republican delegation to Congress this year, but they had a Democratic member last time. If Oklahoma divided its votes by district, a Democratic presidential candidate could conceivably stand to gain. Likewise, the state went for Mitt Romney by 67-33 percent, so if Oklahoma spilt the electoral college proportionally, a Democrat for president would gain quite a lot.

As an update to last night's segment about the Supreme Court refusing to let Hobby Lobby skip providing its employees coverage for contraception:

"They're not going to comply with the mandate," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel of The Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the company. "They're not going to offer coverage for abortion-inducing drugs in the insurance plan."

As for the potential fines, Duncan said, "We’re just going to have to cross that bridge when we come to it."

Those fines could be as high as $1.3 million per day. 

Ann Kempa writes from Norman, Oklahoma, in defense of the reddest state in the nation:

Realistically, Oklahoma is, for the most part, a Bible Belt, evangelical mainstay. There are pockets of liberalism, primarily in university towns and larger cities. Through the end of time (or the end of days), we probably won’t approve gay marriage. So why, my associates from the coasts ask, do you stay there?

My dear friend from NYC was visiting recently. It was late. He was in a rental car on the turnpike at a toll booth. Scrambling for money and messing with the GPS. He apologized to the toll attendant who said, "Honey, you're doin' just fine. Just take it easy. You're just fine."

I was born here. A southern sense of politeness and pull-togetherness and help-people-you-don’t-even-know-itedness pervades our lives. Does the legislation to curtail women’s reproductive rights and reject Obamacare go against all the values my parents and Christian upbringing taught me? Absolutely. Is my family here? Yes. Did my 92-year-old father go to the courthouse in northeastern Oklahoma to vote for Obama the first go-round before Daddy died? Yes.

 I have made political phone calls and put out fliers and had Obama signs ripped from my yard. But grouping all Oklahomans together into an intolerant, ignorant clump is another kind of prejudice.

Things won’t change if the rest of the country keeps dissin' us.

Just as an aside from this very blue, very big city where I live now, I would suggest that folks from Oklahoma would discover politeness and cooperation and a help for strangers up here. It's human here, too, and kinda wonderful, really.

Image: At the Christmas parade in Norman. How to send us stuff.

Oklahoma State Representative Mike Reynolds wants to bring DADT back to the National Guard.

With state legislatures coming back into session, along come the fringe bills. Three New Hampshire Republicans want laws to be based on the Magna Carta. Three Indiana Republicans want the Lord's Prayer allowed in schools every morning.

And a Republican state legislator in Oklahoma wants to re-institute Don't Ask, Don't Tell for the Oklahoma National Guard. From the Tulsa World:

A bill being proposed in the Oklahoma House of Representatives would reinstate the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the Oklahoma National Guard.

"That's exactly what it does," said Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, author of House Bill 2195.

You might remember that a Virginia Republican sponsored a similar bill in that state in 2010. It died in committee after Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, also Republicans, suggested it wouldn't be a good idea for the state to go against Department of Defense rules.

In another way, the Oklahoma bill is not so fringe. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum scored a near-win in Iowa, and he says he would reinstate Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Texas Governor Rick Perry, who used to be a contender, says he would do the same.

Tonight on the show, more about Republicans sticking with anti-gay politics in 2012.

Last month, the Tulsa World published a letter headlined "Strange birds" that seems really to have been about birds and not about politics. And then came this one,"More strange birds," published on May 29:

"The birds described by William Snyder ("Strange birds," May 12) are not herons, but rather the yellow-bellied sapsucker (Republicus Vulturus). The sapsucker is native to Oklahoma, and has overrun the state, endangering the environment, and invading the habitat of more peace-loving species.

"The sapsucker's favorite pastime is pooping on women, minorities and old people. Sapsuckers are famous for migrating to Washington, D.C, to attack the dreaded Hawaiian blackbird (e pluribus unum), who mates for life and now nests in the environs of the White House.

"Recently, there were several attempts by the sapsucker subspecies to displace the blackbird; for example, the Alaskan snowbird (Terminus Interruptus), the hairy-crested loon (Booby Eternus), the Minnesota nuthatch (Crackpotus Extremus), the red-necked robin (Bubba Sanctimonius), and last but not least, the Newtonian dodo (Pretentious Supremus), who gets lost during migrations because he tries to go two different directions at once, confusing the hell out of all the other birds.

"Occasionally a sapsucker stays in Washington to harass the more friendly birds. An example is the hardheaded woodpecker (Bimbo Jimbo) and the Muskogee pill pusher (Hypocrite Par Excellence). Sapsuckers are famous for self-destruction and don't present a significant threat to the American bald eagle.

"The only natural enemy for the sapsucker is the truth. It causes sapsuckers to shrivel up and fade away like the Wicked Witch of the West."

It's signed by Barbara Santee of Tulsa, who appears to be a past recipient of a Tulsa Interfaith Alliance award for faith and courage. Thanks to viewer Max Brewer for forwarding the letter.

North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple

The governor of North Dakota has signed the nation's first law that would nullify federal health reform -- emphasis on would. Also, emphasis on maybe, kinda and sorta.

If you're a Tenther, this is a big deal. The Tenth Amendment Center wants states to pass a law that says health reform "makes a mockery" of the founding fathers and health reform is "null and void and of no effect in this state."

The first state in the door dialed that back some. North Dakota Senate Bill 2309, signed by Governor Jack Dalrymple yesterday, says health reform was "likely not authorized by the United States Constitution and may violate its true meaning and intent." Also, "[t]he legislative assembly shall consider enacting any measure necessary to prevent the enforcement" of health reform, maybe, if it wants to.

In other North Dakota news, the legislature has voted not to accept a $1.9 million grant under federal health reform. The Bismarck Tribune reports the money would have paid for home visits to families with new babies who might be at risk of abuse or neglect. From the Tribune:

Sen. Ralph Kilzer, R-Bismarck, said lawmakers didn't like the idea of people losing jobs or clients losing money when it ran out. He said they were also concerned some people would find the home visits intrusive.

Earlier this month, Oklahoma decided not to accept its big grant from Washington, sending back $54 million rather than get involved with federal health reform.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed her state's version of the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" yesterday (we've been calling it "the Nebraska bill" after the state where it originated under the same name last year). It bans abortion after 20 weeks except to save a woman's life or prevent "irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function." Oklahoma is the fourth state to sign such a bill.

The ban is based on the scientifically-disputed claim that a fetus can feel pain starting at 20 weeks. And Oklahoma's version of the new law -- like Nebraska's and Kansas' and Idaho's -- is almost certainly unconstitutional under the precedents set by Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Proposals that mirror the Nebraska bill have been introduced in about a dozen other states this session, too.

Last week on the show, Rachel addressed the strategy behind the original Nebraska bill that became law in 2010, in all its likely unconstitutional glory, and all the subsequent Nebraska bills that are populating the state legislatures this year. Why do anti-abortion lawmakers seem so intent on making unconstitutional laws? The answer is that they seem to be looking for a Supreme Court battle. And why haven't abortion rights advocates mounted that challenge yet? Perhaps, Rachel said, they're looking at the make-up of the Supreme Court right now and they're afraid of what might happen once they get there. Then she put the question to NOW President Terry O'Neill:

MS. O‘NEILL:  The problem with bringing a lawsuit in federal court to challenge these—to challenge these state laws is exactly what you said.  We are afraid that the Supreme Court actually might take the opportunity to overturn Roe versus Wade. ... This is a court that is extremely activist when it wants to be.  And I am really afraid that under Roberts' leadership and with Samuel Alito on the court, we could have a 5-4 decision either overturning Roe versus Wade or so gutting it that it might as well be overturned.

This week, Nancy Northrup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights -- a group that defends abortion rights and launches legal challenges -- told Politico the organization hasn't challenged the Nebraska bill because it regulates only the small number of abortions that happen in later pregnancies.

"We don't jump just because the anti-choice movement jumps. . . . We're focused on pursuing cases that ensure that women have access to all abortion services. They're trying to move the agenda to a small percentage of cases, but we're not fighting on their turf."

If there was any doubt that anti-abortion lobbyists and lawmakers consider this battle to be "their turf," consider the following:

Mary Spaulding Balch of the National Right to Life Committee, which helped write the Nebraska bill, tells Politico this week, "This is all an explosion, which we think if presented to the court, they would recognize the rights of the fetus. ... I was surprised it wasn't challenged, and I would like to see that."

State Rep. Lance Kinzer (R-Kansas), who sponsored his state's version of the Nebraska bill, told the Kansas City Star last week, "We believe there is a good argument that we can find five justices on the Supreme Court who would agree that development of an unborn child to the point where they are capable of feeling pain is a judicially manageable standard to link restrictions on abortion."

Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition tells CBN News this week, "We don't have to see Roe v. Wade overturned in the Supreme Court to end it. . . . We want to. But if we chip away and chip away, we'll find out that Roe really has no impact. And that's what we are doing."  (h/t Dahlia Lithwick)