Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mullins McLeod is taking advantage of Republican Andre Bauer's tasteless 'stray animals' comments last week by hosting a food drive for the Lowcountry Food Bank during tonight's big GOP gubernatorial debate in Charleston.
While S.C. Republicans shell out $500 a pop to hear Bauer and his rivals spar in front of Joe and Mika, McLeod will be at nearby Vickery's restaurant collecting donations for needy South Carolina families.
“I’m tired of embarrassing, divisive comments like that coming from South Carolina’s leaders," said McLeod. "I want to turn this latest debacle into something positive."
If you're in the Charleston area tonight, you can drop off non-perishable food items between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. at Vickery's on Beaufain Street.
Last spring during Sanford's stimulus showdown with the General Assembly, the Governor's allies in the Senate introduced a bill calling on lawmakers to reaffirm South Carolina's constitutionally protected right to sovereignty and, by extension, the state's right to refuse $700 million in federal education funds. The bill never made it to a vote, but remained on the Senate's agenda to be taken up again this year.
On Tuesday, Sens. Lee Bright, Mike Rose, and congressional candidate Mick Mulvaney suddenly introduced a new, watered-down version of the bill now targeting federal health care reform. The sudden changes caught Democrats off guard, leading to the marathon filibuster currently consuming the S.C. Senate.
If passed, the revamped "10th Amendment" or "States' Rights Bill" would essentially send a strongly worded letter to Uncle Sam saying that when it comes to proposed federal health care reforms, the South Carolina Legislature says kiss off. It's a bold PR move in a state where one in five citizens lack health insurance. But in an election year when so many folks in our GOP-dominated state are hurting, S.C. Republicans are anxious to shift the public's focus northward to Washington -- to redefine the political debate as a S.C. v. D.C., good guys v. bad guys battle.
Senate Republicans argue the states rights' resolution will show shifty D.C. bureaucrats that S.C. lawmakers are serious about "stand[ing] up against massive government growth" and "excessive spending." However, their argument that passing a non-binding resolution would constitute a serious stand against federal legislation is not persuasive, neither is their claim to be champions of fiscal responsibility.
Spending valuable session hours to push a resolution that has no legal ramifications and provides no tangible benefits to struggling South Carolinians isn't an exercise in limited government. Rather, it epitomizes government waste -- wasted session hours, wasted tax dollars, and a wasted opportunity to begin crafting meaningful solutions to South Carolina's mounting problems.
It's the worst kind of political excess.
With a cooling economy, growing unemployment problem, and continuing state budget crisis to deal with, here's hoping that the SC GOP Senate Caucus can tone down the costly election year pandering and refocus their efforts on developing solutions for our problems here at home.
State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Larry Grooms says he's dropping out of the governor's race and may run for Congress.
Grooms says he may start concentrating on running for Henry Brown's vacant seat in the US House of Representatives.
Grooms' departure from the governor's race comes as little surprise. Pitted against better-known candidates McMaster, Barrett, and Bauer, the Lowcountry legislator's campaign struggled from the beginning to keep pace with the Big Three in fundraising and media exposure. And his Libertarian rhetoric -- though popular with the Tea Party crowd -- alienated mainstream Republicans and moderates. Now with Grooms gone, fellow long-shot candidate Nikki Haley will have the Tea Partiers and Sanford donors all to herself.
The campaign of Republican Adjutant General candidate Dean 'Shoot 'Em Up' Allen, which spent $370 to purchase an AK-47 Assault Rifle for a "Machinegun Social" fundraiser held in the Lowcountry last October.
Unfortunately for Allen, all that firepower did little to help ignite his fundraising. The GOP candidate finished last quarter with just $362 on hand, having raised and spent $3,892 on his bid for the Adjutant General seat. He trails his competitor Major Gen. Robert Livingston Jr. by roughly $264,000 heading into the June primary.
U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) faced a 90-minute "verbal firing squad" from right-wingers intent on disrupting the Congressman's town hall meeting on health care Thursday night.
Speaking before a crowd of 350 at the Upstate Family Resource Center in Boiling Springs, SC last night, Inglis was met by shouts of "I'm afraid of Obama! He's got too much power!" and "Go home, Bob!" as he tried to answer questions from audience members.
An IJ reader sent us the YouTube video below of Inglis responding to the woman who cried out that she feared President Obama. In the clip, Rep. Inglis suggests that the woman and her friends should turn off Fox News' Glenn Beck and tune out the fear-mongering. Needless to say, the Congressman's advice did not go over well with the wing-nuts:
In what's turning out to be one of the most anticlimactic campaign rollouts in recent memory, SC Attorney General Henry McMaster finally has filed his campaign disclosure form with the SC Ethics Commission, signaling what we've all known for months - The Mac is running for governor.
The move means McMaster can begin transferring funds from his AG account to his new gubernatorial campaign coffer. And by the looks of it, he's gonna need to step up his fundraising game. Though he and GOP rival Rep. Gresham Barrett have similar cash on hand totals near the $1 million mark, Barrett out-raised McMaster by 2:1 in the second quarter.
Also of note, McMaster announced he's hired former SCGOP Communications Director Rob Godfrey to serve as his spokesman. Godfrey told the AP that McMaster will officially announce the launch of his campaign later this month.
Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act - Vote Passed (237-185, 11 Not Voting) The House passed this bill that intends to provide shareholders with an advisory vote on executive compensation and to prevent certain incentives in the compensation practices of financial institutions. Rep. Henry Brown Jr. voted NO......send e-mail or see bio
The House voted 237-185 to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide shareholders with an advisory vote on executive compensation and to prevent perverse incentives in the compensation practices of financial institutions.
The Palmetto Scoop is trying to push the narrative that Democratic U.S. Rep. John Spratt will soon be forced to decide between his constituents and his party as the health care debate heats up in Washington.
According to TPS, the Upstate Congressman is “reportedly being bombarded” by calls from angry constituents and suggests that a vote in favor of health care reform legislation would somehow constitute turning a deaf ear to the people that he serves, leaving Spratt vulnerable in his reddening district.
Now while I have no trouble believing that the “keep your government hands off my Medicare” folks are flooding the Congressman’s phone lines as we speak, the Scoop’s unsubstantiated argument that supporting health care reform is akin to picking your party over your constituents is absurd.
up to 12,300 small businesses in the district could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees;
8,700 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D;
660 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs;
health care providers would receive payment for $82 million in uncompensated care annually; and
117,000 uninsured constituents would gain access to affordable health insurance.
Tag on the fact that Spratt is sitting atop a half-million-dollar war chest and has yet to draw a 2010 GOP challenger, the argument that a vote to provide health insurance coverage to more than 100,000 of his constituents would somehow endanger the Congressman’s re-election chances doesn’t hold up.
And while there’s little doubt that the GOP will intensify its political propaganda war against Spratt in the coming weeks, it seems highly unlikely the Congressman will suddenly bow to the pressure and be forced to cede his seat to the Republicans next year.
This morning, I've had the misfortune of listening to apologists for the Governor on MSNBC and C-Span whining about the double standard that exists when Republicans get caught with their pants down. Yes, he's human. Yes, people make mistakes. Yes, it could happen to anyone. So, why is everyone being so hard on Sanford and not cheating Democrats? Blah, blah, blah.
What some old school Conservatives fail to realize is that if you're going to be the party of Jesus you better walk on water or learn how to resurrect your political careers when you get crucified. Honestly, I don't think people really care about your personal indiscretions as long as you do your job i.e., President Bill Clinton. And, stop using that studpid line that nothing happens to Democrats when they get caught. The GOP went out of its way to drag Clinton through hell (remember that Mark Sanford and John Ensign) for his human weakness, and John Edwards' political career is a bridge in Alaska. But, let's not pretend that Sanford was even minimally adequate as governor over the last 7 years. That being said, I don't think he should resign for thinking with the wrong head.
Pay attention to the parable unfolding before you, moral minority. If you''re going to put yourself on a moral pedestal and act superhuman, get a cape and learn how to fly. Don't be surprised if you fall off and the ground hurts. This so-called double standard is of your making. And, given this past week, you're running out of fingers to wag.
The GOP is now more unpopular than Dick Cheney is. That's a rather impressive feat considering the former VP shot someone in the face. They call him Dick for a reason. If I were a gambling man, I'd bet the rest of my 401k that the racist rhetoric eminating from South Carolina and other Republican strongholds has a bit to do with that. Ok, probably a lot.
Drawing inspiration from Rusty DePassand other culturally and comedically challenged Republicans, there's a new Facebook group for aBad Elephant or two. Shockingly, there are people who don't like racist humor coming from our elected officals. Since DePass's pulled out the podium, he might be off the hook, unless he has a Twitter account...and e-mail.
This week, the Bad Elephant members actively made their displeasure known toTennessee state Sen. Diane Black (irony, right?), who uses taxpayer money to employ a legislative aide who sent out a racist e-mail about the President using state resources. But, it's ok because Black (more irony) was a nurse who enjoyed "working with people with black skin who needed medical help." Boy, my heart sure feels warm and fuzzy after reading that.
If you don't like Bad Elephants and have enough common sense not to embarass yourself/friends/family/state/country on social networking sites, this may be the group for you.
When I asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, [Sherri] Goforth would only say she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list. When I gave her a second chance to address the controversial nature of the email, she again repeated that she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.
“I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button,” Goforth told NIT. “I’m very sick about it, and it’s one of those things I can’t change or take back.”
Despite Sherri's affliction, which impairs common sense, she will keep her job. She and Rusty also seem to be suffering from the irony of black people living in the White House.
In the not too distant past, some people said a black man would become president only when pigs fly. Well, swine flu.
While I believe in the freedom of speech as much as the next red-blooded American, I must reiterate the comments that have been making the rounds lately: the rightwing scare tactics deployed by Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, FOX News, and Dick Cheney (among many others) claiming "Democrats are ruining America" have increased our Nation's fringe group attitudes to a dangerous boiling point. While we are all guaranteed the personal liberty to express ourselves through speech, literature, etc., we are not allowed to scream "Fire!" when there is no blaze. However, that is just what the talking heads of the right are doing, and so far it has cost a doctor and a security guard their lives.
As further evidence of how these right wingers are thinking, conservative author Jeremy Lott wrote on POLITICO:
"The (Holocaust Museum) shooting was roped together with Scott Roeder's alleged murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller. Armchair prosecutors called this the second act of right-wing terrorism in two weeks and thus part of a worrying trend, even though the usual rule with such things is, you need three."
You need three? Is that the line the Conservative Movement is going with? Two men have been murdered, their families and friends are suffering, and the moral leaders of the right are dismissing these claims until one more personal community is affected by their actions. Unbelievable. It's no wonder as to why they caused such a ruckus when the Department of Homeland Security put out a memo warning Americans of "right wing extremism." Apparently, it does exist after all and they must have been worried that DHS was hot on their trail.
If this is the party that touts their evangelical credentials, then I'm starting to wonder whose gospel they are spreading. The Christian God I was brought up believing in did not spread the message of hate throughout the world, instead Jesus Christ and his disciples preached love and tolerance for others. Somewhere between the pulpit and the ballot box, the message I was taught in my little Presbyterian Church in Winnsboro has been lost by these so-called evangelical Republicans.
The rhetoric being used to spur this hatred has been around for years, but it never escalated to its current point until they lost the White House in 2008. Honestly... did they not see that one coming? I know many Republicans (such as Rusty DePass and Mike Green) may have been shocked that the majority of Americans don't subscribe to the hateful, racist politics of George Wallace any longer, but it is a reality they need to open their eyes to. So here is a memo to the South Carolina GOP: the Sixties are over, and it is time to restudy the Bible.
(Oh, and for the third shooting that would make this a "trend"... does the former Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman, Bill Gwatney's name ring a bell? He was shot in his office last year, leaving behind a family that will be affected by their loss for the rest of their lives.)
Boyd Brown represents Chester and Fairfield Counties in the South Carolina House.
Congressman Henry Brown has an op-ed in the Georgetown Times today where he runs down the Clean Energy Act, even admitting people have been calling him to support it.
Many of you who called did so because you were encouraged by environmental groups to insist that I support this legislation as well. Unfortunately, what these groups failed to mention is that, in reality, the Democrat's so called "Clean Energy Act" is nothing more than a national energy tax that will result in fewer jobs and more government control over your daily lives.
Since Brown wants to write in my newspaper about a bill that would make industry a lot better and help reduce carbon emissions while adding the fear of a "tax" to it, I'd like to expand on his votes for war and the money he sent overseas that could of helped right here.
According to the National Priorities Project, taxpayers in Congressional District 1 (Brown) will pay $1.2 billion for total Iraq & Afghanistan war spending (approved & pending) since 2001. Yes, that's billions.
What could that money be used for instead? Let's look at what Brown neglects:
- 649,020 People with Health Care for One Year
- 703,065 Children with Health Care for One Year
- 23,398 Elementary School Teachers for One Year
- 16,131 Port Container Inspectors for One year
- 23,096 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year
That's just some of the resources that could benefit from war money. The same money we still have to pay back irregardless. But I guess spending it overseas for a war by choice and a war that should have been the only war to begin with is more sufficient than taking care of your own people. Don't worry, Brown knows you're hurting. I just don't think he cares.
I know that many of you in the First District are hurting financially. Once again, gasoline prices are on the rise and utility rates threaten to go higher; posing an even greater hardship on your families. It seems that everyone is looking for the answers to these problems and the challenges we face in terms of energy, but I tell you, this legislation is not the solution.
I guess your party's answer of 100 nuclear reactors is the answer we are looking for? And you conveniently name it the "American Energy Act" to make sound so pretty and patriotic. Give me a break.
There is already an American Clean Energy and Security Act in place, as promoted by the WWF:
The American Clean Energy and Security Act, released on March 31, 2009, in draft form by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA). This is a major first step toward a strong cap and trade bill that will cut emissions, jumpstart a new clean energy economy, and strengthen the ability of the Obama administration to negotiate a fair and effective global climate deal this December in Copenhagen.
Your bill, Brown, is more of the tired, played-out rhetoric from the past:
he Bush-Cheney Energy Plan Was A Failure
Under The Bush Energy Plan, U.S. Became More Dependent On Imported Oil From OPEC Countries. According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. petroleum imports from OPEC countries increased from an average of 168,157 barrels a month in 2001 to 181,729 barrels a month in 2008. [Energy Information Administration, accessed 6/10/09]
Under The Bush Energy Plan, Average Household Energy Costs Rose Over $1,100. According to a report conducted by the Center for American Progress: "Former President George W. Bush's energy policies, which today's conservatives would continue, plowed billions of dollars of subsidies into dirty energy while neglecting clean energy reform. What effect did this have on American families? Spiraling gasoline and electricity prices, a nation more dependent on oil and coal, and more pollution than ever before. Bush oversaw a lackluster economic expansion even before the Bush recession of December 2007. Over this period, the typical annual American household expenditure on electricity rose more than $170, and the typical annual American expenditure on gasoline rose more than $960 (in 2007 dollars). Note that the gasoline price increases listed here do not include the unprecedented $147 per barrel of oil and $4.11 gasoline prices that occurred in the summer of 2008." [Center for American Progress, "The Bill From Bush's Broken Energy System," April 2009; emphasis added]
Yet That's Exactly What House Republicans Are Proposing
House GOP
President Bush
HOUSE GOP PLAN: Increase Oil Drilling In the Outer Continental Shelf. According to a summary of the House Republicans' American Energy Act: "The bill increases the supply of American energy by immediately moving forward with a leasing program on the already open [Outer Continental Shelf] OCS. The bill also simplifies and harmonizes the OCS mileage restrictions, expanding state territorial waters to 12 miles offshore (most state borders stop at three miles) and gives coastal states a share of the receipts from such energy exploration. A portion of the revenues created by OCS exploration would go to a renewable energy trust fund to pay for a variety of renewable, alternative and advanced energy programs." [American Energy Act Summary, accessed 6/10/09]
BUSH PLAN: Increase Oil Drilling In the Outer Continental Shelf. President Bush said: "This morning, I asked Democratic Congressional leaders to move forward with four steps to expand American oil and gasoline production. First, we should expand American oil production by increasing access to the outer continental shelf or OSC. Experts believe that the OCS could produce about 18 billion barrels of oil. That would be enough to match the current oil production America for almost 10 years. The problem is that congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS since the early 1980's. Since then, advances in technology have made it possible to conduct oil exploration in the OCS that is out of sight, protects coral reefs and habitats, and protects against oil spills. With these advances, and a dramatic increase in oil prices, Congressional restrictions on exploration have become outdated and counterproductive. Republicans in congress have proposed several promising bills that would lift the legislative ban on oil exploration in the OCS. I call on the House and Senate to pass good legislation as soon possible." [President Bush statement, 6/18/08]
HOUSE GOP PLAN: Expedite Construction Of More Oil Refineries. According to a summary of the House Republicans' American Energy Act: "The bill increases American supplies of gasoline and diesel by encouraging greater refinery capacity by streamlining and accelerating the refinery permitting process. The bill also requires the President to designate at least three closed military installations as potentially suitable for construction of a refinery, including at least one suitable for refining biomass to produce biofuel." [American Energy Act Summary, accessed 6/10/09]
BUSH PLAN: Expedite Construction Of More Oil Refineries. President Bush said: "We need to expand and enhance our refining capacity. Refineries are the critical link between crude oil and the gasoline and diesel fuel that drivers put in their tanks. Recent changes in the makeup of our fuel supply, upgrades in our refining capacity are urgently needed. Yet it has been nearly 30 years since our nation built a new refinery, and lawsuits and red tape have made it extremely costly to expand and modify existing refineries ... So today I am proposing measures to expedite the refinery permitting process. Under the reform process that I propose, challenges to refineries and other energy projects permits must be brought before the DC circuit court of appeals within 60 days of the issuance of a permit decision. Congress should also empower the secretary of energy to establish binding deadlines for permit decisions and to ensure that the various levels of approval required in the refinery permitting process are handled in a timely way." [President Bush statement, 6/18/08]
HOUSE GOP PLAN: Build More Nuclear Power Plants. According to a summary of the House Republicans' American Energy Act: "The bill reinforces a commitment to protect public health and safety while providing for an accelerated regulatory process for new nuclear applications where there is a design already certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); a site already licensed for operating reactors; an operator in good standing with the NRC; and a full and complete Combined Operations and Construction License application. This bill also lowers construction costs by suspending import tariffs and duties on imported nuclear components for five years if there is no domestic manufacturer.
The bill also provides a long-term solution for spent nuclear fuel. The legislation allows the NRC to finish its review of the Yucca Mountain repository without political interference, and repeals its 70,000 metric ton limitation, letting science and technology dictate how much the repository can safely hold. The bill also provides for recycling of spent nuclear fuel, thereby decreasing the demand for storage space at Yucca Mountain and amounts accumulating." [American Energy Act Summary, accessed 6/10/09]
BUSH PLAN: Build More Nuclear Power Plants. During a weekly radio address, President Bush said: "Nuclear power generates large amounts of low-cost electricity without emitting air pollution or greenhouse gases. Yet nuclear power now produces only about 20 percent of America's electricity. It has the potential to play an even greater role. For example, over the past three decades, France has built 58 nuclear power plants and now gets more than 78 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. Yet here in America, we have not ordered a new nuclear powerplant since the 1970s. So last summer, I signed energy legislation that offered incentives to encourage the building of new nuclear plants in America. Our goal is to start the construction of new nuclear power plants by the end of this decade." [President Bush's Weekly Radio Address, 2/18/08]
HOUSE GOP PLAN: Open The Arctic For Drilling. According to a summary of the House Republicans' American Energy Act: "The bill increases American energy by opening the Arctic Coastal Plain to exploration in an environmentally-sound manner, which could provide an additional 1 million barrels of oil per day. The bill requires timely lease sales, provides for revenue sharing with the State, designates a fund to mitigate the effects of exploration and development and provide for local community support, and devotes a portion of the revenues for a renewable energy trust fund to pay for renewable, alternative and advanced energy programs." [American Energy Act Summary, accessed 6/10/09]
BUSH PLAN: Open The Arctic For Drilling. During a question and answer session in Florida, President Bush said: "I thought you were going to ask, how come we don't have the gas pipeline coming down yet, because there's a lot of untapped oil and gas up there that can be explored in environmentally friendly ways. And I think we ought to be drilling in ANWR--it's called ANWR. I know we can do it and protect the environment at the same time. And I know there's a lot of untapped gas up there that we ought to get down through pipeline as well. I don't know where all the oil goes coming out of the pipeline now. I'll try to find out for you." [Bush Press Conference, 5/9/06]
HOUSE GOP PLAN: Increase Production Of Oil Shale. According to a summary of the House Republicans' American Energy Act: "It is estimated that more than 70 percent of American oil shale lies on federal lands which contain an estimated 1.23 trillion barrels of oil, more than 50 times the nation's proven conventional oil reserves. The bill codifies the oil shale lease program and restores leasing activities that were already underway prior to being halted in February 2009, by the current Administration. The bill mandates that a lease sale be held within 180 days of enactment." [American Energy Act Summary, accessed 6/10/09]
BUSH PLAN: Increase Production Of Oil Shale. While speaking to the Coalition for Affordable American Energy, President Bush said, "Congress can do some more. Once they solve this problem, they can allow us to drill in northern Alaska, which we can do in environmentally friendly ways. They should allow us to tap into the extraordinary potential of oil shale. And we need to expand our refining capacity here in America." [Bush Remarks in EEOB, 8/12/08]
Eleven people are reported sick by the Sun News after attending a GOPher Brown event Thursday night in Myrtle Beach. About 600 people attended the event. I guess they thought I was attending. The menu was simple enough: cole slaw, baked beans, barbecue and a bird that was said to be quail. Quail? Give me a break. We go from having a person burn Smokey's forests to possibly serving tainted food to his supporters. Um, thanks for the support?
UPDATE: Let me just say I do not believe it was done intentionally. I do, however, think it will be a fitting notion for Brown to offer to pay for doctor visits, if accrued. We all know that he has the warchest to do it. And, they are his supporters.
The illness, which causes sudden queasiness, is being tracked by the department, said DHEC spokesman Thom Berry.
No hospitalizations have been required, Berry said. DHEC officials have determined that all of the known cases of illness were in people who attended an event Thursday night for U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., but the illness has not been positively linked to that event.
The exact cause of the illness is not known. Berry said testing is being done to determine whether it was food poisoning or a quick-moving virus that strikes quickly in large crowds.
Beating a dead horse gets old. Beating an elephant to death never does. And, as many professional athletes will tell you, being hopped up on steroids for six years has its consequences. Just ask Mark Sanford and the sad tears running down his cheek, destined to disappear with his shrinking credibility.
Republican strength in the South has both compensated for and masked the extent of the GOP's decline elsewhere. By several key measures, the party is now weaker outside the South than at any time since the Depression; in some ways, it is weaker than ever before.
Bill Carrick, Democratic strategist and SC native also had a few things to say the decline of the Grand Old Party of Angry, Old, White Men:
Carrick, like many other Democratic strategists, believes that these ideologically assertive Southern Republicans are hurting the GOP's appeal elsewhere, particularly because cable television has made each party's leaders more visible than a generation ago. "It makes them look... extreme and that they are engaged in partisan political fights that are irrelevant to achieving success," Carrick says. "It is definitely a losing spiral that... is reinforced every day by the 24/7 news cycle."
Of course, Mark Sanford disagrees:
Like [Mississippi Gov. Haley] Barbour, South Carolina Gov. Sanford rejects the idea that the South is disproportionately influential within their party. In any case, he says, the arguments that he and other Southerners have raised against Obama offer the party its most promising path back to power. Republican recovery "is probably less about new bells and whistles and more about the core of what made the party great in the first place, which is the angle of limited government," Sanford said. "I believe our political destiny is more closely tied to our roots than in trying to add new features.
The old, new GOP is focusing more on icons (Ronald Regan) that don't resonate with younger generations who weren't even embryos, toddlers, or tweens when they were relevant, celebraties and entertainers (Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh) rather than intellectuals and visionaries, and empty talking points (freedom, less government) that don't mean much to a Georgetown steelworker; work who just lost a job. Keep it up, and the Palmettovore may become your new national mascot.
The campaign of Republican Adjutant General candidate 
This morning, I've had the misfortune of listening to apologists for the Governor on MSNBC and C-Span whining about the double standard that exists when Republicans get caught with their pants down. Yes, he's human. Yes, people make mistakes. Yes, it could happen to anyone. So, why is everyone being so hard on Sanford and not cheating Democrats? Blah, blah, blah. 
Even though we share a border with Mexico, trade with Mexico, vacation in Mexico, and all that other stuff, s
Beating a dead horse gets old. Beating an elephant to death never does. And, as many professional athletes will tell you, being hopped up on steroids for six years has its consequences. Just ask Mark Sanford and t
