What's the status of H.B. 1804?

As you can imagine, the front page headline in today's edition of the Tulsa World, HB 1804: Henry urges patience, caught my attention immediately this morning when I saw it on the newspaper stand.

I don't have a whole lot to say about the story at this point except that the part about "needing direction from the courts" doesn't quite set well with me, even though it's a little unclear what Governor Henry meant by that statement. I often wonder what ever happened to those leaders who in days past made such bold statements as "they've made their decision, now let them enforce it."? And no, I'm not saying that a habit should be made of acting in defiance of the courts, nor of withholding due subordination to their legitimate constitutional authority, but I do think the tendency of our intrepid leaders today is to give far too much deference and unquestioned obedience to the "final authority" of the judiciary; to lead by the wrong example.

Then of course there's the little issue of Gov. Henry declaring that "it ("it" meaning the lawsuit brought against H.B. 1804 I'm assuming) cries out for a comprehensive federal approach." He then goes on to remark that "For decades the federal government has failed to act, and because of that, states like Oklahoma and Arizona and several others have taken action." This is true enough, but it strikes me as something like saying that due to the neglect of the local police force, I've been forced to put locks on my doors and equip my house with guns and ammunition, as well as to provide my family members with weapons and safety training ... and this is just wrong; this is what the police force is for. What, pray tell, is wrong with state and local governmental entities taking the initiative to protect themselves, thus taking the pressure off the higher spheres of government to "protect" the lower spheres. And by the way, it's not an "invasion" when you've given an open invitation to all comers, whether you're a state or a local community, or the all-powerful federal government. But once you've closed the gate and put a "No Trespassing" sign on it, as Oklahoma and other states have done, and they still keep coming...

But anyway, the link to the full article is provided above if you're interested. And by the way, I wouldn't recommend reading the comments to the article, at least not the first 25 or so. There really are a lot of stupid people in Oklahoma, but that ain't the saddest part.