Check it out — I have a new Webcam. And so today, I decided to go with some video commentary rather than do all that tedious typing.
But to add a little something to this clip, here are some links to what I’m talking about:
- The story in The State in which Gov. Sanford complains that Andre Bauer’s call to him to resign is “pure politics.”
- A dictionary definition of the word “politics.” In my commentary, I’m emphasizing sense 5a: “the total complex of relations between people living in society.”
- An explanation of the divine right of kings, which I suggest as the alternative (or an alternative) to “politics.”
- Video of Andre Bauer offering his one great gift to South Carolina: his conditional promise that he won’t run for governor.
- Lest you ever forget, some reminders why we don’t want Andre (who tends to win elections, despite being, well, Andre) running for governor.
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By the way, you’ll note that I DID edit the video to take out a few of the more egregious “ums” and “ahs,” but I left in a bunch of flaws (at one point I say “great gift” and it sounds like “great mift”) to keep it real. This is the way I talk. So try to enjoy it. Consider it my mift to you….
Your blog is becoming bogged down on a few narrow topics, that have no public interest, or have been beaten to death, or discussed better elsewhere.
Enjoyed the video. I think you make good points. I believe Sen. Sheheen is the kind of common sense, moderate who can heal this state and move us beyond this nightmare. The GOP has recently given this state Charlie Sharp, Thomas Ravenel, Mark Sanford and Andre Bauer. Surely we can do better then these scandal plagued statewide officials. These folks were able to get elected statewide because they had (R) by their name. It is way past time for a change, and Vincent Sheheen is the type of Dem candidate who can be elected Governor in SC. We cannot afford anymore of this nonsense.
Do you think Bauer has a chance at winning a federal house or senate seat? Because he hasn’t promised not to run for any elected office, just governor.
He said yesterday that he’s not running for Congress, either…
Well-spoken sir, and the advantage of a Webcam on a laptop is that you have your own TelePrompTer.
If you do this more often, make it shorter and keep to one subject. One minute or less! Be pithy! Be funny! Be edgy without being cruel! Channel Mark Twain!
Thanks, Burl! And I’ll try to make them a bit snappier. I haven’t counted the words, but I suspect that was more or less column-length. Force of habit…
Great! I laughed; I cried. Well, I did actually laugh out loud, and shake my head in rueful agreement. Well done!
If others, ahem, do not find your topics interesting, there are remedies for them. I find your topics endlessly interesting.
[Production note: Put the camera at least level with your eyes and no overhead lighting to avoid bags.You’re beautiful, baby. Mwah.]
and of course, as King David manque, and an adherent to the Family fellowship, he does believe in his divine right.
Truly.
I didn’t know King David had a manque. I do know he had a thing for the lady down the street with the penchant for bathing in the backyard…
As “Lee Muller” points out, “Your blog is becoming bogged down on a few narrow topics, that have no public interest, or have been beaten to death, or discussed better elsewhere” and yet he still monitors it 24 hours a day!
Brad: Newspapers are about stories. Video is about headlines.
I didn’t bother to watch the video.
Burl is right. It made some sense to comment to Brad when he was writing editorials. Now, it is just a diary of his obsession with Mark Sanford.
“Newspapers are about stories. Video is about headlines.”
Format doesn’t determine content.
Sanfraud is the antithesis of Teddy Kennedy. He believed in role government could play to pursue a more perfect union and was an exemplar of deal making.
Your point that “words matter” cuts to the heart of politics today. The democrats, in general, are efforting to move the country forward with health care reform and infrastructure investment. As our congressman, Larson, stated today the democratic party is wonkish. On the other hand, the GOP relies on “socialized medicine” and “death panels” mischaracterizations.
I think Sanfraud was elected twice because SC is lock-step state politically. The good citizens of the Palmetto state pulled the lever for R and not for Sanford. Despite the toxicity of Sanfraud, I can’t see SC electing a democrat yet.
“The clock is ticking” was so very 24-ish that I was frightened, even 900 miles away (maybe it was the bow tie).
“Sanfraud is the antithesis of Teddy Kennedy.”
True. Sanford doesn’t have a dead girlfriend in his past. At least that we haven’t found out about yet.
Ted Kennedy did more with other people’s money than any other U.S. Senator in history. Do we really want to hold him up as the standard bearer for ethics in American politics?
I couldn’t help but respond to Brad talking about how Sanford doesn’t have anyone around him to help change his mind. Who does that for you, Brad? Which issues have you changed your mind on due to the influence of others? I can’t think of a single issue you’ve covered on this blog over the years where you’ve said, “You know, I was wrong about that.”
Unfortunately, the video doesn’t sync up with your comments. You seem to think the political system would be perfect if you could just get all these guys who don’t agree with you out of there. Yet you will support people like John McCain and Lindsey Graham to the end even when they do EXACTLY the same stuff you harp about. They are no less partisan than any other politician and crank that partisanship up during the campaign season. But that’s okay because they don’t really MEAN IT… it’s just POLITICS. They are driven by money/lobbyists and the quest for power just as much as any other politician. Yet you seem blind to that.
As an editor at The State, Brad and his cohorts never had a problem with legislators flying all over the place on personal trips, first class, business class, or economy. Never mind the misuse of DNR helicopters for hunting trips, and other aircraft for golf outings.
Never mind Bob Coble flying to Red China or Germany, and bringing home nothing.
Richland County Council flies to Honolulu for a retreat on “Government Efficiency”, and it was no problem.
Lee,
Exactly. Brad is selective in the oxen he chooses to gore. There appears to be one rule in sorting politicians out: are you for more government intervention in our lives or are you for more personal responsibility. The former gets a free pass with a low bar for performance while the latter gets a lesson on vocabulary.
Randy,
Which is/was more bothersome to you?
Sanford’s opinion on public schools or Ted Kennedy’s opinion (as a supposedly practicing Catholic) on abortion? Seems like the church overlooked Teddy’s views based on a lot of factors (money, power, prestige).
“Format doesn’t determine content.”
No, but it shapes delivery.
Er, also, this is Brad’s blog, not The State’s. Their loss. He chooses his oxen.
I’ve never understood why newspapers today, in their effort to be competitive media, are shedding the assets that make them a unique product, like columnists and cartoonists.
And then the smaller newspaper, with less advertising revenue, raises its price from $1.50 to $2.00.
Readership falls some more.
This fall, The State will raise the Sunday edition price to $3.00 and lose more readers.
More with other people’s money, Doug? DUH! That’s what people in congress do, they make decisions about how to spend tax dollars!
Given his ability to move legislation with the support of republicans, he’s light years ahead of Sanfraud. Look at the profound testimony from staunch republicans like Orin Hatch.
Regarding the death, I don’t take that lightly but I am most certainly for redemption.
As far as Sanfraud’s hate mongering towards public education and Catholics pro-choice positions, that is very difficult. What comes to mind is the fact that as Governor, Sanfraud has a great deal more influence over the school issue than Kennedy has over the abortion issue. Also, I consider many on the pro-choice side to be sincere in their position even though I disagree with them strongly. Sanfraud and SCouRGe are disingenuous and even deceitful as the decry the “worst in the country” status of SC public schools which is complete bull crap – I’ve repeatedly posted evidence contradicting this mischaracterization.
Ted Kennedy best serves as an example of a totally wasted life – born to great wealth and power, who could have accomplished something good, but spent his life trying to destroy the freedoms which created his father’s wealth.
Randy, your abject terror of having to compete in a free market for teacher talent tells us all we need to know about government education.
Actually, Doug, while it seems to you that I’m always for the politician who wants more government intervention, I’m not. For instance, I think a lot of people such as Nancy Pelosi and our own Jim Clyburn go too far sometimes with what they want to spend money on.
Ted Kennedy, less so, because he was willing to be moved by the arguments of people who saw the world differently from the way he did. Unlike Pelosi, and to a great extent, Clyburn, he worked constructively with Republicans. That’s why, on the day he died, one of the first people I heard praising him on the radio was John Sununu.
Kennedy was a guy who embodied the deliberative process. Far too many Democrats in Congress (and if they were in the majority, the Repubs would be doing the same), are all about what kind of ideological nonsense they can cram down the throats of the opposition just because, for the moment, they have the majority.
Ted K. wasn’t like that. He legislated like a grownup. Which is why the people who actually knew him and worked with him, including those who disagreed with him strongly in matters of philosophy, respected him.