SC public backs leaders’ decision to bring down Confederate flag

TweetIn case you had a creeping feeling at the back of your mind that were it not for the fact that we are, thank God, a republic instead of a direct democracy, the Confederate flag would still be flying… I offer this reassuring news: Two-thirds of South Carolinians agreed with the General Assembly’s decision in […]

Did shoestring annexation bring down the Confederate flag?

TweetOr, far more horrifically and directly, did Columbia’s shoestring annexation lead to the murders of the Emanuel 9? This is Kathryn Fenner’s assertion, which she sketched out in an email: Roof was arrested at Columbiana, by Columbia Police, in Columbia, but in Lexington County. When he went to buy a gun at Shooter’s Choice, the […]

The first 350 words I wrote on the Confederate flag

Tweet OK, it’s technically only 349, which is amazingly terse, considering the thousands — probably hundreds of thousands — of words I would eventually write on the subject. I make a reference to this piece in my column in Wednesday’s editions of The State. I thought I’d share the whole thing with you. It was […]

SC Senate votes 37-3, without hesitation, to remove Confederate flag — no amendments, no conditions

TweetAnd I’m so glad I got over there just in time to see it. Of course, that made it seem even more quick and painless to me — I didn’t have to sit through any of Lee Bright’s nonsense before being treated to the payoff. I’m so proud of my state today, and I’m not […]

Lee Bright’s Bizarro perspective on the Confederate flag

TweetThere are two measurements for how far we have so suddenly come on the Confederate flag issue. The first is on the positive side — all the people who once would have opposed removing the flag, or ignored it, coming suddenly and dramatically to the point that they are convinced along with the rest of us […]

Glenn McConnell sends out College of Charleston resolution urging removal of the Confederate flag

TweetNow there’s something I never thought I’d type. But then, I never expected anything like what I saw on Monday. Here’s what McConnell sent out to alumni (and here’s a link): Alumni:Today, the College of Charleston Board of Trustees approved two resolutions, one regarding the renaming of a Colonial Scholarship as the Cynthia Graham Hurd […]

Pictures from a Confederate flag rally

TweetY’all know that I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words over the years about the Confederate Flag and how we need to get it down off that pole on the State House grounds. So obviously, I set great store by words on this subject. But I’ve been struggling for a couple of hours with my […]

We need to see mainstream SC — and mainstream leadership — at the Confederate flag rally Saturday

Tweet Our own Phillip Bush wrote these wise words on Facebook today: Petitions through moveon.org are well-meaning, but ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst: I can tell you anything transmitted to SC legislators via moveon.org will automatically get them to dig in their heels the other way. Calling and writing legislators directly is better, […]

U.S. and S.C. flags at Statehouse are at half-mast. The Confederate flag is not.

Tweet Since there was so much chatter on the Web about Confederate flags in South Carolina — the ones on Dylann Roof’s car, and the one on our Statehouse grounds — I thought I’d go over and take a look. I found that the U.S. and S.C. flags atop the dome were at half-mast. The Confederate […]

Slate is doing its best to keep Confederate flag flying in SC

TweetJosh Voorhees posted this at Slate this morning, under a picture of the Confederate flag flying in front of our State House: March Madness kicks into full swing today with games in Buffalo, Milwaukee, Orlando, and Spokane. Another four cities—Raleigh, San Antonio, San Diego, and St. Louis—will see men’s action on Friday. The women’s tournament then […]

Nikki Haley, Vincent Sheheen offer clear choice on Confederate flag

TweetThe contrast between Vincent Sheheen and Nikki Haley will be sharp on a lot of issues, and we’ll get to them over the coming months. But today, I want to highlight the difference between them on the Confederate flag flying on our State House grounds, as a window into broader differences. (And why that issue […]

That huge, gigantic, enormous Confederate Flag rally Saturday

Tweet Just now I was cleaning up the storage card on my Blackberry (a.k.a., my Double-Naught Spy Camera), and I ran across this shot I took at the intersection of Main and Gervais at 1:17 p.m. Saturday. This was the huge rally to support the Confederate flag on the North lawn of the State House. […]

Report: Maurice lowers the Confederate flag (some of ’em, anyway)

TweetA friend just brought my attention to this startling news: The South’s most notorious barbecue joint is warning customers they’ll have to buy more pit-cooked pork if they ever want to see the Confederate flag fly again. Maurice’s Gourmet Barbeque’s Maurice Bessinger, who hoisted the stars and bars over his nine Columbia-area restaurants on the […]