Sexual predator price tag seems a bargain

50 Replies

Non-journalists are always complaining about editorials masquerading as news. Usually, they’re wrong. But sometimes reporters and their news editors are so obviously, nakedly, unabashedly (although not admittedly) making an editorial point that it’s painful to read. And mainly (to one like myself, who does not worship at the altar of the god Objectivity or even belief humans are capable of it) because it’s so badly done.

It’s particularly painful if you happen to be a real editorialist. News people, generally speaking, simply don’t think about what they’re writing about in the necessary ways to do it well. So they come blundering into an issue that they have defined poorly and explained badly, making a mockery of serious commentary. This is not because they lack intelligence. It’s because their jobs don’t require them to think about things that way. When you have to set out your opinion on various aspects of an issue, day after day, for the world to pick apart and throw stones at, you think a lot harder about what you DO think, and WHY, and what the implications are. And parts of your brain that were shut off when you were in news and strictly forbidden to air opinions suddenly get oxygen and start to function. It’s sort of weird. After I’d been in editorial for a couple of years, I was sort of embarrassed to recall some of the facile assumptions I held about issues before I really started thinking about them.

But when you are telling yourself that you don’t HAVE an opinion about it, that you are utterly objective, and yet have an editorial point you’re pushing with all your might, the result is likely to reflect that lack of understanding about what you’re doing.

And the thing is, you can’t even fully explain to news people this epiphany that hit me after I made the transition. You couldn’t even state it without insulting them. (In fact, I’m sure you are horrified at my arrogance, and you’re nothing but a layperson. But seriously, it’s not that I’m BETTER or SMARTER. It’s that the different functions make different demands of whatever poor faculties I may possess.) So you just held your tongue, and were frequently appalled by news people’s ventures into places where they should not go.

For instance, take a look at the piece that ran on the Metro front of The State over the weekend. But this is not about The State, but about the Charleston Post and Courier, from which the piece was reprinted.

The original headline was “S.C.’s tab $7.4M for predators,” which wasn’t particularly helpful, so we go to the subhead “Treating each sex offender in program costs state about $63,000 per year.”

An excerpt:

For 12 years, South Carolina has tried to protect the public by keeping its most-dangerous sex offenders locked up behind concrete walls and razor wire long after their prison sentences have ended.

But that sense of security comes at a steep price.

The state shells out about $7.4 million each year to treat those confined under the Sexually Violent Predator Act, which allows authorities to lock up some sex offenders indefinitely for the purpose of alternative care. That translates to about $63,000 per offender annually for each of the 119 predators in the program…

Oooh, golly — $63,000! Of course, it occurred to me immediately that that was probably less than what other states spend on similar programs, because SC always goes the cheap route. And sure enough, the story admits that inconvenient fact down below, but sandwiches it between TWO admonitions to ignore that fact, because… well, because it’s still just too damned much money we’re spending:

Those costs have put the squeeze on many governments struggling to cut expenditures in a crippling recession that has forced layoffs, furloughs and deep program cuts. Though South Carolina spends a good deal less than many other states on its predator program — New York spends $175,000 per inmate and California, $173,000 — the effort is still a drain on already strained coffers.

I mean, knock me down and hit me with a club, why don’t you?

So really, what we’re left with here is whether we think is whether we should keep sexual predators locked up. I happen to think we do. Lots of other people think we do as well.

But that’s just because we’re dumb as a bag of hammers, apparently. We’re a bunch of Neanderthals taken in by “this get-tough tactic” sold by pandering politicians. We are fooled by a “sense of security” rather than the real thing. And the politicians aren’t about to back down and “be seen as soft on rapists and child molesters.”

That’s what it’s about, you see. The mob’s desire for vengeance. Pitchforks and flaming torches. Irrational, emotional responses to problems that could easily be resolved by putting the money into “increased supervision of sex offenders in the community,” the way Colorado has done.

I find this irritating for several reasons, including the fact that I am NOT a “lock ’em up and throw away the key” yahoo. I actually happen to believe that one of THE greatest policy errors committed year after year in South Carolina is that we lock up WAY too many people who don’t need to be locked up. And we do it because politicians DO play on irrational fears of crime and desires for vengeance on the part of the public. This is foolish, because it simply makes no sense to lock up a guy who wrote back checks. It DOES make sense to lock up a guy who robbed a liquor store and pistol-whipped the clerk into a coma. There’s a difference.

And difference involves a calm, rational assessment of whether someone is a threat to others.

But here’s the thing about sexual predators. Their crimes are not like other crimes. One can rationally understand why an unemployed person — particularly one with a drug addiction — might hold up a liquor store. If he was particularly desperate or high from his latest fix, you can understand his getting violent. You don’t condone it; you punish it; you lock him away for a while to protect society. But someday, when he’s clean and sober, when he’s established a record for calm behavior and maybe when he’s no longer 19 years old or even close, you let him out. It’s a rational decision to lock him up, and a rational decision, under the right circumstances, to let him out again.

But while we’re all prone to greed and many of us have violent impulses, we know about living with those things and dealing with them. But most of us find it unimaginable that anyone would ever, under any circumstances, be attracted to child pornography. And while the thought of anyone having to do with such may make us angry, may make us want to run for the torches and pitchforks, it’s perfectly rational to think, “If someone can EVER have such an impulse, can they ever be sufficiently normal, or sufficiently in control, to be allowed to walk free in the world where our children play?”

Sexual desire is such a complicated, mysterious mechanism even at its healthiest. The sheer galaxy of factors — the light traveling to my eye and through neurons to parts of my brain that process color and contrast and pattern recognition combined with experience-based understanding of such subtleties as facial expression combined with precognitive programming on the cellular level all mixed up with the biological imperative to reproduce — that causes me to react as I do when I look at this picture or this one or, for comic relief, this one is so independent of will and resistant to reasoning, that it’s quite natural to assume that in a person in whom such mechanisms are so twisted as to lead them to unspeakable crimes… well, it’s just not going to go away because of a few years in a quiet place with regular sessions with a therapist.

Of course, we could assume wrongly. And indeed, a quick search on Google establishes that there is no end of arguments out there against the widely-held notion that sexual predators — rapists, and those who prey on children — are incurable.

Fine. Let’s have that discussion. Let’s see the data, and hear the latest findings. But of course, that news story didn’t bother with that. In other words, it didn’t touch upon the one question upon which the issue of whether to treat sexual predators different from other criminal was well-founded or not.

But then, that’s a common flaw in news stories, especially (but not only) those of the ersatz-editorial type: They don’t mention, much less answer, the one question I most want to see addressed. I have spent a huge portion of my life reading, all the way to the bottom, news stories that piqued my interest and made me think, “Maybe there’s an editorial or a column here,” only to find that the one ingredient most needed to help me decide what I thought about it was entirely missing. Which means it got into print with neither the writer nor his editor thinking of it. Which means that the one ingredient most valuable to the reader, as a citizen trying to decide what to think about this issue, is missing.

Nor did it touch upon the second question that should arise, which is whether the circumstances surrounding such crimes are indeed so different as to cause us to set aside such constitutional considerations as equal treatment before the law (due process would seem to be covered by the additional hearings necessary for such commitment). But newspaper stories have finite length, and I would have been happy merely to have had the first question answered, or even acknowledged. But it wasn’t.

And I find that hugely frustrating.

Blast from the newspaper past

6 Replies

Bob Ford shared this old newspaper page with me over the weekend. How old? So old that it’s from before I even worked at any newspaper, much less The State. My career starting in 1974 as a copy boy at The Commercial Appeal. But this is from Nov. 3 1972 — the Friday before I voted for the first time.

And yet — there are several people pictured here whom I would later work with, or at least come to know in the community after I arrived at The State in 1987 — Levona Page, Kent Krell, Margaret O’Shea and others. In fact, when I became governmental affairs editor in ’87, one of them was still on the beat and working for me: that hepcat Lee Bandy (dig the hair!).

This ad boasts of the resources devoted to covering politics, and indeed, back then newspapers had reporters spilling out the windows, and newshole to burn. It was still that way when I started covering politics myself in ’78. But then the long decline began, and finally newspaper finances went over the cliff this past decade.

One might also reflect on how different the SC political scene was in those days. First of all, there were no Republicans, except Strom Thurmond and Floyd Spence. So the Democratic primary was usually the election. Then there was the fact that the color barrier had just been broken in the Legislature, with a handful of black House members (but none in the Senate yet). This was two whole years before the legendary Pug Ravenel campaign, which idealistic then-young Democrats speak of today as though it occurred in the misty time of Camelot, or of King Elendil who wielded the sword Narsil before it was broken.

Anyway, I thought some of y’all would enjoy looking at it, too.

Where’s Leighton? There he is!

2 Replies

Did you ever see Antonioni’s “Blow-Up”? If you haven’t, you should — it’s a classic. It’s also wonderfully goofy after all these years to see the ’60s notion of a hip young professional photographer in swingin’ mod London. See him drive around in his convertible sports car while talking on his extremely cumbersome car phone! Oooohhh. (David Hemmings’ character was one of the influences on Mike Myers in his creation of Austin Powers.)

Anyway, to summarize the plot (spoiler alert!), basically it’s about a photographer who takes some perfectly innocent pictures in the park, but when he processes the film and makes a print, he notices something odd in the background, in the bushes about 50 years behind his subject. So he blows it up. Then he shoots the print, processes that film, then blows it up again. And again. (Thereby severely straining the capabilities of 35 mm film, but hey, he’s a professional.) I won’t tell you what he saw, because I don’t want to spoil the plot entirely.

To my point: I often have that experience of finding unexpected things going on in my photos. It happened when I used film because film is a big mystery until it’s processed. Shoot a crowd or action when there’s too little time for your brain to take it all in, and the film will reveal secrets to you after it’s processed. For instance, take a look at the photo at right, which I shot on film at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. (This was a time of technological transition. I was shooting rolls of film at the convention, then taking the rolls to a Duane Reade to be processed and put on a CD for me.) I had just asked Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog to pose for a portrait (there I go name-dropping again), but only later did I notice Larry King in the background. At least, I think it’s Larry King. The grain and focus are such that I can’t be entirely sure, just as the character in “Blow-Up” had trouble being certain about what he was seeing.

Today, this happens with digital photography for a different reason. Sure, you can immediately look at what you just shot. But you can’t see detail unless you zoom in, and besides, who has time to stop and look at individual exposures? I certainly don’t, because I am shooting so many. I used to go through a roll of film in minutes, but that’s nothing to the  number I shoot now. Film at least imposed some fire discipline; there was always a sense that your film was finite. But with an 8-gig card in my camera, discipline is gone entirely.

So it could be hours, days, or longer before I go through the images on my laptop and see what I have. And I find little surprises.

For instance, at the Gamecocks’ victory parade Friday, I happened to turn and take a picture of the two ADCO interns standing behind me in the crowd. I needed a picture of them to post on ADCO’s site, and this was an opportunity.

Only later did I spot our erstwhile candidate for attorney general, Leighton Lord, behind them. At right you can see what the picture would have looked like when Hemmings’ got through blowing it up (and yes, I created the blur, grain, and b/w effect in PhotoShop — the original was much sharper, even blown up).

And when I saw him, the irony struck me: Alan Wilson was much in evidence at the center of attention. He and his Dad had a regular convoy of vehicles in the parade — at least three, with kids passing out campaign stickers left and right. (I didn’t get a picture of Alan — I was too busy shooting the cars, especially the beautiful red T-bird — but here’s one of him from another parade over the weekend. Those Wilsons love a parade.)

But there is Leighton Lord, standing alone, looking away. Ironic. Poignant, one might say. Except that the camera doesn’t tell all. Actually, he was talking to his father-in-law Gayle Averyt, whom I spotted next to him in yet another exposure.

I’ve got so many thousands of exposures like this of crowds, sometimes with famous people here and there in them. Maybe I should do a “children’s” book for grownups, only instead of “Where’s Waldo?” it would be “Where’s Rudy Giuliani? Where’s George Bush? Where’s Bill Clinton?” and so forth. Think it would sell?

Big, beautiful balloons in Blythewood

6 Replies

Should have posted these last night, but didn’t get to it until now. I was reminded when I saw the picture in the paper this morning from the Blythwood Balloons, Blues and Bar-B-Que festival Saturday evening and thought, “That’s a nice picture, but not as beautiful as the ones I took.”

Of course, mine had granddaughters in it, which is an unfair advantage.

I was a little disappointed that the balloons didn’t actually take off, slip the surly bonds and all — at least not while I was there. While I was there, they were tethered and taking folks up and down for short rides. Which was nice, but not as awe-inspiring as a bunch of hot-air balloons floating away.

And it was just the perfect night for it…

Peach Festival: Politicians and fringe types (oops, was that redundant?)

10 Replies

Someone wondered the other day whether my having a job would cut into my blogging. Well, maybe at some point. For instance, I was busy all last week and couldn’t get to the Virtual Front Page late in the day. But folks, I’ve been at ADCO since February. Have you noticed me slacking off here?

Actually, the partners at ADCO dig the blog. In fact, I sometimes have to suggest that they stop sending me cool stuff for the blog so I can get some Mad Man work done. Some days, this falls on deaf ears.

Such as today. Today, Partner and VP of Marketing Lora Prill demonstrated that she is apparently a frustrated reporter. She had told me that she and her husband were taking their little boy to the Peach Festival parade today, and that if she saw anything interesting, she’d send me a picture. Cool.

Well, today, she sent me SEVEN e-mails and SIX pictures. Here are some of them.

The picture of Nikki above was taken “seconds after being heckled by the Oathkeepers.  They are yelling at everyone–even the band and clowns–spoiling the fun for everyone in the vicinity.” Except Alan Wilson, whom they apparently liked, for whatever reason. Apparently, Oathkeepers is a bunch of guys in uniform — which is slightly disturbing — who have taken it upon themselves to protect the Constitution as they read it. Yeah, one of those groups. Because, you know, the Constitution is under siege and all. Interestingly, if you read their concerns, they’re a mishmash of threats that liberals perceive to the Constitution (Patriot Act stuff) and ones that concern the extreme right. What a bunch of worrywarts.

And they weren’t really yelling AT the candidates so much as they were yelling. When I asked why they were pestering Nikki, she amended her earlier bulletin (an editor has to really cross-examine a reporter to get the straight dope — oh, the burdens we bear!):

They were not really heckling anyone, they were just yelling out things about protecting the Constitution, something about the FDA, something about some sort of digital ID (they shouted that at Joe’s group), etc. They yelled out a lot about the FDA and food actually.  When Alan Wilson went by they lauded him as a protector of the Constitution. Probably referring to his military service.

Maybe they were hungry, and that’s what got them on food. I don’t know.

Anyway, that’s our report from the Peach Festival.

Hail the conquering heroes, say the 42,000!

10 Replies

I have a rather unpleasant trait in common with Mark Sanford: I’m not crazy about crowds, or group enthusiasm. Confronted with such, like our governor, I tend to make ironic or disparaging remarks. So it was that while waiting for the triumphal procession to begin on Main Street today, I grumbled about the helicopter hovering directly overhead that to my ear was becoming as obnoxious as a neighbor’s leaf blower, and wondered whether Ray Tanner would have anyone whispering in his ear as he passed, “Respica te, hominem te memento” or “Memento mori.”

Which, let’s face it, is obnoxious on my part. Definitely not one of my best traits, as my wife, who has heard a surfeit of such, can attest.

So it was that I was happy to have my grouchiness dissolve once the parade got under way, as I remembered once again how thrilling the victory was the other night. Talk about your contact high. This really was a wonderful communal event for our state, and for Columbia. Did you notice the glorious goofiness of EVERYBODY, including the ballplayers, being so busy taking pictures that nobody seemed to stop just to experience the event? That was understandable. Nobody wanted to forget this. It was that special.

And by the end, even I was in just as good a mood as everyone else. And as I walked back to the office with ADCO President Lanier Jones, I heartily agreed as he marveled at the tremendous juxtaposition of things to celebrate:

  • The new mayor’s inauguration, an exciting new beginning for Columbia.
  • The tremendous victory of our National Champion Gamecock baseball team.
  • The start of the July Fourth weekend.
  • The beautiful weather, which was far, far more pleasant than we have any right to expect in Columbia in July.

Actually, Lanier didn’t mention that last one; I added it on my own. Aren’t you proud of me?

Beyond that I’ll add this: Have you ever seen that many people assembled downtown for something so unquestionably positive for our city and state? (Something I heard a number of people marveling at.) This was a very special moment.

And how many were there? I just got the official estimate from our new mayor: 42,000 people were there today!

Huzzay, Gamecocks!

Cayce Mayor Elise Partin’s fund-raiser

2 Replies

The reception occurred during a rainstorm, and once or twice we lost lights -- which made for some moody photos. That's Mayor Partin in the pool of light at right, listening to a supporter./Brad Warthen

On Tuesday night I dropped by a fund-raiser for Cayce Mayor Elise Partin, who’s up for election this year, to see who was there and stuff.

As it happened, I missed the mayor’s announcement of a grant for the Airport Corridor project she’s worked so hard on — to beautify the gateway to the Midlands and give a better impression to visitors. It’s typical of the way she works not only to improve her town, but the whole region. Which is why I hope she gets re-elected. The promise I saw when we endorsed her two years ago seems to be bearing out.

Since I missed her remarks, I didn’t have much substance for a post beyond noting who was there at the reception in the new Southern First Bank building (I didn’t want to ask the mayor to repeat it all for me that night; she needed to spend time with her guests). For the rest I had to wait for a press release, which I just got today.

As to who was there, here are some of the names:

  • Lexington County Sheriff James Metts (apparently Leon Lott was there, too, but I missed him)
  • former Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler
  • Mayor Bobby Horton of West Columbia
  • Mayor Pat Smith of Springdale
  • County Councilwoman Debbie Summers
  • County Councilman Bill Banning (my own councilman and neighbor)
  • Home Builders Association of Greater Columbia Executive Director Earl McLeod

And close to 150 others. Seemed to me like she had a pretty good cross-section.

Here’s the press release:

CAYCE, SC   Nearly 150 residents, friends and supporters ignored the June 29 summer storm to come to Southern First Bank to meet their Mayor, Elise Partin. It was a kickoff fundraiser for Partin’s re-election campaign, though the Mayor herself preferred to call it a “friendraiser.”

Justin Strickland, Southern First president, joined by some prominent Cayce residents and area elected officials, hosted the event and encouraged everyone’s continued support of Partin. “She just burst on the scene a year and half ago and she hasn’t slowed down since,” Strickland said. “She really cares about businesses and individuals and wants to make Cayce the best place to be in South Carolina. We need to keep Elise Partin in office!”

Partin addressed the crowd and reminded them of her original campaign promises. “In less than two years we managed to accomplish or begin to address just about every element of that platform,” she said. Flanked by Mayors Bobby Horton and Pat Smith (West Columbia and Springdale, respectively), Partin pointed to one success in particular. “I’m happy to announce that Cayce, West Columbia, Springdale and Lexington County came together with the support of the rest of the Midlands to work on the Airport Corridor – the gateway to the Midlands. And I am also happy to announce that we just got approval for a Department of Transportation grant to
get started on that improvement!”

Mayor Horton and Mayor Smith both spoke on Partin’s behalf and urged supporters and volunteers to keep her in office. Partin promised she would continue to work on issues such as:

  • Ensuring fiscal responsibility and guaranteeing open communication and transparency
  • Fortifying Cayce neighborhoods to continue to attract business
  • Prioritizing the public infrastructure investments – sidewalks, drainage, safety and more so that we can improve the quality of life in Cayce.

“My family and I love Cayce,” she said. “It is my privilege to serve you and I am humbled by your support for my leadership. It motivates me even more to work with you, for you.”

For more information on Mayor Elise Partin, visit her website: www.elisepartin.com, find her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter @elisepartin.

Gene Partin; Justin Strickland, President Southern First Bank; Sheriff James Metts; and Elise Partin, Mayor of Cayce. /courtesy of Partin campaign

The Chicago Way: Just pass another gun ban

12 Replies

Chicago has always had a bit of a problem with federal controls. Remember all that trouble Elliott Ness had getting any cooperation when Capone ran things (in the movie, at least)?

Well, the Chicago alderman made it really clear how little they thought of the Supreme Court striking down the city’s gun control law Monday.

The rest of the nation, pro- and anti-gun, talked and talked about it. But that’s not the Chicago Way. They’re into action.

The aldermen didn’t even let the week pass before they passed a new one, 45 to zip:

Grumbling about a U.S. Supreme Court they say is out of touch with America’s cities, Chicago aldermen voted 45-0 today to approve a rushed-through compromise gun ban.
The law, weaker than the gun ban tossed out Monday but with some even stronger new provisions, allows adults in Chicago to buy one gun a month, 12 a year, but they must pay registration and permit fees and take five hours of training.
Within 100 days, anyone who wants to keep a gun in the city will have to register, get their training and pay the fees. Also within 100 days, any of the estimated 10,000 Chicagoans convicted of a gun offense will have to register at their local police station like sex offenders.
Police Supt. Jody Weis said that new list of where criminals live in Chicago will help police do their jobs: “Armed with knowledge is our greatest asset,” Weis said.

What did ya think Chicago was gonna do? Lie down and whimper in frustration? Not the City of Big Shoulders.

How about that? Y’all go ahead and discuss this, but please — no gunplay.

Why are there tanning parlors in our world?

5 Replies

Reading about the new federal tax on artificial tanning, both in national and local media, and I find myself wondering: How come things like tanning beds and tanning parlors exist, anyway? In the 21st century and all.

I’m not saying we outlaw them or anything — taxing them heavily seems like a great way to produce needed revenue, as long as they exist — but how is it that anyone would ever pay money to do something so pointless — something that no one in the world needs, ever, and so likely to lead directly to cancer?

Aside from the fact that I just don’t think deep tans are becoming on white people. If you doubt me, look at Larry Marchant on the Jon Stewart video. Looks weird, doesn’t it? Unnatural? Like, what’s wrong with Larry?

Anyway, that’s how it strikes me — as something that exists with no rational underlying explanation. Another of life’s mysteries.

Blog readers and their kids!

11 Replies

Yesterday, as I was on my way in to lunch, someone calls “Mr. Warthen!” — which strikes me as unnecessarily formal under the circumstances, but that’s what he said — and I turn and Phillip Bush, our regular commenter here, was just getting his little boy Spencer out of the car. At least, I learned that was our Phillip when he introduced himself.

As is my custom when I first meet people I had previously known only via the blog, I immediately took their picture with the Blackberry.

As Phillip explained by e-mail when I wrote to him to double-check Spencer’s name:

Spencer and I were just coming back from his third and final day of Sprout Camp at Riverbanks Botanical Garden, where I spent much of my time running around trying to keep him from inadvertently squashing the bugs, worms, etc. we were supposed to be looking at, in his newly-3-year-old enthusiasm. But we had lots of fun.

That encounter reminded me of another recent one that I forgot to share with y’all — I ran into Michael Rodgers of “Take Down the Flag” fame at the Vincent Sheheen primary-night victory party. He had daughter Kate with him.

Now you know what these guys look like, along with Doug and Bud and Laurin and Paul DeMarco (whom we haven’t heard from in awhile) and others.

It was great meeting Michael and Phillip and Kate and Spencer…

Nikki Haley, Vincent Sheheen offer clear choice on Confederate flag

35 Replies

The 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 today? Because today is the 10th anniversary of the day it moved from the dome to the spot behind the soldier monument.)

Gina Smith in The State provided the following vignettes showing the difference. From Vincent Sheheen:

If elected governor in November, Sheheen said he is open to discussing the removal of the flag from the State House grounds. He was elected to the S.C. House a year after the compromise.

“We must develop an environment that creates jobs,” Sheheen said. “We cannot give up any edge that South Carolina has in attracting a large employer coming to South Carolina. After the last eight years, we must be proactive in creating a positive image of our state to the world.”

Sheheen offers no details, though, including locations where he would consider having the flag relocated.

“I have no predetermined proposal on the flag, but would like to work with legislative leaders, business leaders and community leaders to finally reach consensus. My job as governor will be to bring people together to reach consensus on how best to heal any divisions, including the flag,” he said.

It is unclear whether Sheheen supports the NAACP’s boycott.

And from Nikki Haley:

Haley wasn’t elected to the House until 2004. Haley believes a compromise was reached and the issue resolved.

“It was settled and it has been put away. And I don’t have any intentions of bringing it back up or making it an issue,” she said in a recent interview with the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Instead, Haley said her focus is on making state government more transparent and more business-friendly. “If the people aren’t focused on the flag, it’s hard to see why the governor and General Assembly should be,” said Rob Godfrey, Haley’s spokesman.

Haley implied in the Sons of Confederate Veterans interview that she would work with the NAACP and others who want the flag removed from the State House grounds to address the NAACP boycott. “I’m the perfect person to deal with the boycott. Because, as a minority female, I’m going to go and talk to them and I’m going to go and let them know that every state has their traditions. … But we need to talk about business. And we need to talk about having (businesses) come into our state …”

As you see, Vincent understands that the time must come when we stop portraying our state to the world as a haven for neo-Confederate extremists who insist upon continuing to embrace the worst moments of our history. He’s just too diplomatic to put it in quite those terms. If he had the chance, he’d get it down. By the way, his Uncle Bob, the former speaker, had the best idea of all about what to do about the flag: Replace it with a bronze plaque noting that it once flew here. That’s a solution that would enable us to move on. But the GOP leadership refused to seriously consider that or any other reasonable solution on the ONE DAY they allowed for debate before rushing to embrace this “compromise” that settled nothing.

Nikki, however, promises not to touch it, which is the standard South Carolina Republican response. And now that she’s promised it to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, that’s that. Which is a real shame, given that since she wasn’t in the Legislature at the time, no one could legitimately pretend that she is in any way bound by the “compromise” of 2000. She wasn’t a party to it.

She’s come a long way from being the inspiring emblem for tolerance that she truly was when she ran in 2004, when I took up the cudgels for her against the forces of ugly nativism. I’d like to see the national media folks who are SO EXCITED, in their superficial way, that an Indian-American woman might be elected in South Carolina take a moment to consider this. They also might want to watch her cozying up to the neo-Confederates in these video clips. Just something that should go into the calculation…

Note also the HUGE difference in their understanding of the impact of the flag on economic development. Vincent understands that if we want the rest of the world to take us seriously, the flag needs to come down. Nikki thinks the only obstacle to economic development here is the rather sad, ineffective boycott by the NAACP, which is weird on several levels.

And Rob Miller’s got enough money, too

6 Replies

My giving Joe Wilson a hard time for his hard sell “let me make you mad enough at the Democrats that you’ll send me money” appeal, when he’s already sitting on a mint, produced a productive response.

It you’ll recall, I said I was sure that Rob Miller — who ALSO has more money than needs to be wasted on a futile congressional campaign, also as a result of the “You Lie!” incident — was doing the same thing; I just wasn’t on his mail list.

So I got this today from Brian DeRoy with the Wilson campaign:

Since you somehow aren’t getting emails from Rob, let’s be fair and point out he’s aggressively pursuing donors too.  Remember, he’s raising a ton of money from ActBlue, Moveon.org and the DNC.

And here’s the communication he shared with me that he said was from the Miller campaign:

Dear Supporter,
As I criss-cross the district meeting small business owners, hard-working people, and community leaders, everyone agrees that we need a plan to get people back to work.  For nearly a decade now, South Carolina’s economy has been falling behind.  Bad trade agreements shipped good, high-paying jobs overseas.  Wall Street’s greed was rewarded with a $700 billion bailout.  Our small businesses and working families got nothing.
Joe Wilson was there every step of the way– casting the deciding vote for CAFTA, voting for the bailout, and opposing unemployment benefits, health insurance, and job re-training for the constituents he abandoned for a few campaign contributions.
It’s time to send Joe’s Wall Street ways packing, and I’ve got the plan to get our economy back on track.  I’ll fight for our small businesses and our communities.  My plan includes:
·       A full-time district office employee whose primary job is helping small businesses get grants and loans,
·       A budget-neutral Hometown Tax Credit to incentivize small business hiring,
·       A permanent extension of the Research and Development Tax Credit,
·       Incentives for small businesses hiring new employees,
·       Increasing lending to small businesses,
·       Cutting red tape and bureaucracy for small businesses,
·       Creating a venture capital fund to promote innovation,
·       Expanding technical school programs, and
·       Equipping churches and other community organizations to teach workplace skills.
Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and Joe “Wall Street” Wilson has been ignoring them for too long.  It’s time for a Congressman from Main Street who will fight for jobs in South Carolina, not Central America.  Stand and fight with me.
Semper Fi,
Rob

Yep, that’s cut from the same cloth — to some extent. And it’s got that irritating “fight” language in it that I always find so obnoxious. (And you’d think that a combat veteran like ex-Capt. Miller would know the difference between a political debate and a fight.) I have to say, though, it really doesn’t go nearly to the same extent in trying to demonize the competition. At least, not the way I look at it. What do y’all think?

Anyway, I’m fully persuaded that neither of these guys needs anybody to send him any more money.

No. 1 on the field, No. 1 in the classroom

3 Replies

Two quick items on the National Champion USC Gamecocks baseball team:

First, the picture above of the Gamecock flag flying on the State House dome, taken today by my ADCO colleague Lora Prill with the iPhone 4 of which she is inordinately proud. That’s certainly infinitely better than the flag that used to fly in that third position. This one is one we can all be proud of.

Second, I was talking to my friend Jack Van Loan today, and he mentioned hearing something at the big welcome-home rally for the team yesterday (pictured below, taken by another ADCO colleague): That of the eight teams who went to Omaha for the CWS, the Gamecocks had the highest GPA, at 3.18. (I tried to check this out, and did not find that number. I found that for the most recent semester, though, they had a GPA of 3.07, which ain’t shabby. Maybe the number Jack heard was for the whole year; I don’t know.)

Jack was sufficiently impressed with that that he wrote to the athletic director at his alma mater up in Oregon to say, why doesn’t your team have a GPA like this.

As Jack said “Number One on the field, number one in the classroom.” That’s another reason for South Carolina to be proud.

The Benjamin inaugural breakfast

Leave a reply

I’m backdating this because I’m catching up. I’m saying that so you’ll have an explanation when you go, “Huh? That wasn’t there on Thursday!”

Anyway, I thought I’d provide a glimpse of the breakfast at the Cap City Club. My wife and my daughter the dancer went along, as the event was a benefit for Columbia City Ballet. William Starrett and I both wore seersucker, but I swear we didn’t coordinate it in advance. We sat across from George Zara and John Kessler from Providence Hospital and Mrs. Kessler.

Below you will see the Fourth Estate posing with the … what Estate would the new mayor be (I’m not sure it fits into that model)? In any case, Adam Beam of The State and Steve Benjamin are having their picture taken by the Fifth Estate, a phrase which as you know I continue to belabor in the hope that it will catch on.

Whom we elect in SC is none of your business, Gov. Pawlenty

15 Replies

As you know, few things tick me off more than the nationalization of local politics. I even get on the case of politicians I like when they start acting like they want to influence the residents of OTHER states as to whom they should elect — especially since they almost always do so in behalf of those abominations, the two major political parties.

So it is that we are not amused at this latest small outrage:

I’m Gov. Pawlenty’s communications director… Watned to let you know
that today, Gov. Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC will formally endorsing
and contributing to several South Carolina candidates in this fall’s
elections:

Governor – Haley – $3500
Senator – DeMint – $3000
SC-01 – Scott – $2000
SC-02 – Wilson – $2000
SC-03 – Duncan – $2000
SC-04 – Gowdy – $2000

As you probably know, Governor Pawlenty is currently in South
Carolina. Last night, he attended a fundraiser for the state GOP at
the home of GOP chairman Karen Floyd in Spartanburg with Nikki Haley.
(We posted a photo of the two of them on Gov. Pawlenty’s facebook
page.) This morning, he attended a fundraiser for Mick Mulvaney’s
congressional campaign in Rock Hill.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need an on-the-record
quote from me.
Thanks,
Alex

As I’m typing this, I can’t remember who the frick “Gov. Pawlenty” is, but let me guess before I Google it: He’s yet another Republican who thinks he’s got what it takes to be president, cozying up to South Carolina Republicans because of our early primary.

And the answer is… Yes, I was right! Of course, it’s not much of a guess. Even Mark Sanford was once in that fraternity, which shows you, anybody can get in.

At least he’s got a motive. But that doesn’t excuse it.

Whoa! On his last day, Mayor Bob bites back

8 Replies

There has been little love lost between Mayor Bob Coble (who today becomes former Mayor Bob Coble) and Kevin Fisher since Kevin ran against him several years ago.

So it is that there is some sharp criticism of Bob in Kevin’s column about his departure from office. Sharp, but not out of bounds. In fact, much of it is written with the same crusty, edgy sort of good will that went into his column about me when I left the paper. I enjoyed his column about me, but then, I’m in the political criticism business. (Also, I was a couple of sheets to the wind from free beer when I read it, at Goatfeathers on the night that I left the paper.) I can enjoy a column for being well-done, even if it isn’t exactly hagiographic. In fact, I’d probably object if ol’ Kevin started to put a halo on me.

Bob responds in a way that makes me smile because of the irony of it. Part of Kevin’s criticism of him is that Mayor Bob was TOO nice. Oh yeah, says Bob?, and responds by giving him some sharp elbows in this letter to the editor:

Dear Editor,

Kevin Fisher writes in his latest op ed piece that, “everybody likes Mayor Bob. I know I do. And he knows I do. Moreover, I dare say he likes me.” – Kevin Fisher City Watch (Sept. 5, 2007). I do like Kevin. Moreover, I admire Kevin for his political courage. If I had gotten the number of votes he received in the last two City elections after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money, I would have been too embarrassed to keep writing those columns in The Free Times. But Kevin, despite the humiliation and complete rejection by the voters, soldiers on with “Joe Azar” like determination. He is one tough hombre.

I’m gonna miss this repartee between these two wacky kids…

Folks, Joe’s got enough money. You can stop giving now

7 Replies

It’s rather incredible that after all those millions that rolled into his (and opponent Rob Miller’s) coffers right after the “You Lie!” incident, Joe Wilson would still be trying to raise money.

But that’s how it works these days. Candidates raise money so they can set up a real steamroller of an operation that will raise them MORE money, on and on. Rob Miller’s probably doing the same thing and just doesn’t have my e-mail address or something.

Anyway, here’s Joe’s latest. Note the bombast. Note the hyperbole. Note the over-the-top demonization of the opposition. Yeah, it’s all extremely destructive to our ability to have a civil society, but hey — who cares if it works in infuriating people enough to give money, right? Here it is:

The clock is ticking to end the spending spree in Washington.  But Nancy Pelosi and her gang of liberals are trying to pull out all the stops to silence our conservative beliefs.  You have less than 24 hours left to have your voice heard since tonight at midnight marks the end of the financial quarter.
Just this week, Democrats launched an initiative aimed at tripping up conservatives and trying to play gotcha games.  Since liberals can’t win with their ideas like government-run health care and raising our taxes, they have to play games instead.
I have been busy meeting with constituents constantly in the Palmetto State.  Hard work is something I greatly value, and my promise has always been to be accessible and accountable.  This recent video will show just one example of my commitment to the Second District of South Carolina.
I realize we are in a tough economy, unemployment is far too high and the liberals in Washington need to get out of the way of small businesses and stop spending your money endlessly.
Going up against people who we’ve all seen will do or say anything isn’t easy.  This is a team effort.  Momentum is on the conservative side, we’ve seen it recently with the historic elections of Republicans in New Jersey and Massachusetts.
My opponent is taking in big bucks from unions and extreme groups like Moveon.org. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has even chipped in a few grand to the opposition.  Such donations will tell you where he really stands.
November may seem like a long way away, but we’re in a battle of ideas.  Our side will win and we will do it together. The financial quarter ends at midnight tonight.  Just $100, $50 or $25 will go along way in helping us send a strong message to Nancy Pelosi.
Please keep our conservative movement running strong as we build momentum for the fall.
Sincerely,
Joe Wilson
US Congressman
PS – The financial quarter ends at midnight tonight. All the political pundits will be reporting on our fundraising totals. Please click here, to make a small donation and let Nancy Pelosi know that big government isn’t the path to economic freedom.
Yeah, things may be tough and you may not have a job, but I’m hoping I can get you to hate those other guys enough to cough up some of the money from your tiny unemployment check to help me stop ’em.

God have mercy upon us.

Like Joe would actually do anything to change the country, even by this pitiful standard, if re-elected. The point is to re-elect Joe, because he really likes being your congressman. He really does. It’s sort of touching, really, the extent to which he digs it, and gets all breathless about it. (I suppose Joe would send out letters gushing about just that, but his well-compensated consultants advise against anything that positive.) He’s like his late predecessor Floyd Spence in that respect. Floyd never tried to DO anything in Washington; he just loved being a congressman and having his picture taken with famous people, and voting a safe, conservative way, and doing constituent service so that folks would let him keep doing it. He never rocked anybody’s boat, and normally Joe doesn’t, either. It’s not his nature.

Which is what makes the “You Lie” thing so weird. I think Joe shocked himself that night, losing control like that. Which is why he apologized… until he saw all that money coming in.

Before long, they’ll have traffic lights and moving picture shows

2 Replies

Had to smile at this headline from The Chicago Sun Times:

“City’s second Wal-Mart approved”

It’s hard to remember, after all these years, that back in the early ’80s Wal-Mart was a totally small-town phenomenon. But then, after it wiped out small-town Main Streets it got hungrier, and they moved to bigger and bigger markets, and eventually became ubiquitous….

… except in some of the nation’s densest urban centers.

Yeah, if you read the story you find there’s more at work here than that simple explanation, such as organized labor flexing its considerable muscle in Chicago politics.

But it still makes me smile. Despites its warts (such as the wiping out Main Streets thing), Wal-Mart is so much a part of modern life that it’s astounding that it is a novelty for some of the nation’s hippest city slickers.

There’s a Wal-Mart in Chicago? Do tell. What will they think of next….

Everybody wants to party with Steve

5 Replies

Just got this from Steve Benjamin:

Dear Friends,

We woud like to issue a correction. Due to overwhelming response, the Township Auditorium’s Box Office has completely sold out of free tickets.

We apologize and hope that everyone will not only come out to the One Columbia Inaugural Gala but the other events that we have planned for this.

Guess I’ll leave the tux in the closet. But I am going to the breakfast tomorrow morning.

By the way, did you know that Steve has his own official emblem as mayor-elect, a la Obama? Not something I’d want to make a big deal of, but I thought it worth a mention. I liked Obama (and still do), so I only made gentle fun of his seal at the time. I like Steve, too, and have great hopes for Columbia’s future with him as mayor. I really think he’ll do well. But the seal… while it’s nothing much to look at (he shoulda come to ADCO if he wanted something snazzy), it does seem a tad pretentious. Or is it just me?

Finally. Finally! The whole nation knows that SOUTH CAROLINA IS THE BEST!

26 Replies

Finally, something not just positive, but SUPERLATIVE for South Carolina on the national stage.

Tonight, America sees us as the BEST!

For so long, we’ve been last where we want to be first, and first where we want to be last, the punch line of far too many national jokes. I’ve grown so weary of typing it.

Not any more. Not after tonight. The Gamecocks just changed all that. We can do anything now. We’re not only the best in the country at something, but at the National Pastime, no less!

It would be sweet to see this happen with any major sport, but having it happen with baseball makes it SO much more awesome.

Congratulations, Ray Tanner! Glad we built that new ballpark for you — you’ve made good use of it. (You know, the ballpark in the Innovista.)

Congratulations, Harris Pastides, and Eric Hyman, and all the coaches.

But congratulations most of all to the kids who won it, the Gamecock nine, South Carolina’s finest!

You’ve made us all proud…