Monthly Archives: April 2011

The once and future Democratic chairman

I went to my very first ever state Democratic convention today. (You have to understand I spent most of my career as an editor, and going to conventions was reporters’ work.) It started at 10 a.m., but I didn’t arrive at the Carolina Coliseum until about 12:20, having had errands to run this morning. I wasn’t too worried about missing anything, though. After all, this was an event run by Democrats, rather than by Republicans. Or Germans. I refer you to Will Rogers.

Near as I can tell, I was right. I did apparently arrive too late to get press credentials — the table that I think was for that purpose was no longer manned — but it didn’t matter. I went down and wandered about on the floor without being challenged.

The headline: Dick Harpootlian won the party chairmanship on the first ballot, with 624 votes to Phil Noble‘s 331 and 68 for the third candidate whom, throughout this competition, was always referred to as that nice guy from Marion County. It still took a while for that first ballot to happen. After having rejected a proposal to vote merely by standing up (a most UN-Nikki Haley voting method that would have been), which would have dealt with the matter quickly since it was so lopsided, paper ballots were decided up. Then they were distributed, and… there was no place on the ballot to indicate which candidate one preferred for chairman. (Disclaimer — I’m describing this as it was described to me by delegates; that minor fiasco was one thing I DID miss by being late. Which still tells me I didn’t miss much.)

They were in the midst of voting again when I arrived, as speeches continued. So I settled in and listened, and mingled and gabbed, and waited for a result.

Here are some of the things I saw and heard over the next couple of hours before I left:

Upon my entrance, Steve Benjamin was giving the key to the city to former Rep. John Spratt. Spratt looked pretty good, and had no trouble speaking to the crowd. It was the first time I’d seen him since his defeat, or since his illness was announced, for that matter.
As I sat at an empty chair at the small press table, Jay Parmley was telling the crowd what an awesome job the party had done
Twitter wag @brookbristow termed this "The best political sticker OF ALL TIME."

of organizing in 2010. “So,” thought I, “how come y’all got so totally creamed?” Well, he explained, the party did well on the county level.
Of 289 county offices that were up last year, Democrats contested 190 and won 167. Yeah, OK. But when you lose every office that anyone is paying attention to, that doesn’t exactly add up to Big Mo, does it? He went on to say that 47 percent of the first-time voters of 2008 (remember the Obama Effect?) turned out in 2010, which was much higher than turnout in the general population. This made me think about baseball statistics. I sort of felt like I was listening to a manager brag on his losing pitcher for having thrown so many great pitches during the game.
One speaker, later in the program, said “I want to thank our next governor, Vincent Sheheen,” and got a big cheer. I’m not sure what the cheer meant: Were the assembled Dems giving him an attaboy for having almost won as their standard-bearer last year, or were they endorsing him to be the nominee next time as well? That’s the trouble with crowds cheering. You’d have to interview everybody to know what they were thinking.
I learned that the chairman’s race was over from Phil Noble. I ran into him on the floor and, not having any other questions on my mind, asked him how he thought it was going. He said not so well: He had already lost, on the first ballot, and it would be announced from the podium momentarily. Oh. OK. And yes, I felt like an idiot. I excused myself, and Tweeted it out.
After that announcement was made, Mr. Noble got up to make a concession speech. I whipped out my camera to try to shoot video, and less than three seconds after I hit the button to start recording, he was leaving the podium. He had pledged his support to the winner and to the party, and that was it. He was off that stage.
As it happened, Mr. Harpootlian didn’t speak all that long, either. I won’t trouble you with quoting from his acceptance speech, because I have the whole thing on video above. I recognize that the sound quality isn’t good (and the video itself is shaky, because I was busy looking around the room), so if you have trouble hearing it say so, and I’ll give you some quotes. But beyond quoting Harry Truman and promising to give Nikki Haley and her party a hard time, there wasn’t much to it.
Afterwards, Dick told me that he was anxious to get out of there and start raising money. He said he could raise more money in the next two hours than he ever could at any other time — flush of victory, I suppose he meant. I looked around for him not long afterward, and I guess he had left to do just that.
John Spratt got up again to address the crowd, and announced that he wanted to be the very first to contribute to the party under its new regime — giving a check for $5,000.
After staying maybe an hour after Harpootlian’s acceptance, talking with various sources about other stuff while 17th vice chairmen and such were being elected, I decided to split. A lot of people already had. As I left the hall, I heard behind me a speaker saying, “Whereas, according to rule 6.2….” Yeah, I think I found the right time to leave.

There had never been a lot of doubt among observers that Dick Harpootlian would win this, once he got in. And media types are positively looking forward to having The Mouth generate good copy over the next couple of years. So I could hardly blame Phil Noble for seeming a bit put-upon when I interviewed him earlier in the week, seeming resentful that after all those months of work, this would be taken from him so easily. Today, after his concession speech, he said to me something along the lines of “That’s life.” It’s certainly politics. But I wouldn’t blame him a bit for feeling kind of alone at that moment.

Not entirely alone, though — he did get 331 votes. And I had the opportunity to speak to as couple of those 331 during the convention. The ones I heard from were more anti-Harpootlian than pro-Noble, and their reasons ranged from their sincere belief in political correctness — which the new chairman definitely does not share — to their conviction that Harpootlian is all talk, and the party needs more than that.

But you know, if I were a Democrat, I’d have been concerned about something else. Dick is way more than talk; he had a lot to do with the party’s success in 1998. I think he’ll pull out all the stops to reverse momentum and win victories over the Republicans. And if I were a Democrat, I’d wonder, “At what cost?” In 1998, he brought video poker money to the table, and helped Jim Hodges (who had been a staunch opponent of both video poker and a state lottery) win on a lottery-based campaign. If you’re a Democrat and you’re OK with such things, you’re bound to be happy with your new chairman. If you worry about such tactics, you might be concerned at what lengths he’ll go to to win.

But there’s no question that for media types, it’s going to be more fun to write about the Democrats over the next couple of years.

: Twitter wag @brookbristow termed this “The best political sticker OF ALL TIME.”

Is our governor politically clueless, or does she know EXACTLY what she’s doing?

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Either way, it’s not good for South Carolina.

If you expect her to be mindful of the opinions of South Carolinians, you have to be puzzled by this behavior:

Gov. Nikki Haley said Thursday that a sales tax exemption Gov. Mark Sanford’s administration promised to Amazon, if granted, would destroy her economic development message.

While speaking in Charleston at the Free Enterprise Foundation awards luncheon, Haley addressed the Internet retailer’s decision to cancel a planned distribution center in Lexington County after the S.C. House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected the promised sales tax exemption.

The planned facility would have brought about 1,250 jobs to the Midlands.

Haley described the tax break that her predecessor promised as a “distraction” and said it is dangerous. She drew a distinction between the retail-related jobs Amazon would have brought and manufacturing jobs such as those Boeing Co. is bringing.

When talking to companies about coming to South Carolina, Haley said she tells them, “We are going to give you a fair, competitive marketplace to do business, and we are always going to take care of the businesses we already have.”…

So you ask yourself, why would she bother coming out and saying thing like this NOW, when the debate is over? When the issue was in doubt, she studiously avoided taking responsibility for any position. (She made it clear she didn’t LIKE the incentive, but promised to do nothing to stop it — while standing by as her Commerce secretary lobbied for it.) She didn’t want her fingerprints on whatever happened in any way.

So why make a speech about it NOW, when it’s moot? After all, the people who wanted Amazon to get the break are really unhappy now — as I can attest, having had to explain my own position to some of them the last couple of days. Why further antagonize them? Why not be quiet, or just say it’s a shame it didn’t work out, without going on about how jobs that aren’t manufacturing jobs are no good? (“Retail by nature is a lower-priced job. And retail by nature is not solid and invested. It is not a Boeing. It is not a BMW. Manufacturing, high technology is very different.”)

The only explanation I can see is that Nikki Haley has never been about trying to get things done here in South Carolina. She’s always been about appealing to what she sees as a potential national constituency — the kind of ideologues elsewhere who couldn’t care less about jobs in SC, but who DO have a marked prejudice against economic incentives. With them, badmouthing the Amazon proposal is win-win. She was, after all, speaking to the Free Enterprise Foundation.

Which do you think it is? Is she clueless? Is she, as David Woodward suggested, just that much of an amateur? Or is it all on-message calculation — a calculation that leaves us in SC out completely?

I do like me some Union Jacks

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To me, the Union Jack is right up there with the SC State Flag as one of the most appealing flags ever. The US flag is, of course, the world’s most stirring to me, but it might be just a sentimental favorite. I think it’s the most beautiful in the world, but there’s no way for that to be an objective assessment. I associate it with all kinds of good things — such as the Republic for which it stands, the Constitution and stirring music and such, from the deeply meaningful (such as the greatest news photograph of all time) to the merely fun — to the point that I’m prejudiced. I’m not positive it would be one of my favorites, esthetically speaking, if I’d never seen it before. Or maybe it would — impossible to say. It’s not like I can wipe my mind clean and UNrecognize it, so as to evaluate fairly.

For that matter, while I have a lot of negative associations with it (and some positive ones, too), I think the Confederate flag we fight over is one of the most appealing, too. I’m talking pure esthetics, remember, setting associations aside. Something about the symmetry of the St. Andrew’s Cross gives it some of the same appeal as the Union Jack. Of course, symmetry isn’t everything — the crescent moon that throws off the symmetry on the SC state flag gives it just the right touch; the flag would lose much without it. Of course, what really makes the state flag is the little bit of white on indigo blue. I wish we used that more. I wish our license plates were solid dark blue with white letters (and maybe a small palmetto tree between the letters and numbers), which would be way classier than what we’ve got.

In fact — and this may be the most controversial statement I’ve ever made on the blog — I sort of wish that USC’s colors were indigo and white. On one level, that would be a smart move for the university, positioning it clearly as South Carolina’s flagship university. On another, however, it would be career suicide for anyone associated with the university to suggest it.

But back to the Union Jack — that is the way to use a St. Andrew’s Cross. I think the addition of the St. George’s makes all the difference, elevating it way above the Confederate image. The added complexity, or all that additional white, or something, just adds up to perfection.

Anyway, the people who watched the Royal Wedding were probably watching for other things. Me, I didn’t watch it. But without trying, I’ve seen images — on TV at Yesterday’s at lunch today, on a co-worker’s computer, and so forth. And two things have occurred to me. One, I Tweeted out this afternoon:

Prince William, it seems, has more uniforms in his closet than Glenn McConnell does…

Five reTweets on that one so far, I see…

The other was when I saw image number 26 on this CNN gallery (I don’t want to get in trouble with Getty by posting it, and there’s no direct link provided, hence the indirect reference) on Lora’s desktop this afternoon.

All the Union Jacks you could want to see, right there on the Mall (where I was myself recently).

Huzzah, say I.

Or is THIS the handsomest flag ever?

Gotta run see the Shop Tart!

Your Virtual Front Page, Thursday, April 28, 2011

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Thursday already! Put-out-the-garbage night in my neighborhood. But first, some headlines:

Death Toll From Tornadoes Nears 300 (NYT) — We sort of dodged a bullet on that one in SC, although there were some twisters reported.
Shandon shooter was wearing homemade explosives (thestate.com) — Columbia still reeling from this. I spoke with a cop a little after lunchtime today who had still not been to sleep since this happened early yesterday.
Obama names Petraeus as CIA head (BBC) — Meanwhile, NPR says, “President Obama’s picks to head Defense and the CIA suggest continuity of policy.”
India Snubs U.S., Russia in Jet Deal (WSJ) — And after all that R&D we’ve invested over the last few decades. Guess the Indians thought the Eurofighter just looked cool.
GOP pivots on ‘birther’ questions, blames Obama for media attention (WashPost) — Wow. Wow. Actual quote from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus (with a name like that, I’d like to see HIS birth certificate): “It’s maddening and I just wish the president would engage in the real issues that are affecting America.” Really. And I see Sarah Palin’s been talking to Doug Ross, because SHE said, “Media: admit it, Trump forced the issue. Now, don’t let the WH distract you w/the birth crt from what Bernanke says today. Stay focused, eh?” Previously, she had called the birther nonissue “fair game.”
Prince greets fans before wedding (BBC) — It’s almost over! It’s almost over!

Amazon takes ball, goes home — or somewhere

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Been meaning to post something on this all day, so y’all can comment:

Amazon all but told South Carolina goodbye Wednesday after the online retailer lost a legislative showdown on a sales tax collection exemption it wants to open a distribution center that would bring 1,249 jobs to the Midlands.

Company officials immediately halted plans to equip and staff the one million-square-foot building under construction at I-77 and 12th Street near Cayce.

“As a result of today’s unfortunate House vote, we’ve canceled $52 million in procurement contracts and removed all South Carolina fulfillment center job postings from our (Web) site,” said Paul Misener, Amazon vice president for global public policy.

The decision came shortly after state representatives rejected the tax break 71-47.

“People who think this is a bluff don’t know Amazon,” Lexington County Councilman Bill Banning said. “Too many other states want them.”

The partly finished center probably will be completed and then “put into mothballs,” he said.

Something, I mean, more penetrating than what I said on Twitter this morning: “So Amazon, having made South Carolinians jump obediently through one hoop (blue law), petulantly decamps when we balk at a second one…”

I didn’t mean that to sound quite so dismissive of Amazon, or of us. I mean, I’m sorry they’re leaving. I also suspect that, given the way it unfolded, there’s nothing — nothing legitimate and wise — that we could have done to stop them from leaving. Which is a shame. To Amazon, this is about bigger fish than South Carolina.

Or such is the impression I form from this rather dramatic action — abandoning a multi-million-dollar investment (which was either worth making or not) over the inconvenience of having to collect sales taxes (which ALL businesses should be required to do, whether they have a “nexus” or not).

But what do y’all think?

Scooped by The State on my own danged story

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Our late, lamented AC units, right after the deed was done.

Some of y’all were disparaging The State on a previous post. Well, I’ll say this for them: They just scooped me on my own blasted story.

Of course, I let them. Remember that list of posts I’ve been MEANING to get to, which I wrote about back here? Well, one of them was about copper theft:

Metal fabricator Stanley Bradham delivered two 300-pound concrete slabs to a Pickens Street business Tuesday, then lowered a couple of 2- to 3-ton heating and air-conditioning units on top.

But it is what Bradham did next that theft-weary business and church leaders are hoping will finally slow the alarming rate of vandalism aimed at removing copper wiring – a trend that not only inconveniences victims, but also drives up their insurance rates.

Bradham bolted a lockable, customized, 350-gauge unibody steel cage over each of the units and welded the cages to the cement pads, which are secured by 12-inch anchors in the ground.

“It stops your access to the top of the unit, so you can’t get in,” said Bradham, of the newly formed Carolina Copper Protection company in Hopkins. “For the cost factor, it’s a very visual deterrence.”

That Pickens Street business was ADCO.

This is a story that goes under the heading of the Jerry Ratts dictum, “News is whatever happens to, or interests, an editor.” Or former editor, in this case. Jerry was a bit of a cynic, but he had a point. I mean, you know, this copper theft was a serious problem and all, but it only became dire quite recently, and suddenly…

Several weeks back, copper thieves destroyed both of our AC units to get a few coils of copper. We’re talking $8,000-$10,000 worth of damage for maybe, maybe $400 worth of metal.

Actually, that’s the high estimate. Back right after this happened, when I was in full fury over it, I interviewed Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott about it, and he said it was probably more like between $30 and $100. Which is… mind-boggling to me. I mean, it seems way easier to actually to out and work for that amount of money. I mean, mow a lawn or something — way less risk.

But apparently, it’s not as much trouble as I thought to tear up an AC unit that way. Chief Scott says they’re in and out in 3-5 minutes. Otherwise, he’d catch more of them.

It started with empty or abandoned commercial buildings. Now, he says, they’re hitting everything — churches, law offices, even private homes. Having your unit on a roof is no defense. Thieves destroyed 17 units from the top of the Dream Center at Bible Way Church on Atlas Road. Then, after the units were replaced, they hit again.

In fact, as Roddie Burriss reports:

In 2009, Southern Mutual wrote checks for $365,000 worth of losses due to copper thefts, according to Robert Bates, executive vice president.

In 2010, the company paid $1.2 million in copper theft losses to 174 member churches. Because most of the churches it covers are located in the Palmetto State, 109 of the 174 copper theft claims were in South Carolina, accounting for losses totaling $839,000, Bates said.

Through March 2011, Bates said the company already had paid churches $552,000 in copper loss claims, putting it well on the way to a $2 million payout for the year in these thefts…

I ran into Roddie and photographer Tim Dominick in the alley outside our building yesterday — and realizing they were doing MY story, I lapsed back into editor mode. Let the reporters and photographers do the work, then comment it. It feels natural.

So here’s the commentary part… Obviously, Something Must Be Done about this problem. Back when we were without AC, I had a suggestion, which I posted on Twitter. It was on a particularly warm day last month (I told you I’d been sitting on this for awhile):

Can’t breathe. No air-conditioning all week. Thieves stole copper. We need to bring back flogging. Or keelhauling. Something painful…

Sonny Corleone would say it’s just business, but I was taking it very, very personally. Chief Scott has a more constructive, and constitutional idea than my sweaty rantings: Make it harder to fence the stuff.

He’s backing, and testified in favor of, legislation sponsored by Rep. Todd Rutherford that would stiffen penalties (although, I’m sorry to say, no flogging), and make the businesses that buy scrap metal get legitimate ID from the people who sell them copper. Which would seem sort of like a no-brainer. As the chief said, “When you ride up on a bicycle, and you have two air-conditioning coils, you’re probably not a legitimate air-conditioning repair man.”

Chief Scott, and other law enforcement professionals, have enough problems, what with people coming at them with AK-47s. And yet they are spending more and more of their time fighting this rising tide of copper theft, and it’s pretty overwhelming — and not only to the angry, sweaty victims.

During our interview (which, like so many of my interviews, took place at the Capital City Club), the Chief looked out over the city and said, wondering, “Just LOOK at all those air-conditioners…”

Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott: "Just LOOK at all those air-conditioners..."

Phil Noble on ‘The Brad Show (Guerrilla Edition)’

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Welcome to the cinéma vérité version of “The Brad Show.” Just to give it a fancy name.

Scheduling time with Phil Noble, candidate for SC Democratic Party chair, wasn’t quite as easy as getting together with Dick Harpootlian. Dick’s office is right down the street and around the corner, whereas Phil is based in Charleston.

So we went back and forth, back and forth, via email and phone, trying to get together. On Good Friday (while I was taking a three-day break from the laptop), Phil wrote to tell me he’d be in town on Monday. So when I got that on Monday, I got back to him and left a message. He called me back during Monday’s Rotary meeting, proposing to meet me in a couple of hours. I checked with Gene and Jay, and that we too short notice for a full studio session.

So I improvised. I asked Phil to come by the office anyway, and interviewed him with my little Canon A1100 set on my cheap little tripod I got from Walmart.

The video quality really isn’t all that bad, considering the gonzo, guerrilla way in which it was shot. Of course, to get that kind of resolution, you’re talking about a freaking HUGE file — like, 770 MB. Transferring it from the camera to the laptop was an hour. Converting the format was another hour. Uploading it to blip.tv was more like four or five hours (I don’t know how long, because I finally went home and left it running).

And now, to you.

Why couldn’t we wait for studio time? Because the state Democratic convention is Saturday. Which reminds me — if I’m going, I need to see about whether I need credentials or something.

As for what Phil had to say — what, you think I’m going to sit here and type it out for you? I went to enough trouble getting it to you; the least you can do is watch it.

Warning — it’s the longest Brad Show ever, at more than 34 minutes. Another drawback from not having a pro like Jay handle it (and boy, do I appreciate him more than ever now) was that there was nobody to give me significant looks that meant “wrap it up!”

If you’re interested at all in who should be the chairman of the state Dems, you should find this interesting. So WATCH it. (And go back and watch the Harpootlian one, too, if you haven’t — as Kevin Fisher recommended…)

Thanks for the shout-out, Kevin!

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Couple of days ago, Kevin Fisher left a phone message for me to let me know that he would be citing “The Brad Show” in his column in the Free Times, to wit:

Speaking in a video interview on Brad Warthen’s blog on April 20 (Warthen is the former editorial page editor of The State), Harpootlian showed he has learned nothing from his prior mistakes and proceeded to once more insult both African-Americans and gays.

On the matter of Alvin Greene, Harpootlian said when the Manning resident showed up at Democratic Party headquarters trying to pay his filing fee with a personal check (rather than a campaign check), “I would have taken his paperwork and then disqualified him.”

Harpootlian went on to criticize current Democratic Chairwoman Carol Fowler for telling Greene what he needed to do to file properly. Such is equality in Harpo’s world.

Next, Harpootlian offered this year’s version of “light in the loafers,” ridiculing GOP state Sen. Glenn McConnell. When Warthen noted that McConnell has “17 Confederate costumes,” Harpootlian quickly interjected “and one of them has hoops,” while gesturing to indicate a skirt. Earlier in the interview, Harpootlian said “the girly boy thing didn’t work” for the Democrats. Such is inclusiveness in Harpo’s world.

But if you’re a delegate to the state Democratic convention, don’t take my word for it. Go to bradwarthen.com, watch and decide — for yourself and your party…

Thanks for the mention, Kevin. See you at D’s…

Best way to get a good grade — have a great relationship with the teacher…

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Did you see that our governor has taken a break from writing her memoirs to grade her performance in the few days she’s been in office:

By Dawndy Mercer Plank – bio | email

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – Governor Nikki Haley is touring the state talking about her first 100 days in office, and her hits and misses so far.

The governor is boasting of changing the leadership of the Budget and Control Board, getting Medicaid reform passed, on-the-record voting permanent law, changes to the budget and getting agency directors approved within six weeks time.

We asked Governor Nikki Haley to grade herself on her first 100 days in office. “Effort, absolutely A+++!” she said. “I sleep and breathe this every day. I want everything done yesterday. For accomplishments, I’d honestly give myself an A. We are so excited for what we’ve done in 100 days. We really, really are.”…

Actually, I only heard her say “A-plus,” not “A-plus-plus-plus.” But still…

So now you know what it takes to be a great governor. That, I suppose, is why our past governors haven’t been as “fabulous” as we might have liked: they weren’t “great” wives and moms.

At least, they haven’t been as wildly fabulous as Nikki. Which she has been. Just ask her, she’ll tell you.

I tell you, folks, I’ve encountered a lot of manifestations of ego and narcissism in my going on 4 decades of closely following politics. But I’ve never encountered anything quite like what Nikki Haley has become.

Some of this might actually be a gender thing: Women can get away with a certain over-the-top enthusiasm, even about themselves, that would brand a man a major jerk. Things that a man could NOT get away with can sometimes be seen as charming when said by a woman with a nice smile.

Or maybe I’m completely off-base. I’m just groping here, trying to figure out why she gets away with this stuff…

March for Babies coming up Saturday

OK, so NONE of us knows what we’re talking about (the collards controversy continues to rage)

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Remember how yesterday we were sorta kinda making fun of Greg Ryberg for not knowing (although I assumed he was being facetious) that the collards vote was for SC “official leafy vegetable,” not “official vegetable?”

Turns out that Ryberg had it right, and Larry Martin, and The Associated Press, and bradwarthen.com, all had it wrong. AP moved this correction last evening:

SC legislators make collards state vegetable

Corrects that the designation is for “official vegetable” instead of “official leafy vegetable.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina senators have named collard greens the state’s official vegetable.

The Senate on Tuesday approved recognizing collard greens with a 30-12 vote. The proposal needs to get routine final approval Wednesday before being sent to the House.

State Sen. Greg Ryberg of Aiken wondered why collards were getting singled out for recognition and not something like green beans.

State Sen. Larry Martin of Pickens said the designation was for a leafy vegetable and green beans weren’t leafy vegetables.

But the legislation doesn’t limit the designation to a leafy vegetable.

That means collard greens can stand tall over everything from everything from arugula to zucchini.

I don’t know about the AP, but I suddenly feel the need for a leafy vegetable with which to cover my nakedness…

The most absurd thing I’ve ever heard a president of the United States waste time talking about

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After a breakfast meeting this morning, as I was about to get out of my car to go into ADCO, I heard, live on the radio, the most insane presidential press conference I’ve ever heard in my life.

Barack Obama was actually taking time out of his day to address the insane birther “issue.”

Above is the image he posted on Twitpic. Here’s a story on it:

Obama’s ‘Long-Form’ Birth Certificate Is Released

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

President Obama on Wednesday posted online a copy of his “long-form” birth certificate from the state of Hawaii, hoping to finally end a long-simmering conspiracy theory among some conservatives who asserted that he was not born in the United States and was not a legitimate president.

The birth certificate, which is posted at the White House Web site, shows that Mr. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is signed by state officials and his mother.

“The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn’t good for the country,” Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, wrote on the Web site Wednesday morning. Mr. Pfeiffer said on the site that Mr. Obama had authorized officials in Hawaii to release the document broadly.

In a statement to the news media Wednesday morning, Mr. Obama said he decided to release the document in an effort to end the “silliness” about his birth that threatened to distract from the serious issues facing the country.

“Over the last two and a half years, I have watched with bemusement,” he said in brief remarks. “I’ve been puzzled by the degree to which this thing just kept on going.”…

Yeah, ditto, Mr. President.

And today in the paper, I see that 41.2 percent of GOP voters in SC belief that Obama was definitely or probably born in another country. Which tells me that 41.2 percent of GOP voters should be barred from ever entering a voting booth again. Yeah, I know that there are certain constitutional problems that raises, but come on. When we talk about the drawbacks of democracy, the fact that people who would believe something like this about a guy, just because they don’t like him (for reasons that don’t bear a lot of close scrutiny, if you’re at all squeamish), get to vote just like everybody else is one of the biggies.

Oh, and for those of you who want to spend more of the precious moments you have remaining in your lives on this “issue,” here’s the president’s correspondence with the state of Hawaii Department of Health, seeking the document he posted today.

I really need to get over to the State House more

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A colleague laments that she missed this debate over in the Senate today. I feel the same. Note the boldfaced part:

The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. South Carolina legislators gave the lowly collard green its due Tuesday when the Senate agreed to make it the official state leafy vegetable.

Always washed, frequently boiled and traditionally a charm for wealth in the New Year first put on Southern tables by slaves, the collard green would join dozens of other “official” things the state recognizes.

For instance, milk is the state’s official beverage and state-grown tea is the state’s official hospitality beverage. The Carolina wolf spider is the state’s official spider and the bottlenose dolphin is the state’s official mammal.

The 30-12 vote showed there were collard green doubters.

Sen. Greg Ryberg, an Aiken Republican and Wisconsin transplant, wondered if there was competition.

Sen. Larry Martin, a Pickens Republican, defended the choice. “We all know the popularity of the collard,” Martin said.

“What about the green bean?” Ryberg asked in a reference to past efforts to put money into a green bean museum.

“The green bean’s not leafy,” Martin said flatly. “This is very specialized.”

I’d like to have been there for that.

A defense of public broadcasting, from one who knows whereof she speaks

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Sometime today, Senior Correspondent Gwen Ifill of PBS is accepting, on behalf of the PBS Newshour, the 2011 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

She was to be accompanied by Political Editor David Chalian. I don’t know what he was going to say, but here’s a copy of her prepared remarks:

CRONKITE AWARD CEREMONY
Norman Lear Center
(GWEN IFILL’S PREPARED REMARKS)

University of Southern California
APRIL 26, 2011

ON BEHALF OF JIM LEHRER, JUDY WOODRUFF, LINDA WINSLOW OUR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND DAVID CHALIAN, OUR POLITICAL EDITOR…

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THIS WONDERFUL AWARD, AND FOR ALLOWING US TO JOIN ALL OF THESE AMAZING JOURNALISTS ON THIS STAGE.

IT DOES US ALL GOOD TO SEE THAT – NO MATTER WHAT YOU READ, SEE AND HEAR OUT THERE – SERIOUS JOURNALISM STILL MATTERS.

IT’S ALL I EVER WANTED TO DO, AND I THINK I SPEAK FOR EVERYONE HERE IN SAYING THAT WE ARE DRAWN TO JOURNALISM FOR THE NOBILITY THAT CAN BE FOUND IN TELLING UNTOLD STORIES, OR IN SHEDDING LIGHT RATHER THAN HEAT ON THE OVERTOLD ONES. MOST OF US GOT INTO JOURNALISM TO SAVE THE WORLD…AND THEN REALIZED WE OFTEN HAD TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM US.

I REALIZE I AM PREACHING TO THE CHOIR HERE TODAY, SO I PROBABLY DON’T HAVE TO TELL THE PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM, THIS IS TOUGHER THAN IT SEEMS.

FOR MOST OF US, IT MEANS DOING MORE WITH LESS ON A DAILY BASIS. RESISTING THE LURE OF A CHARLIE SHEEN STORY ONE DAY OR ANOTHER ROYAL WEDDING CURTAIN RAISER ON ANOTHER.

AT THIS POINT IN MY CAREER, I’VE WORKED FOR NEWSPAPERS, AT A COMMERCIAL NETWORK AND NOW AT PUBLIC BROADCASTING, WHERE LIKE CLOCKWORK, WE ARE PERIODICALLY ACCUSED BY THOSE ON THE RIGHT AND THOSE ON THE LEFT
OF BIAS. TOO MANY OF THESE CRITICS DON’T ACTUALLY WATCH OR LISTEN TO WHAT WE DO.

THIS IS WHAT WE DO.

JUDY WOODRUFF AND I TAKE YOU AROUND THE COUNTRY TO GET TO THE HEART OF OUR NATIONAL POLITICAL DEBATE…MARGARET WARNER AND RAY SUAREZ TAKE YOU TO NORTH KOREA AND GUATEMALA AND EGYPT AND SOUTH AFRICA TO TALK ABOUT GLOBAL HEALTH AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES.

ROBIN MCNEIL JUST COMPLETED A SIX-PART SERIES ON AUTISM, DEVOTING THE KIND OF TIME AND CARE TO THE TOPIC THAT FILLS A VOID IN THE DEARTH OF DOCUMENTARY TELEVISION.

AND AFTER 35 YEARS, WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED. LAST WEEK AT THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE GULF OIL SPILL, WE LOOKED BACK AND COUNTED 232 STORIES WE’D DONE ON THE TOPIC….AND NOT JUST ON THE AIR.

OUR ONLINE OIL SPILL WIDGET WAS EMBEDDED ON MORE THAN 6,000 WEBSITES AROUND THE WORLD AND WAS VIEWED MORE THAN 20 MILLION TIMES.

WE ARE CONVINCED THAT TELLING THE STORY WELL MATTERS – WHETHER IT’S JEFF BROWN’S CONVERSATION LAST YEAR WITH THE WAR PHOTOGRAPHER TIM HETHERINGTON, WHO WAS KILLED LAST WEEK IN LIBYA… OR JOHN MERROW ON EDUCATION… OR PAUL SOLMAN MAKING SENSE OF ECONOMICS… OR HARI SREENIVASAN HONCHOING OUR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COVERAGE.

IF IT SOUNDS LIKE I’M BOASTING, YOU’RE RIGHT. WE ARE JUSTIFIABLY PROUD OF WHAT WE DO, AND ARE CONVINCED THAT EVEN IN A DRASTICALLY SHIFTING MEDIA ENVIRONMENT THERE IS A HUNGER FOR THE WORK WE DO.

WHEN I VISIT COLLEGE CAMPUSES, STUDENTS OFTEN TELL ME “I ONLY WATCH JON STEWART.” AND I TELL THEM: “JON STEWART WATCHES ME.”

NOT TO WORRY. WALTER CRONKITE ONCE TOLD ME HE WATCHED THE PBS NEWSHOUR EVERY NIGHT TOO.

THAT’S BECAUSE JOURNALISM, AND EVEN FAUX JOURNALISM, CAN ONLY FLOURISH WITH A FIRM FOUNDATION.

AT THE PBS NEWSHOUR, OUR FIRM FOUNDATION IS JIM LEHRER. FROM THE DAY HE CREATED THE PROGRAM WITH ROBIN MACNEIL UNTIL NOW, WHEN HE APPLIES HIS CONVICTIONS AND HIS CORE BELIEFS TO THE BROADCAST EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, HE IS OUR GUIDING STAR – TRULY THE CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM.

SO THAT’S WHAT WE DO. THAT’S WHAT MORE OF US CAN DO. AND ON DAYS LIKE TODAY, I AM REMINDED OF HOW MANY MORE WHO ARE DOING IT. AND WELL.

WE MIGHT NOT BE SAVING THE WORLD, BUT AT LEAST WE ARE MAKING IT A MORE UNDERSTANDABLE PLACE TO LIVE IN.

ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU TO THE NORMAN LEAR CENTER AT USC ANNENBERG FOR THIS MARVELOUS WALTER CRONKITE AWARD.——-

Admittedly, I don’t see PBS as much as I listen to NPR, but to a great extent the praise I often offer to NPR can apply to the television counterpart: I seldom encounter better journalism anywhere. Ms. Ifill mentions the interview with Tim Hetherington… one of the things that consistently amazes me is how comprehensively public broadcasting covers things that just happened (often fleshing it out with a recent interview with the person who is in the news). They present information so thoughtfully, so soberly and completely, that it generally exceeds the best that print can offer. And I can’t say that about anything else on broadcast media.

How ridiculous can we get?

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Just noticed this headline over at the WashPost:

Fuel prices cut into Obama popularity

How ridiculous, how fickle, how petty can the voting public be? Yeah, I know, we’re always like this, but whenever I see statistical proof of the capriciousness of the public affections, I am disillusioned yet again.

This, of course, is why we have never come up with a rational, comprehensive energy plan. We have a conniption over gas prices going up a little bit — something that would certainly happen, along with a lot of other things, if we were to get serious about energy policy.

So we don’t. Ever. Because our politicians only work with one hand at a time, because they have one finger of the other constantly held up into the wind.

I mean, Obama didn’t even DO anything to make prices rise, and this happens, just the way it always does:

Obama, like previous presidents in times of high oil prices, is taking a hit. Only 39 percent of those who call gas prices a “serious financial hardship” approve of the way he is doing his job, and 33 percent of them say he’s doing a good job on the economy.

No wonder politicos are terrified to take action.

Yeah, that was me on the radio again

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The last couple of days, I’ve been getting compliments about my performance on Michael Feldman’s “Whad’Ya Know?” over the weekend — two or three people at Rotary yesterday mentioned it, and I just got a Facebook message from Bill Day in Memphis.

Thing is, that was a rerun — from April 2009. This is the third time they’ve run it, and I haven’t heard it on the radio yet (although I have listened to parts of it online).

That would be sort of interesting to hear again. I might go back and listen online sometime. That was in the first weeks after I was laid off, during the period that Mark Sanford was trying to deny South Carolina the stimulus money we would all be eventually paying for (and before he went to Argentina), and as I recall we talked about those things. I imagine that now it would sound kind of like a time capsule.

Anyway, I had a good time doing it.

Your Virtual Front Page, Monday, April 25, 2011

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Man, I am still worn out from my Easter weekend — went to the beach. Hope yours was nice. Here are the headlines:

NATO Strikes Qaddafi Compound (NYT) — A lot of news outlets are leading with Syria right now, and they’ve got a point. But I’m going with the thing that we are actually, currently, materially involved in. Especially since this represents an escalation.
Syria Military Intensifies Crackdown (WSJ) — Things are coming to a head, and it’s ugly.
Hundreds escape from Afghan jail (BBC) — 470 escapees? Hilts would have said, “You’re crazy. And you’re crazy, too…” The Great Escape, Taliban-style.
Italy ‘to join attacks in Libya’ (BBC) — So if this turns into a World War, this time we’ve got Italy on our side…
GOP’s Barbour will not make 2012 run (WashPost) — Already told you about that. Closest thing I’ve got to a timely “local” story for the front today. Local in the sense of us having the first-in-the-South primary.
Fuel prices causing financial hardship (WashPost) — No doubt about it; I certainly feel it. I’m sure y’all do, too. The question is, are higher gas prices (still lower than in Europe) actually a bad thing in a big-picture sense?

Haley Barbour drops out: What does it mean?

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OK, so that last post about the 2012 GOP presidential field was a few days old. This one happened today:

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) announced today that he will not run for president. The decision comes as something of a surprise — the Associated Press reported just Sunday that Barbour could launch his campaign as early as this week. He had been making moves toward a campaign, including a recent visit to New Hampshire.

“A candidate for president today is embracing a ten-year commitment to an all-consuming effort, to the virtual exclusion of all else,” Barbour said in a statement. “His (or her) supporters expect and deserve no less than absolute fire in the belly from their candidate. I cannot offer that with certainty, and total certainty is required.”

Barbour had previously voiced concerns about the time commitment involved in running for president, and both his wife and son had expressed reservations about the campaign.

He was also struggling to get above the low single digits in polls, even in the south. His past career as a lobbyist, though he tried to present it as an advantage, was expected to dog Barbour on the trail. His stumbles in statements on civil rights raised questions about his readiness…

So what does it mean? I like that Aaron Blake of The Fix says that “Barbour already had obstacles as a southern governor with a thick accent…” Huh. And we-uns down heuh thought that was one of his strengths…

The Post speculates that this promotes Barbour buddy Mitch Daniels. Maybe so. Or maybe Pawlenty. I would imagine it would make the aforementioned Huntsman a little more sanguine about his chances in SC.

Something it just might indicate — and the slowness of the GOP field is getting rolling this cycle tends to back this up — is that Republicans who know what they’re about don’t think they can beat Obama. And it’s hard to get, as Barbour says, a “fire in the belly” for a long, hard campaign that would in the end be unsuccessful.

We hear so much from the Obama-hating fringe of the GOP that it’s easy to remember that fringes do not constitute majorities. The people who’ve been involved in politics a bit longer than the Tea Party’s been around know that…

Huntsman uncampaign takes aim at Romney

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Tim Miller, who introduced himself to me via email a few days ago as the guy “likely to be doing the media work should Jon Huntsman decide to run for President when he returns from Beijing,” wanted to make sure I saw these two pieces.

The first casts doubt on the viability of Mitt Romney, widely seen as the leading contender among the non-crazy aspirants to the GOP presidential nomination, in South Carolina:

COLUMBIA, S.C. — He may be the presumed national frontrunner, but when he launches his all-but-certain presidential campaign, Mitt Romney figures to be a heavy underdog in the historically decisive South Carolina presidential primary.

During his 2008 run, Romney competed fiercely to win the first-in-the-South primary state, which has voted for the eventual GOP nominee in every contest since 1980. But after more than a year of pouring significant time and money into the state, Romney pulled out his South Carolina resources with 10 days to go before primary day in order to focus on friendlier ground in Michigan and Nevada.

This time around, his South Carolina prospects are not looking much better.

“He finished fourth here last time, and if he hasn’t really done a lot of groundwork, it might be an uphill battle,” said South Carolina State Rep. Nathan Ballentine, who endorsed Romney’s last campaign. “So maybe you focus on New Hampshire and then head up to Nevada and Florida — things like that.”

Ballentine, who is one of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s closest allies in the state legislature, described himself as a “loyal guy” who was inclined to endorse Romney again but had not yet made up his mind. Ballentine was frank in his assessment that the former Massachusetts governor, who tried to convince South Carolinians throughout 2007 that he was a “Yankee governor” with “southern values,” might again have a difficult time connecting with voters here….

The second piece, by our old buddy Peter Hamby, portrays Jon Huntsman as the Mormon more likely to do well here — not to mention, a guy likely to gain the support of those looking for someone who might actually have a chance against President Obama with us swing voters:

Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) – If ambassador to China Jon Huntsman does decide to run for president after returning to the United States in early May, his advisers are planning to make a serious play for South Carolina, the early primary state that traditionally propels Republican candidates to the presidential nomination.

The conservative-leaning state might seem like a curious place to make a stand for a Mormon ex-Obama administration official who supports same-sex civil unions, but his team is confident that South Carolina Republicans are hungry for a fresh face in a lackluster 2012 field.

“If he gets in the race, from everything I’ve heard, his plan would be to plant a flag in South Carolina,” said longtime Columbia-based strategist Richard Quinn, who helped John McCain win the state’s primary in 2008. “I really think we can win here.”

Quinn is working for Horizon PAC, Huntsman’s campaign-in-waiting, and will steer his presidential bid in South Carolina should the ambassador officially enter the race after his China post concludes on April 30.

He said New Hampshire and South Carolina – two of the four early states that allow independents to participate in their presidential primaries – “are ready for the arrival of a major new player.”

“I think moving from New Hampshire to South Carolina, that’s the traditional path,” Quinn said, mapping out Huntsman’s potential path to the nomination. “No disrespect to Iowa, but New Hampshire and South Carolina are two parts of a three part rocket, along with Florida.”

Huntsman, also a former Utah governor, will return to the United States just before the South Carolina Republican Party sponsors the first Republican presidential debate in Greenville on May 5, but his advisers are doubtful that he will participate.

He will, however, have an opportunity to introduce himself to the state when he delivers a May 7 commencement speech at the University of South Carolina.

Make of that what you will.

Meanwhile, Huntsman’s last day on the job in Beijing is Saturday.