—Oklahoma is not OK. Justin Humphrey of Atoka, Okla., is a former prison guard who last year won election to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. This week the freshman lawmaker told the online publication The Intercept that he saw women's role in the procreation process as being the "host" for the fetus.

Defending his House Bill 1441, which would require women to get approval from the father before obtaining an abortion, Humphrey said, "I understand that they (women) feel like that is their body. I feel like it is a separate — what I call them is, is you're a 'host.' And you know when you enter into a relationship you're going to be that host and so, you know, if you pre-know that, then take all precautions and don't get pregnant."

—Neither is Missouri. Missouri shouldn't feel too superior. We've got a state representative named Warren Love, R-Osceola, who marked Lincoln's birthday by posting on his Facebook page a rant by an Atlanta blogger calling Lincoln "the greatest tyrant and despot in American history" and bemoaning the fact that John Wilkes Booth hadn't assassinated him four years earlier.

In an interview with The Pitch, a Kansas City newspaper, Love said it would be a mistake to think the Civil War was fought over slavery. Southern objection to high tariffs played a big part, he said, adding, "I'm a person that I want to tell all the history."

Tell it, yes. Understand it, no.

—Greitens breaks ranks with GOP. Gov. Eric Greitens is parting ways with Republican legislators and pressing for a statewide prescription drug database. In an online forum, he described the database as "an incredibly important issue" and expressed confidence that he could push such a measure into law. Missouri is the only state in the country without such a database, which proponents say is necessary to address the growing opioid-addiction epidemic.

Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf mistakenly portrays such a database as government overreach into people's private lives. The database would allow doctors to see if a patient is shopping around for opioids after having exhausted his or her prescription limit. Greitens' leadership can make a difference in getting other Republicans to bypass Schaaf's opposition.

—Triumph for 'uniquely incompetent'.

Congratulations are in order for Jim Hoft of St. Louis, who has styled himself "The Gateway Pundit" since 2004. His conservative website has been called "uniquely incompetent" by the left-leaning MediaMatters. Not to be outdone, conservative uber-blogger Erick Erickson wrote of the Gateway Pundit, "I'm not sure there is a greater purveyor of fake news on the left or right than that site."

But now The Gateway Pundit has a credentialed White House correspondent, Lucian Wintrich, former head of the "Twinks4Trump" art project, which featured photos of gay men professing their support for Donald Trump's presidential candidacy. Hoft gained attention years ago by criticizing the Post-Dispatch before moving on to national targets.

There was the photo of the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers' victory parade that he identified as a Trump rally. There was his memorable scoop, "Dental Expert: Hillary Clinton Is Suffering From Serious Gum Infection." We await his next big scoop.

—Trump struggles with a no-brainer. A softball question to President Donald Trump during his White House appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dealt with the president's efforts to address growing anti-Semitic attacks. Bizarrely, Trump answered by talking about his margin of Electoral College votes after the Nov. 8 election. He similarly evaded it when a reporter for a Jewish publication questioned him during a Thursday news conference. This after the White House omitted mention of the slaughter of 6 million Jews from its statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day. How difficult can it be, after so many opportunities, for Trump to get this right?

—Austerity upside down. Lt. Gov. Mike Parson wants special dispensation at a time when Gov. Eric Greitens is making deep cuts to state spending. Parson seeks a 27 percent increase in his office's budget. Granted, his office runs on a shoestring — $463,000 a year for a largely powerless, ceremonial position. But a lot of other state-supported agencies are going to suffer mightily under the governor's cuts, including higher education, school transportation services and elder care.

Parson says he needs to hire a staff attorney and would like $35,000 to cover travel expenses. We sympathize, especially considering that he has to drive around the state in his own vehicle. But lots of parents will be using their own vehicles after budget cuts take away their kids' school buses. Nice try, but this request doesn't fly.

—Cramped quarters. Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley seems to think that if he can live in tight spaces, chickens should, too. Hawley has joined five other states in a U.S. Supreme Court appeal of a California law that would ban Missouri from selling eggs in California unless it complies with a law requiring some animals, including laying hens, to be caged with enough room to turn around freely, lie down and fully extend their limbs.

Former Attorney General Chris Koster fought and lost a similar battle in a U.S. District Court in California. One in three Missouri eggs is sold in California. Hawley sees the law as "an attempt by big-government liberals to impose job-killing regulation on Missouri."

Hawley recently leased a two-bedroom apartment in Jefferson City to comply with a law that he reside in the seat of government, not in his house 24 miles away in Columbia. Hens should have it so good.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST LOUIS POST DISPATCH