The model of erudition and Statesmanship in South Carolina

I'm sure Spartanburg County is soooo proud of Representative Joey Millwood for this one,




and the entire litany of interesting things he's tweeted all day today. I wonder if the Herald-Journal or Greenville News even bothers to care about such indignant rantings - the sad reality is they probably do, and yet hold him to no account congratulations people of Spartanburg.

h/t IJ

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The only thing gayer than a Tea Party....

Well, perhaps there is something gayer than a tea party and a picnic - weddings.

News today from Washington State where the Seattle PI (online) is reporting that the legislature has approved an expansion of Domestic Partnership Benefits to be equal with marriage in everything but name.

Meanwhile, on the other coast - New Hampshire's Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on converting their civil unions into civil marriages.

For an interesting read on the Tea Parties though - I'd say check out A.L.

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Putting the Gay back into the Tea Parties

This will probably dampen the ranting lunacy of those folks who have usurped the libertarian Tea Party movement, the gays are coming to the party as well. And as we all know nothing's gayer than a Tea Party, except maybe a Picnic.

As LGBT Americans, we work hard, take care of our families, and pay our taxes every year. Yet, our families are not included in the very policies we help fund. Our loved ones are treated like legal strangers and denied the economic protections given to our heterosexual counterparts. It is time to take a stand. This April 15th, we will rally at post offices across the nation.

The site has a map showing the location of the planned events thus far. None are in South Carolina, yet, but there are potentially more rallies than the ones usurped above.

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It Means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes....

shoes
Originally uploaded by gemma101679

Remember the scene from the Godfather where they find out that Luca Brasi has been murdered. A rolled up newspaper arrives with a fish in it, and Sonny Corleone doesn't understand until Tom says "It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi Sleeps with the fishes..."
I had in mind with this post to urge folks to send shoes wrapped in Newspaper to the Governor as a mixed metaphor to encourage him to accept the money.

As much as I like the idea of throwing a shoe at him, there's no need to get arrested (because you know he'd press charges) and hear him whine like he did before the last election when he 'burned his eyes' because of stage lights. But then again, the hacks and neanderthals he surrounds himself with wouldn't get it.

But operation "Shoe Drop" isn't going to be necessary, because the professional organizers are doing what they do best... organizing.

Next week on April 1st there's going to be a protest at the State House to encourage the Governor to leave the gun and take the Cannoli, to accept the Stimulus money and put it to work in a proactive way for the folks of this state. So come out from 5:30 to 6:30 and,

Tell the governor to quit grandstanding at our expense!

If the governor does not sign the stimulus agreement by April 3, SC will have to lay off thousands of teachers, public safety employees and increase tuition at our colleges and universities.

Join teachers, public workers, students, and your neighbors who are facing cutbacks, layoffs and increasing debts to tell Sanford:

Governor, it's OUR money!

Instead of pouring our money into bailing out wealthy bankers, we need government investments that create new jobs, provide health care and quality education for all, end the foreclosure epidemic and support sustainable, clean energy.

As with everything these days, there's a facebook group you can visit to sign up and attend. But apparently the other metropolitan areas aren't to be left out. Via Indigo Bunting,

Support the Stimulus Rally
When: Tuesday, March 31 from 12:15-1:15 p.m.
Where: Brittlebank Park, Charleston (180 Lockwood Blvd)
Contact: StimulusRally@gmail.com

No word yet if Greenville-Spartanburg area (and the rest of Jesus Land for that matter) will participate, the ratio of suburban white Christianist-Republican to everyone else is such that it's doubtful.

But hey, if you can't make it to the rally -- you can always send him a shoe.

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QOTD: Calling them out

Personally, I’d like to see and hear from other bishops. I’m getting tired of the Chaput, Rigali, Burke club. They lack political and public relations savvy. They insist theirs is the only way, the only hope. They are blind to their own faults and are all too willing to pin the blame on the poor, dumb, apathetic Catholic laity. They were convinced it was a good move to hitch their wagon to the Republican party. Thanks to incompetence, they circled the drain last November. But clearly, the speaking circuit is not lacking for giving out little jobs.

The hubris makes it impossible for these guys to receive new and potentially more effective ideas. The same True Believers offer the same plane tickets, honoraria, and book sales. It looks like the past few decades to me–and they haven’t been very effective, have they?

- Catholic Sensibility,
Chaput Plays the Game

And I couldn't agree more...

A pretty smart read from a level headed pro-lifer. I discovered this site today after reading a post at the Siena Institute which quoted another biting yet humorous post from CS.

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2nd Presser Stem Cell Question, another "Paygrade" moment?

The President was asked by a Washington Times Reporter if he wrestled with the Stem Cell Decision. While there were usable quotes such as these picked up by the liveblogs:

The Swamp
"By the time an issue reaches my desk, it's a hard issue."

The Politico
"I have no investment in causing controversy. I'm happy to avoid it - if that's where the science leads us"

It's the 'connective tissue' of his response and back and forth with the WT reporter that will generate the most grief from certain quarters of conservatism and pro-life liberalism. I picked it up and was left with a sour taste in my mouth.

But it cuts both ways, as Washington Post live blogger Alec MacGillis summarizes, "He also resisted pointing out an inaccurate phrasing in the question, which suggested that research on adult stem cells has so far proven more fruitful than that with embryonic stem cells. This is not the case. There have been some breakthroughs with adult skin cells, but the vast majority of scientists agree that embryonic stem cells hold far more promise. If they haven't produced more breakthroughs, that is partly because the biggest funding source in the world, the NIH, has been prohibited from funding most research involving embryonic stem cells -- until now."

Admittedly though that information does not matter to those of us who would rather not have the embryos destroyed in the first place, or in reality, created.

The point being is that the question, for this President, is a damned if you do - damned if you don't moment.

I also look to the usual sources to sound the alarm and call to arms tomorrow.

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QOTD: White Trash

"...You know what we've got? We've got trash in the White House. Trash is a thing that is colorblind, it can cross all eco-socionomic...categories. You can work on Wall Street, or you can work at the Wal-Mart. Trash, are people who use other people to get things, who patronize others, who consider you bitter and clingy..."

-Tammy Bruce,
sitting in for Laura Ingram

All I can say is: right. This coming from a woman who can't say socio-economic. What the hell is eco-socionomic...categories.

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Joel Sawyer will probably quit

The phone lines at the Governors office will probably be ringing off the hook over the next few days - and not just from the grissled SC residents pissed about unemployment benefits.

Rush Limbaugh is going to send his flying monkeys after SC Gov. Mark Sanford for insulting him. How did Sanford insult him? He said he hoped this Administration doesn't fail.

From HuffPo, h/t PhilBaily

In an interview with Real Clear Politics Sanford had this to say,

I don't want him to fail. Anybody who wants him to fail is an idiot, because it means we're all in trouble. ..

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Jindal Vs. the Volcano, the wilderness continues.

Nate Silver and the Daily Beast pick up on one particular strange remark from Jindal's rebuttal last night about the government's funding of Volcano monitoring.

I suppose this means that the Republican party has given up on Palin?

So it's wrong for the government to provide support for folks along the Pacific Rim in protecting against volcanic destruction (Mount Redoubt comes to mind), but ok to demand billions of dollars of investment into hurricanes and hurricane damage prevention? Hmmm...

But besides the Volcano remark the rest were tired already refuted talking points - such as the train from Disney Land to Vegas, and burnt boiler plate with the talk of big government boogie men, the specter of taxes. The most shocking though was that a Republican would dare bring up Hurricane Katrina and speak of the snafu of the handling of that disaster- when his party ran the federal government - as a reason to put the Republicans back in charge? Wow.

A few weeks ago I commented on the ideological cannibalism in the GOP over American Exceptionalism vs. absolute disdain towards the administration, well the purge continues as the Defacto head of the Party threatens any and all Republicans who criticise Bobby Jindal's speech.

Already the hounds have been released. On this evening's Hardball with Chris Matthews indicted former majority leader Tom Delay spurned Matthew's calling David Brooks a 'conservative' for Brooks' criticism of Jindal. Congressional leaders, fearing the wrath of Rush, have been tenuous in their responses.

Even the newly elected Chairman Michael Steele who opened his tenure up with remarks about expanding the Republican tent has had to backtrack. Uncle Tom as he should be called is now considering tossing the three 'moderate' Republicans, who voted on the stimulus, on their ear.

Glenn Thrush quotes the quotable Barney Frank who says it best about the fine old canibals also known as the Grand Old Purifiers,

"They are going to purify themselves into irrelevance"

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File this under 'WTF?!'

Pat Robertson, one of the paragons of the Religious Right and main proponents of Christianism is critisising Rush Limbaugh for hoping the President fails.

Why? It's all a matter of - in the words of St. Izzy - the idolatry of patriotism, also known as American Exceptionalism. This is a bizare form of ideological canibalism.

The Republican long night of the soul continues....

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I'm angry

and because I'm angry and can't inflict physical pain on anyone I'm sharing this instead.

Suck it US House and Senate Republicans, and all their advisors like Limbaugh, Hannity and Joe-the-f*cking(fake)-plumber.

Thank you for screwing the American people over for the past 8 years with unprecedented orgiastic spending, warmongering, and trashing of the constitution only to F*CKING NOW FIND YOUR CONSERVATIVE BALLS.

YOU HAVE NO CREDIBILITY, and to act out now like this may score you more time to suck Limbaugh's c**k but doesn't help push this country forward.

QUIT WHINING THAT YOU'VE NOT BEEN 'INCLUDED' (when you choose to balk) AND PUT OUT A F*CKING IDEA INSTEAD. BE THE G*D DAMNED OPPOSITION NOT JUST F*CKING OBSTRUCTIONIST, A**HOLES!

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QOTD: Rush Limbaugh really is in charge

This much is now clear. Their clear and open intent is to do all they can, however they can, to sabotage the new administration (and the economy to boot). They want failure. Even now. Even after the last eight years. Even in a recession as steeply dangerous as this one. There are legitimate debates to be had; and then there is the cynicism and surrealism of total political war. We now should have even less doubt about what kind of people they are. And the mountain of partisan vitriol Obama will have to climb every day of the next four or eight years.

- Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish

On the latest news that just as the Stimulus package was passing, NH Republican Senator Judd Gregg withdrawing nomination for Commerce Secretary because of his ideology.

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You have been weighed and are found wanting.

Earl Capps is leveling some righteous anger towards the hypocrisy of the current Governor and his Administration.

And while it's easy for folks to pin my motives to Partisanship because I choose to affiliate with the party opposing the Governor, Mr. Capps is a Republican - yes a REPUBLICAN - and in standing up and uttering against Sanford and his ilk, Mr. Capps has drawn the ire of his own co-politicists throughout the Palmetto State. A prophet indeed.

How exactly does Mr. Capps issue such divine utterances, calling his party - calling our state back from the wilderness, the madness and slavery of political entitlement and civic apathy? In civil discourse, by asking prescient questions and covering the stories that the mainstream media - driven by the whispers and misdirection of various factions and consulting firms - are want to cover. And by goading us, not only other bloggers, but state officials and ordinary citizens.

Like the Prophet Daniel, Earl has seen the writing on the wall, he has deciphered the words and has found the actions (or rather inaction and misactions) of this Administration wanting on the scales of competent governance.

So take the time to read the following two posts by Mr. Capps and don't sit idly by - but do something. Call your representative, or call the Governor and voice your displeasure with the way he's managing our Government and our state.

DSS problems challenge the credibility of Sanford's restructuring agenda

For the six years, Governor Sanford has engaged in considerable political posturing over the issue of restructuring. However, in looking at the part of state government which is already under his control, one has to wonder if Sanford can be trusted with control over any part of state government.

One example is the state’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, which some jokingly refer to as “PRT – Prosser’s Rarely There”, referring to Chad Prosser, he agency’s director. Another is the Department of Corrections, an agency which has long been ignored, underfunded and understaffed, especially during Sanford’s tenure, creating unmanageable conditions which have become the subject of numerous complaints and lawsuits.

The worst example of Sanford’s “do as I say, not what I do” approach to governance has been DSS, where the failures are counted in the lives (and sometimes deaths) of children who have been let down by this poorly-run agency. When twenty-nine month old Samuri Hayes died in DSS custody, some asked why Sanford was silent about the problems in the agency.

During the trial of the former DSS Finance Director, along with seven co-conspirators, questions have been raised about the financial accountability of that agency. Strangely, Sanford, who is usually all about "accountability" has rebuffed calls for investigations into the agency.

But there's even more hypocrisy in how DSS is being mismanaged under this administration. Reports indicate that the state lags far behind the rest of the nation in child support collections. According to the ACES website, South Carolina's collection rate was only 44% of child support due, lagging far behind the national average of 53% - roughly 25% worse than the national average.

This is due in part to the failure of DSS to modernize its child support system. California and South Carolina were the only two states to not meet new federal standards, for which the feds were providing funding. As a result, the
South Carolina agency was penalized $47 million about one-tenth of last year's budget shortfall which Sanford complained about. We've been told by legislators that another $30 million in penalties may be levied before South Carolina's system can be made compliant.

Instead of trying better manage his part of state government and avoiding these fines by demanding DSS meet higher standards, Sanford, who loves to rant about frivolous lawsuits, responded by filing a frivilous lawsuit of his own to avoid being held accountable by the feds.

When children are dying, millions of dollars are being stolen and tens of millions are being lost in unnecessary penalties, the Governor's silence is puzzling indeed. If this was taking place in some part of state government that was not under the Governor, every resident of the Riverbanks Zoo would be likely be under imminent threat of abduction for use in press conferences to lambaste the guilty parties.

The ongoing problems at SC DSS serve as yet another example of the difference between the often-empty rhetoric and craven political thuggery that has defined much of the Sanford administration and the real reform-oriented leadership that this state desperately needs.

and the follow up for this post is Earl's post on State House freshmen demand answers from SC DSS.

For this particular one you'll just have to go to Earl's site to read it, and I can't encourage you enough to do so!

For more of my own writing about Sanford, which is usually about his abysmal record on 'economic development,' click here.

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POTD: A huge disservice...

This is perhaps the worst picture of Senate Majority leader Glenn McConnell I've ever seen. Does anyone else think he looks like a preening sissy? And that hair, I seriously doubt that's his natural color, if it's his natural hair!

Senator - just because you come from a long line of Low Country Planters doesn't mean you have to maintain the gentrified dandy look. Aren't you an avid Civil War enthusiast? Embrace your natural hair color (and hairline) and remember: when the camera gets ready to snap it's better to laugh and have another picture taken than trying to hold it in.

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POTD: Who is this Aaron Schock and more importantly who is that holding the Bible?

::Update, to see Congressman Schock's Abs - click here!::

Aaron Schock who was elected to Congressman turned Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's seat in Illinois was named the hottest of the Freshman Class on Huffington Post.

One picture on HuffPo's slideshow really caught my eye and is now the photo of the day.

Who is the guy holding the Bible for Congressman Schock? From the other picture which includes all of his family it's not a sibling.

I always thought that family or loved ones held the Bible during swearing in ceremonies, especially when they're staged such as this. Oh well, it could be a Pelosi staffer or such. Who ever that is with Mr. Schock is rather sharply dressed in that pinstriped suit and the tie if fantastic. Mr. Schock of course looks pretty dapper himself.

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QOTD:

One respects the office by honoring its place in a constitutional system, not by wearing a suit.

-Steve Benen, Washington Monthly

On Andrew Card's complaints that the Obama Administration doesn't "Respect the office of the Presidency" by virtue of their dress code. Can we scrub his Wikipedia page of his undergraduate degree being from the University of South Carolina?

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The Republican Base

Yesterday was a 'soul searching day' for the Republican party - literally.

For GOP members of Congress that means going on retreat. A few things stood out for me following Bob Inglis on Twitter. He kept tweeting about speakers at the retreat, from Newt Gingrich to even now Mitch Daniels from Indiana keep telling them not to speak of the 'base' but to represent 'all the people.'

Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana is telling us at breakfast here at retreat never to speak of the "base." Represent all the people, he says. 5:17 AM yesterday from TwitterBerry

Newt: Don't gear toward mobilizing the base. Represent everyone in your district. They want jobs, take home pay and savings. We're with them 6:29 PM Jan 29th from TwitterBerry

For the RNC it meant voting on a new Chairman, a process that took 6 rounds of voting and nearly 5 hours. In the end the GOP decided against going for the man who most represented their 'base' - Katon Dawson, a Southerner, a White Man, and an Social Conservative amongst other 'qualities,' such as this, this and this. Instead they chose Michael Steele who is by contrast a moderate, a 'northerner' and obviously not white. So an African American is leading a party that is less than 10% African American, congratulations Chairman Steele. In his speech he even talked about reaching out to people and making in roads in places where the doors to the Republican party seem shuttered.

So why would the party want to circle the wagons and become introspective? Electoral defeat of course, not necessarily the track record of the party over the past eight years but the incredible defeat they suffered at the ballot box. At present what is the Republican party? It is a party that, in the wake of this election, is demarcated as a purely regional party of the South and the Mountain West - or as a friend of mine now refers to the Republican Party, the "Old Confederacy and Buffalo Commons" Party, though Democrats made slight and significant inroads even there.. It is a party that is dominated by an extreme ideological bent that represents fewer and fewer people but expresses greater and greater control.

This stands in contrast to the things the Congressmen heard from their speakers on retreat and certainly stands in contrast to the election of Steele right? Well, we don't just no yet. The cynic would say politicians listening to other politicians talking about representing people would say that's just a way of retaining power. And the election of Steele as big of a step as it appears is hampered by his willingness to compromise on his more 'moderate' views on social issues and the like. In fact according to David Brody in an interview with Steele in December he stated that though he believes Gay Marriage is a states issue if he's elected he'll acquiesce to the party and support a federal amendment. Is it electing a leader or simply a mouth piece in a black face?

Meanwhile as the Republican party is in a precarious situation of trying to reach out to others beyond the white evangelical rural southern base, folks like Rush Limbaugh are reminding the Party "All your base are belong to us" and showing exactly who controls the direction of the Republican Party.

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SC Senate GOP Harumphs the closing of Gitmo

The Republican Senate Caucus at the State House is trying to pass a resolution asking President Obama to not place detainees in South Carolina. Sen. Cromer who initiated the measure said today:

“Closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay is the wrong move for our country, it is better to have enemy combatants housed outside of the continental United States,” says Senator Cromer. “We have been very blessed over the last seven years, in that we have not had another terrorist attack in our country, but moving current detainees into the United States is just inviting trouble. And, I am certainly opposed to using the Charleston Naval Base as an alternative location. I hope Washington will hear this message. We must proceed with extreme caution, when it comes to this matter of national security.”

With that kind of silly logic it's no wonder two planes were flown into the WTC - the terrorist were only trying to spring Ramzi Yousef from jail. SC legislators are falling into a lazy line of rhetoric. To quote TPM:

Most of the Republicans' "not in my backyard" talking points rely on ginning up fear that housing detainees in U.S. prisons would make the facilities into magnets for terrorist attacks from outside. GOP rhetoric on the issue also suggests that the most dangerous of Guantanamo's current occupants, estimated to number between 50 and 60, would pose a significant escape risk if housed in the U.S. -- although little to no data has been offered to support that claim.

The bill will most likely pass and while it's symbolic for them and within their GOP cocoon, it won't make a damn. And as I see it, it shouldn't. I can't help but wonder if there's a subtext here to Cromer's plea. Already we're seeing that the ultimate fear once one accepts that the base is closing is that these detainees will obtain - wait for it - rights. Already a republican congressman is screaming in hypothetical that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed could become a citizen with detainee tranfers from Gitmo. I can see the image this creates in deepest reddest South Carolina as the cogs creekily crank yet produce nothing worthwile.

Lindsay swoons. Mark Stammers, the GOP congressional members jump behind the couch as Henry Brown has a heart attack. Jim DeMint, well it's Jim DeMint and there's nothing scarier than Jim DeMint - even compared to Jihadiis. And the Senate GOP Caucus is left with nothing to do but Harumph.

To prove how ridiculous such a fear is we don't have to get literary and quote the dialogue between St. Thomas More and Roper from a Man for all Seasons just to illustrate why applying the law of this land is important - although I will:

Lady Alice: "Arrest him!"

Sir Thomas: "For what?"

Lady Alice: "He's dangerous!"

Roper: "For all we know he's a spy!"

Daughter Margaret: "Father, that man is bad!"

Sir Thomas: "There's no law against that!"

Roper: "But there is, God's law!"

Sir Thomas: "Then let God arrest him!"

Lady Alice: "While you talk he's gone!"

Sir Thomas: "And go he should, if he were the Devil himself, until he broke the law!"

Roper: "So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!"

Sir Thomas: "Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?"

Roper: "Why, yes! I'd cut down every law in England to do that!"

Sir Thomas: "Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down--and you're just the man to do it, Roper!--do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?"
"Yes, I'd give the Devil the benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!"

But even if you can't pick up on logic about the necessity for maintaining the law and obedience to the law (or don't want to) then consider this from Jeff Leiber, on the application of said law of this land on terrorists. From his diary titled The Addled Squirrel Rule of Conservative Thought at Daily Kos,

The first photo is, of course, of Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in the deadliest act of terrorism within the United States PRIOR to the September 11. Mr. McVeigh... with full access to all that inconvenient legal crap... was tried, convicted and, on June 11th 2001, executed.

If that doesn't TERRIFY YOU FOR THE SAFETY OF AMERICA (and maybe you need an example of someone more FOREIGN SOUNDING) we then move to Ramzi Ahmed Yousef who was one of the planners of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Mr. Yousef made it OUT of the United States before being captured in Pakistan (hey, this is getting WARMER isn't it) and flown back, where he was, shockingly, TRIED AND CONVICTED (without having to stack a single deck) and is now serving time at Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.

Finally, in the category of personalized horrific acts NOT HAPPENING ON A FICTIONAL TV SHOW (a 24 reference), we have the disturbing and deeply disturbed... Jeffrey Dahmer.

I won't go into the awful, horrible details beyond saying that he raced right on past "beheading" to "ingesting" and yet, again, a court of twelve Americans was able to try and convict him (and in a side-note that is sure to make YOU, if not ME, thrilled, he was murdered in prison).

Three cases... all adjudicated in an American court with the American system set up by the founding fathers of America in the likely probability that bad shit happens.

So that's why I was questioning what happened to all the Republican talk about Patriotism and the moral superiority and global commitment etc etc and what not that we've heard from the Republican party for the past eight years which has now melted away into Nimby Pimby Pussitude.

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On South Carolina and Refuse

It's becoming ever more apparent with each passing day that South Carolina doesn't mind being the nations land fill and will find a way to profit from it. From Nuclear to household waste the Palmetto State is quickly becoming the Putrefaction State. But in doing so again we're utilizing one of the three R's and making it profitable.

This week I read in SC Biz Mag that:

Southeastern Petroleum has announced it will invest $30 million in Chester County to build a new manufacturing facility and create 24 new jobs. Southeastern Petroleum recycles used motor oil into base oils that are then used in the production of lubricants. The company expects to produce up to 10 million gallons annually from the Chester County facility, according to a statement.

And speaking of recycling refuse and making money off of it... Guantanamo Bay is slated to be closed within a year. I find it outrageous that our Republican (Republican = Jesus Wrapped in an American Flag with a Rifle, a pack of Marlboros standing atop a moose in front of his hummer = the epitome of patriotism) leadership would not consider bringing the terrorist goons to Charleston's Navel Brig.

But it's not just our leaders, across the country Republican Politicians with huge military prison installations are saying not in our back yard despite the opinions of their less than sheepish constituents. From the Kansas City Star:

An informal survey Thursday on the streets of Leavenworth found reactions ranging from confidence that the Army would continue to keep the community safe, to concerns that the city would be visited by new dangers and its name become synonymous with terrorist incarceration.
“The question that comes to my mind is how secure it will be,” said Timothy Swan, the owner of Alpha Geek Computers in downtown Leavenworth.
Anita Maynard, owner of the Queen’s Pantry shop, feared the transfer of prisoners might too strongly reinforce Leavenworth’s image as simply a prison town at the expense of its other attributes — such as being home to a college for mid-career Army officers.
Dianne Hawkins, a homemaker married to a soldier, said she had confidence that if the detainees came, the Army could keep things safe.
But that security question was key for Brendan Sheehan, who runs a bicycle shop in Leavenworth. If he were assured that the town would stay safe, Sheehan said he could imagine an economic boon.
“That’s that many more workers here in town,” he said. “That could mean more customers.”

And Charleston has held highly sensitive terrorists before. As one reader of Andrew Sullivan's blog said of Charleston:

I lived in Charleston: the Military Brig in Charleston, South Carolina is in the town of North Charleston, SC, where the mayor drives around town with police/military scanner, heavily armed looking for crime to stop (I'm not joking). Nevermind that the Charleston airport abuts the Charleston Air Force base (home of Military airlift
command) and could be secured fairly quickly. In order for a detainee to make it from the military brig to the airport, he would have to cross swampland unprepared. The area surrounding the Charleston area is cypress swamp (that goes for miles around the city) full of gators, wild hogs and poisonous snakes and the residential areas are full of people armed to the teeth (with a hair trigger, a state rep got into some hot water for getting drunk and shooting at some power line workers he thought were thieves, he wasn't charged). Keeping them there might be a good idea. They've kept Padilla and others at that Charleston brig for years with no complaint.

I don't get it, if you're big enough and man enough to spend 10 billion dollars a month and sacrifice the lives of more than 4000 American Servicemembers and believe that our Military and our Country is the best the God has ever created: why be a big sloppy, flappy - well you get the picture - about this. Shouldn't the military, which we so implicitly trust and owe our freedom to, be able to handle 200 some odd folks - guarding them and making sure they don't escape into a swamp with animals most of the detainees have never seen before (if they're from Afghanistan especially)?

Is it sooo wrong to increase the number of jobs in your state by an increase in military or FBP employees, who - are higher paid than their state or local counterparts, many times by double (which means that much more of an increase in purchasing power and money being pumped into economy)? Or is the patriotism only skin deep? Is it not really an issue, belief or an ideology worth putting your name on the line about?

Jim DeMint, Mark Sanford, Lindsay Graham, or Henry Brown care to respond? I doubt it.

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Sanford's Contradictions

One of the state's newspapers has an Op-Ed piece by Carol Fowler, pointing out a number of faults with the governor's recent "State of the State" address. This one caught my attention:

Sanford claimed in his speech to have predicted our economic turmoil. If so, he did not consult his appointed expert in such matters. On Oct. 20, 2008, Commerce Secretary Joe E. Taylor proclaimed the state was recruiting business at a record pace, "despite what you hear about the state of the national economy." In South Carolina, he said, "Withholding tax collections are up, indicating that more people are working and/or making more money."

By the latest report from the S.C. Employment Security Commission, there are about 182,900 unemployed South Carolinians who might disagree. The state, which tended to have a lower jobless rate than the nation in the 1980s and 1990s, has been worse on that score every year since Sanford took office. In November, when the U.S. jobless rate was 6.7 percent, South Carolina's was 8.4 percent -- its highest rate since September 1983.

Wow, that's since I was born...

Note that the state's Department of Commerce reports "announced jobs and investments" which typically are based upon five-year projections from companies. These projections can change and may reflect the issues with the state's unemployment rate.

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