Blow by Blow of RNC Debate

by: Snead

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 16:38:19 PM EST

Atlas gave a preview of the RNC's four-way and today the Washington Independent watched the debate for GOP chair so you didn't have to.

A quick opener, this proved to be an easy crowd to fluff:

The forum was organized by Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform, and Norquist went out of his way to point out that Democrats chose Tim Kaine without any debate. “No election, no choice.” He waited for the knowing laughter, then pounced. “Sort of like card check!”

Michael Rodgers Wages Active Campaign In Richand School District Two

by: Tim Kelly

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 15:50:57 PM EST

When we launched IJ, we hoped that we wouldn't be just another site opining on national issues.  While we - read: me - spend time on the Obama transition and other federal affairs, we've tried to put more and more emphasis on South Carolina issues.

Beyond the State House, though, there are thousands of other office holders who arguably have even more impact on our daily lives: mayors, city and county councilpersons and school board members foremost among them.  That's why we were glad when Michael Rodgers reached out to us about a special election in Richland County School District Two.

Voters in the district go to the polls January 20th - inauguration day - to fill a vacant seat.

Back in November, district voters approved a $306 million dollar bond referendum.  Along with incumbent members, the new school trustee will be charged with oversight of this money - the largest bond referendum ever approved in South Carolina.

Rodgers is one of several candidates seeking the seat.  He was an active volunteer for Barack Obama, as well as for one of the most promising incoming freshman in the SC General Assembly, Rep. Anton Gunn.

Rodgers is as well-versed and well-acquainted with education issues as any school board candidate I've ever seen. He is an educator, teaching math in Sumter County, and he holds a PhD in engineering from Northwestern University.  What's more, Rodgers is one of four sibings who teach in South Carolina and Georgia.  He's also a parent of district student: his son is at Polo Road Elementary School.

"We need to build new, well-designed schools to accommodate the amazing growth in our community," Rodgers said.  "We must provide more technology for students and more ways for students to be engaged in both curricular and extracurricular activities, and we have to develop strategies to address No Child Left Behind and Act 388 so that we're serving all students, teachers, parents, and everyone in our community. "

You can learn more about Michael Rodgers at his website.  A candidate forum is scheduled for Tuesday, January 6 at 6pm in the District Auditorium at Richland Northeast High School.

Fox News is So Gay

by: Atlas

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 12:18:05 PM EST

From Fox News on Twitter: Breaking: Bill O Riley is gay

Did O'Riley piss off an intern?

Update: The suspect tweet is now gone, and so is the suspect hacker. President-elect Obama, CNN's Rick Sanchez and Britney Spears also got some love.

Republicans Have a Four-Way

by: Atlas

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 02:39:53 AM EST

Greenvillians Protest Gaza Invasion

by: AnyIdiotSC

Sun Jan 04, 2009 at 23:49:34 PM EST

Showing my true sub-cub reporter status, I didn't think to whip out my iPhone and take shots of the crowd, nor did I stop to interview anyone myself. So you're stuck with my limited take on the issue.

Program Note

by: Snead

Sat Jan 03, 2009 at 21:05:33 PM EST

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford spends almost more time on television than South Carolina's favorite son, Stephen Colbert. Both are comical, but with different results. Sanford returns to the airwaves tomorrow morning. From Politico:

On CNN’s “Late Edition,” New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who lost his bid for last year’s GOP presidential nomination, will examine the new Obama administration’s plans for shoring up the nation’s sagging economy and what the states will face with looming budget shortfalls.

Late Edition airs Sunday from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

UPDATE: Show transcript available HERE

Dawson Speaks

by: Atlas

Fri Jan 02, 2009 at 18:58:14 PM EST

Katon Dawson will be hamming it up on stage with the other RNC chairman wannabes in a live debate next Monday. So, before he gets called on the CD flap for the umpteenth time, Dawson finally speaks out about competitor Chip Saltsman’s Tragic Ego. According to WSLS in Roanoke, Virginia:

South Carolina Republican Party chair Katon Dawson, also in the race, said Saltsman made a “mistake” in mailing the CD. “That doesn’t have any place in the public discourse,” he said.

But, Dawson also told The Hill something else recently:

Dawson, too, held back from attacking Saltsman, calling him "an honorable, experienced campaign operative" Dawson considers a friend. "Everyone makes mistakes and Chip made one last week. But for the media to dwell on it distracts from the real issues that we must debate in order to move the Republican Party forward," Dawson told The Hill.

Ah, Katon, you change your mind like a girl changes clothes. And, while Saltsman continues to assert only he understands the invisible line between subtle irony and overt racism, you are probably hoping this will deflect attention from the whites-only country club membership thing. You can’t point too many fingers when you’re missing a few. But, at least your's and Chip's good ‘ol boy credentials are firmly established. 

It will be interesting to see if either of these milk duds are questioned or cornered about their particular foibles in the upcoming RNC debate. I wonder if Saltsman will provide the music for them to tap dance around the answers.

White Pages: Forest Lake Country Club Directory Published

by: Jennifer Read

Fri Jan 02, 2009 at 13:43:18 PM EST

One of our favorite IJ readers, Mr. Jeffrey Sewell, has published the 2004 membership directory for the now infamous ‘whites only’ Forest Lake Country Club.

So who besides S.C. GOP Chair Katon Dawson also belonged to Forest Lake in ’04?

According to the club directory, two likely 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidates – S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster and lobbyist Carroll “Tumpy” Campbell III – are both members of the non-inclusive establishment.

A few other notable S.C. public officials listed:

• State Senator John Courson
  
• Joe Taylor – Gov Sanford’s Commerce Secretary
  
• Kirkman Finlay – Columbia City Council
  
• Kit Smith – Richland County Council
  
• Bristow Marchant – Federal Judge Magistrate
  

The Slowdrums

by: Tim Kelly

Fri Jan 02, 2009 at 10:20:21 AM EST

Voter ID still a Looming Threat for 2009

by: Project Vote

Wed Dec 31, 2008 at 14:47:25 PM EST

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

by Erin Ferns

After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld one of the country's strictest voter ID laws in April, several states rushed to pass similar bills before the year's end. By December, more than 25 states introduced legislation to require voter ID at the polls. Though none of these bills were successful this year, lawmakers in several states are hoping to revive such restrictive requirements in 2009.

Since July of this year, at least seven states have pre-filed or carried over voter ID legislation for the 2009-2010 sessions, including Nevada, Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

FITS Made A BooBoo

by: Tim Kelly

Wed Dec 31, 2008 at 14:12:40 PM EST

We've known all along that Rich White Republicans are some seriously vindictive people. But since he revealed that a couple of the GOP's 2010 gov-hopefuls are members of Katon Dawson's favorite country club, they're turning on Bad Boy Blogger Will Folks in a big way.

No self-respecting club like Forest Lake is going to admit the likes of Will.  But since - like yours truly - Folks seriously married up, someone threw his wife a wedding shower at the club back in May.

Apparently that's enough of an association for the Old Boys Club to yell, "Nanna nanna boo boo" at Folks.

Never mind the fact that the party in question took place months before anybody knew they still had "Whites" and "Colored" water fountains at a Columbia golf and dining establishment. Knowing Will, his only interest in where somebody throws his wife a shower would be if she said, "Honey, I'm getting into the shower with some friends at Platinum Plus."

When asked about his latest tussle with the establishment, Folks told IJ:

"Somebody's going pretty deep on this one. I guess this is what passes for 'gotcha politics' in the world of golf course gossip and trust fund intrigue these blue bloods live in.

"Seriously, though, what a joke. So my wife was a one-time guest at this club months before its 'whites only' policy became public knowledge. Really? That's supposed to taint me? Whoever leaked this needs to have another mint julep and get over it."

Fore!

Sanford Blinks

by: Tim Kelly

Wed Dec 31, 2008 at 13:40:34 PM EST

The Nation's Worst Governor Outside of the State of Illinois blinked this afternoon and requested a federal loan to keep paying benefits to 77,000 unemployed South Carolinians.  In typical Sanford style, he issued a grandiose statement praising himself, calling other people idiots and neglecting the ineptitude of his Department of Commerce that's done as much as anything to make the federal loan necessary:

Saying that he won’t allow the state’s unemployed to be punished for one agency’s utter disdain for accountability, Governor Mark Sanford announced today that he will continue aggressively pushing for transparency at the state Employment Security Commission (ESC) and will apply for a federal unemployment benefits loan.

The ESC has twice refused to sign a memorandum stating that they would cooperate with an independent audit, and that they would better share information with the state Department of Commerce - our state’s lead economic development agency. Despite their refusal to sign off on such modest accountability measures, the governor is proceeding with plans to force the ESC to deliver on the openness the state’s taxpayers deserve.

That some people consider this guy a serious contender for the presidency is laughable. Mark Sanford couldn't govern his own ass with two hands and a Howard-Rich-supplied flashlight.