The Lexington County Republican Party has called on Jake Knotts to resign, and has done so, at least on the surface, for noble reasons. Good people everywhere are nodding their heads and thinking, “About time. South Carolina no longer has room for that sort.”
I applaud many (although not all) of the motivations that cause people to say that. And I think it might do our state’s reputation some good in the larger world if he were hounded from office.
But in the end, I think it’s none of the Lexington County Republican Party’s business whether Jake stays in office or not. As he says, he doesn’t serve the Republican Party. He serves the voters of his district. He should answer to them. That’s the way the system is supposed to work. Many of the same people calling for his head within the party are also supporting the candidate who has announced she will run against him in two years. Fine. Let the battle be joined. And let the voters decide whether they prefer Jake, or Katrina Shealy. All of this mess over that inexcusable thing that Jake said should be thoroughly hashed out in that election. And it certainly promises to be an interesting one. (And maybe, if we’re lucky, someone else will step in and run, someone who is NOT tainted by the blood feud between Sanford and Knotts, so that we can have a more straight-up election about values that have nothing to do with power politics between rival factions.)
There are many things that should NOT be settled by public vote. Matters of public policy, for instance. Ours is a representative democracy, and government by plebiscite is in no way to settle complex issues.
But a vote of the people is precisely how we are supposed to settle the important issue of who will be those elected representatives. And we must have the greatest respect for that prerogative of the people, or else, whatever our high-minded standards (and I do find it ironic to hear some of the high-minded pronouncements of principle I’m hearing from some of these Lexington County Republicans, although I welcome it), our system is not grounded in the ultimate source of legitimacy, the people.
That’s what I think about the Jake Knotts affair. Leave it to the voters.
Now, I expect to get hit with all kinds of howls of protest from those who think Jake’s my big buddy, just because, after opposing him strenuously for election after election, we very reluctantly supported him over Ms. Shealy (actually, over Mark Sanford, because that’s what the election was about) in the last election. Such people fail to understand what I think about Jake. I explained it pretty well in a column I wrote at the time, and I urge you to go back and read it. If you’re still not satisfied, well, I’m working on a post that elaborates. I’ll try to get it posted by tomorrow sometime. (I wanted to get it done today before posting this, but it got so long and involved — it involves trying to explain some thoughts I have about the world that I’ve never tried to set in writing before, partly because they take so long to explain — that I just set it aside, and decided to go ahead and post this.)
But in the meantime, consider this: Sen. Knotts is not accused of stealing from the state treasury, or high treason, or physical violence or anything else that would justify short-circuiting the voting relationship between him and his constituents. What he did was say a word — a word that reveals a particularly nasty, grossly unacceptable set of attitudes toward other people based upon the accidents of birth. It was inexcusable, and indicative of much deeper problems, of a great flaw of character.
There are people who believe that merely having such attitudes should be criminalized. I am not among them. For this reason I oppose “hate crime” laws. It’s one of the few things I agree with libertarians (like Jake’s enemy Mark Sanford) about. I believe it is unAmerican to punish a person for his attitudes, however grotesquely objectionable those attitudes are. What we should do is punish the act. And in this case, Jake Knotts didn’t ACT upon his attitude, he just said the word.
Then, let the attitude fend for itself in the public marketplace. This is particularly true of an attitude expressed by a politician. Let the voters decide whether they can live with what it reveals of the candidate’s character. Yes, I know that many people disapprove of the decisions that other voters make. But that’s none of their business. If the poor, black electorate of Washington, D.C., wants to re-elect Marion Barry, that’s up to them — unless he commits a felony or otherwise disqualifies himself. If the redneck white electorate of Georgia wants to elect a Lester Maddox, that is likewise up to them. One of the things these Lexington County Republicans are struggling with is whether they want to be associated with attitudes reminiscent of Gov. Maddox. Good for them. But the final arbiters must be the voters, not a party.
That’s the American way. With all its warts.
More on the subject — probably more than you want — later.
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Georgia certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on the ‘redneck white electorate.’ There’s plenty of that right here in SC. And while your theory about letting voters decide sounds great from a big ivory tower, truth is that politics in SC is so nasty and effed up that it’s likely never going to be fixed. The SC redneck white electorate is very willing to do whatever it takes to keep their good ol’ bubba bigot boys in office, as the Alvin Greene debacle so aptly illustrates.
Any doubts I have about my attitude on that are whisked away every time I see the Confederate flag flying ‘proudly’ on the statehouse grounds. Lest you think my gripe is just with the racial bigotry in this state, it’s not. There’s plenty of religious and other kinds of bigotry to go around in this sad excuse for a state. The confederate flag just draws attention to the most obvious bigots in SC.
Susan, darling, you have overlooked the blue-blooded good ol’ boys, though. I fear that the power of the Charleston elites keeps the flag flying far more than any redneck cadre.
Yep. If McConnell is an elite, and I reckon he is.
Quick quiz: Which is more objectionable — saying “raghead” once and thinking it’s funny, or making a living from a Confederate memorabilia store?
And no, there’s no simple answer to that. I’m just saying there are a lot of things we put up with from the people whom OTHER people elect…
Ah, another Susan on the blog! Welcome! (Or maybe I was the second one). So I’m switching to Susan G. so we can tell us apart.
Kathryn, shugah, Iah suspect you’re correct. Since I moved into SC/Columbia fairly recently, I don’t have much experience with the blue-blooded Charleston elite. But, I have seen enough hate and talk of “those people” couched in genteel southern drawls and whispered over cocktails and sweet-tea to believe you, though. While I’m sure the true power lies with the blue-blooded good ol’ boys, it doesn’t hurt that they have so many ignorant rednecks at their beck and call.
As a native of a different semi-southern state, I used to bristle at the characterizations and sweeping generalizations that were made about ‘the South.’ After moving to SC, it’s a lot more understandable.
Your quiz should have the word “once” replaced with “repeatedly”, because Knotts said “raghead” more than once during that conversation, and it was mentioned as “f%&#ing raghead” at least once.
Would you prefer McConnell open an adult book store or how about selling counterfeit merchandise at one of Columbia’s fine flea markets? He’s already a lawyer, so he’d have to read to the blind, bathe the invalid, all while delivering free meals to the homeless and shut-ins for me to even think about maybe having the slightest bit of respect for him.
What’s your beef with a Confederate memorabilia store? It that worse than adult book stores, liquor stores, cigarette outlets, counterfeit merchandise at flea markets, any Chinese made junk at South of the Border, etc… I’ve been to McConnell’s store once, and he has some really impressive paintings and prints in the art gallery side of his touristy crap side. Probably not the artsy crap you find at the Columbia Art Museum, but at least I can tell what the painting or print is trying to depict.
Why doesn’t your drinking buddy Jakie (you two surely had one beer over your shared hatred of Sanford) have to apologize to Barry Obama? It seems that Rusty Depass had to formally apologize to Michelle Obama for calling her ancestors apes. What’s the difference, Barry isn’t Middle Eastern and Michelle’s ancestors aren’t gorillas. Both statements are false, but only one had to apologize to everyone involved in the joke. Fathead is only half done with his apologies… well hasn’t really started considering the poor excuse of an apology he gave Haley.
While I’m sure the true power lies with the blue-blooded good ol’ boys, it doesn’t hurt that they have so many ignorant rednecks at their beck and call.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ah, yes. The complex symbiotic relationship amongst all the different haters and bigots. It’s so very SC! I want to be annoyed with how much ridicule this state gets, but honestly, how could people not make fun of what goes on here? 😛
I wonder if everyone would be up in arms if he had directed the comment only to President Obama -not that I agree with such inflammatory words. As our President says, “Words are important”, but they are not a crime. Has anyone mentioned he should apologize the our president?
Michael, most people outside the South consider the sale of Confederate memorabilia as the moral equivalent to the sale of Nazi memorabilia.
I’m just sayin’…
Well, as Churchill said, in a democracy you get what you deserve. So let the know nothings re-elect that wind bag of hurt again. Glad I’m on this side of the river.
Incumbency is a difficult thing to defeat!
I cannot vote for or against Jakie because he is not in my district.
But I will say to Jakie’s defense that what he said was not in a formal assembly, such as the House, Senate, and the Supremes gathered to hear Obama’s State of the State address.
There are big differences between Knott’s and Wilson’s actions. Wilson breached protocol and Robert’s Rules of Order by yelling “You lie!” during the President’s State of the State address. Knott’s comments were made during a webcast that people have to listen to from their computer; Pub Politics is not aired on AM or FM radio.
Frankly both Joe and Jakie should publicly apologize to the citizens of South Carolina for providing comedy material to Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show”. Both embarrassed South Carolina. Only SC Guv’not Mark Sanford was “man enough” to apologize to South Carolina during his rambling press conference last year.
I don’t reward rudeness. Until Joe apologizes to South Carolina, I will not vote for Joe!
I hope Katrina Shealy wins…I intend to do all I can to help her do so in ’12! Should he last that long!
@Ralph– Joe hasn’t apologized to us-he has done everything he could to capitalize on it. He’s d*&n proud of it!
Brad,
Your comment that “What we should do is punish the act. And in this case, Jake Knotts didn’t ACT upon his attitude, he just said the word” gave me pause. Holding an attitude about something may be one thing (however misguided and unfortunate), but articulating hate speech is certainly acting out in my book. Saying the word, particularly in an election environment, IS an act.
We can’t just hold our politicians to a higher standard, we need to hold our society to that standard – even if many of us routinely fall far short of our shared goals. You know, the stuff we all believe in like the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution.
Senator Knotts’ political future should be decided by his electors; but the rest of us should not brush aside his unacceptable action as if it is only of relevance in his next election. It is not; his word hurts the state daily, as all such words and actions do.
So don’t get me started on the flag in front of the State House . . .