I'm so pissed right now I can't see straight. And of course it's political...when is my rage ever NOT politically motivated? I know it's 3 am, but I've got to vent somewhere...and ripping the hell out of the Bush/Cheney bumper sticker left on the streetlamp outside my apartment wasn't nearly as satisfying as it should have been.
For those of you outside South Carolina, let me give you a brief electoral update: right now we're in the middle of a particularly contentious Senate campaign. US Representative Jim Demint is facing off against State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum for the seat of retiring Senator Fritz Hollings.
My friends, this race really ought to be a no-brainer. Among the highlights....
Jim Demint has actually proposed a 23% national sales tax, ostensibly to get rid of the IRS. Which seems like a good idea on the face of it; problem is, it would starve the Social Security and Medicare programs in the process. Furthermore, it'll wind up being a tax INCREASE on 95% of South Carolinians (no surprise here; the richest 5% are the only ones who catch a real break here.)
In the midst of massive job losses and the wholesale devastation of South Carolina's manufacturing sector, he's actually said (I know, I heard him say it in person) that "outsourcing" is GOOD for the economy. Now, can someone please explain to me how closing the last of South Carolina's factories and mills, leaving the decent, hard-working people who depend on these jobs unemployed, and shipping all of those jobs overseas could possibly benefit the average working-class citizen? What are the economic benefits of the wholesale liquidation of the middle class, Mr. Demint?
And, as if this wasn't bad enough...he's now taken homophobia to a whole new level. Granted, neither candidate has exactly come out in favor of gay marriage (South Carolina is the buckle of the Bible Belt, let's not forget), but Jim Demint actually said during a televised debate on Sunday night that "gays" shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools. Now, even if I didn't have issues with that from moral and ethical and civil rights standpoints, it's also blatantly unconstitutional. And unless I missed some new Bush decree (I wouldn't be surprised if I have), aren't US Senators sworn to UPHOLD the Constitution of the United States of America?
So, in the state that's consistently 49th in the nation in education, Mr. Demint wants to prohibit a segment of the population from pursuing teaching careers based on nothing more than what they do in the privacy of their own bedrooms with other consenting adults. Riiiiggghhtttt....
But here's the surreal part: Mr. Demint has been consistently LEADING Ms. Tenenbaum in the polls. The political oddsmakers currently give Mr. Demint a 6 to 5 advantage (54.5% chance) in the race, despite all of his nonsense.
Now, I realize we're not exactly a state of super-geniuses here, but you'd think common sense would hold sway here.
Oh, and speaking of dumbasses...
Back in my home district, the Republican Party is fielding a couple of real winners. For US House, Joe Wilson is up for re-election. Granted, he's a fairly affable guy, but I swear he couldn't outwit a lobotomized chimpanzee. I've had a few memorable exchanges with him over the last year and a half or so, and it's become imminently clear to me he possesses absolutely no mind of his own. If the Republican leadership were to come to him with a proposal to maim small fluffy kittens, Mr. Wilson would not only co-sponsor the legislation, but would give impassioned speeches all over his home district on the imminent threat posed by the small fluffy kittens and the grave necessity for pre-emptive strikes against them.
Yet, Clay Morris, the Republican nominee for SC State Senate from my home district, actually makes Mr. Wilson look brilliant by comparison. When I first met Mr. Morris, I honestly believed I was the victim of a practical joke. I heard the man speak and started looking around for the hidden cameras. An overweight, unshaven, disheveled backwoods redneck nitwit with the personality of plywood (and the apparent cranial activity to match)....for state senate? You can't be serious. Yet, the state Republican Party has chosen to throw its entire weight behind his campaign, and as a result his campaign signs are ubiquitous now: "Clay Morris for State Senate. He's one of us." (Just when I thought my opinion of Barnwell County couldn't get any lower...)
Yet, all three have one thing in common: their party label. South Carolina politics have become so knee-jerk partisan that apparently that's the only qualification that counts anymore. It's no longer necessary to prove yourself knowledgeable about the issues at hand. One needs not to have any actual plans to improve the current state of affairs, nor does it matter if you have any experience or real qualifications for the job in question. As long as you know the right asses to kiss (namely, the Republican "leadership" and the Christian Coalition), you'll go far in South Carolina politics.
When Mr. Demint and Mr. Wilson can both run on no more of a platform than "Vote for me, I'm friends with the President" AND WIN...that's the point at which I lose all faith in my home state.
For those of you outside South Carolina, let me give you a brief electoral update: right now we're in the middle of a particularly contentious Senate campaign. US Representative Jim Demint is facing off against State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum for the seat of retiring Senator Fritz Hollings.
My friends, this race really ought to be a no-brainer. Among the highlights....
Jim Demint has actually proposed a 23% national sales tax, ostensibly to get rid of the IRS. Which seems like a good idea on the face of it; problem is, it would starve the Social Security and Medicare programs in the process. Furthermore, it'll wind up being a tax INCREASE on 95% of South Carolinians (no surprise here; the richest 5% are the only ones who catch a real break here.)
In the midst of massive job losses and the wholesale devastation of South Carolina's manufacturing sector, he's actually said (I know, I heard him say it in person) that "outsourcing" is GOOD for the economy. Now, can someone please explain to me how closing the last of South Carolina's factories and mills, leaving the decent, hard-working people who depend on these jobs unemployed, and shipping all of those jobs overseas could possibly benefit the average working-class citizen? What are the economic benefits of the wholesale liquidation of the middle class, Mr. Demint?
And, as if this wasn't bad enough...he's now taken homophobia to a whole new level. Granted, neither candidate has exactly come out in favor of gay marriage (South Carolina is the buckle of the Bible Belt, let's not forget), but Jim Demint actually said during a televised debate on Sunday night that "gays" shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools. Now, even if I didn't have issues with that from moral and ethical and civil rights standpoints, it's also blatantly unconstitutional. And unless I missed some new Bush decree (I wouldn't be surprised if I have), aren't US Senators sworn to UPHOLD the Constitution of the United States of America?
So, in the state that's consistently 49th in the nation in education, Mr. Demint wants to prohibit a segment of the population from pursuing teaching careers based on nothing more than what they do in the privacy of their own bedrooms with other consenting adults. Riiiiggghhtttt....
But here's the surreal part: Mr. Demint has been consistently LEADING Ms. Tenenbaum in the polls. The political oddsmakers currently give Mr. Demint a 6 to 5 advantage (54.5% chance) in the race, despite all of his nonsense.
Now, I realize we're not exactly a state of super-geniuses here, but you'd think common sense would hold sway here.
Oh, and speaking of dumbasses...
Back in my home district, the Republican Party is fielding a couple of real winners. For US House, Joe Wilson is up for re-election. Granted, he's a fairly affable guy, but I swear he couldn't outwit a lobotomized chimpanzee. I've had a few memorable exchanges with him over the last year and a half or so, and it's become imminently clear to me he possesses absolutely no mind of his own. If the Republican leadership were to come to him with a proposal to maim small fluffy kittens, Mr. Wilson would not only co-sponsor the legislation, but would give impassioned speeches all over his home district on the imminent threat posed by the small fluffy kittens and the grave necessity for pre-emptive strikes against them.
Yet, Clay Morris, the Republican nominee for SC State Senate from my home district, actually makes Mr. Wilson look brilliant by comparison. When I first met Mr. Morris, I honestly believed I was the victim of a practical joke. I heard the man speak and started looking around for the hidden cameras. An overweight, unshaven, disheveled backwoods redneck nitwit with the personality of plywood (and the apparent cranial activity to match)....for state senate? You can't be serious. Yet, the state Republican Party has chosen to throw its entire weight behind his campaign, and as a result his campaign signs are ubiquitous now: "Clay Morris for State Senate. He's one of us." (Just when I thought my opinion of Barnwell County couldn't get any lower...)
Yet, all three have one thing in common: their party label. South Carolina politics have become so knee-jerk partisan that apparently that's the only qualification that counts anymore. It's no longer necessary to prove yourself knowledgeable about the issues at hand. One needs not to have any actual plans to improve the current state of affairs, nor does it matter if you have any experience or real qualifications for the job in question. As long as you know the right asses to kiss (namely, the Republican "leadership" and the Christian Coalition), you'll go far in South Carolina politics.
When Mr. Demint and Mr. Wilson can both run on no more of a platform than "Vote for me, I'm friends with the President" AND WIN...that's the point at which I lose all faith in my home state.
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I wish there were more people like *you* out here: politically active, and *aware*, and not just a lump that let's other people walk all over them when making new "laws" and regulations.
xoxo