Charleston

The Confederate Flag MUST Come Down In South Carolina And Anywhere It Is Displayed On Public Property!

Ronald 59 Comments

The Confederate flag on South Carolina Capitol grounds in Columbia MUST come down and NOW! The Charleston Massacre at the African American Church is the last straw!

It is NOT a sign of the losses of white Southerners in the Civil War, 150 years ago, sorry!

It is a sign of racism and hatred, and NO public place anywhere in America should be allowed to display it!

Look at the Supreme Court stating in a decision the other day that Texas can ban use of the Confederate flag as a symbol on automobile license plates.

That should become the standard everywhere in America.

Of course, if a private person wishes to display the Confederate flag on his car or his private property, nothing can be done about it, but on public land and locations, it MUST be banned!

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina claims it is part of “tradition”! Well, sorry, Lindsey Graham, NO MORE!

The Civil War is over, so get over it!

The Confederate flag will still be in museums, but it should not be permitted anywhere else in public places, clear and simple!

No symbol of hate and prejudice and racism should be legally allowed in public places in America, as this is NOT freedom of speech!

South Carolina Becomes The Worst, Most Embarrassing State In America!

Ronald 4 Comments

South Carolina, and particularly, its more “advanced” area, Charleston, had a chance to prove that they have moved beyond the Civil War, and they have failed miserably tonight!

In bringing back the political life of disgraced former Governor Mark Sanford, putting him back in the Congressional seat he held in the 1990s, they have proved that South Carolina is the worst, most embarrassing state in America in the year 2013!

Certainly, South Carolina has had competition from states, including Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arizona, but a state which could elect such individuals as Governor Nikki Haley, Senator Lindsey Graham, Congressman Joe Wilson, and former Congressman Tim Scott, appointed to replace an equally horrible Senator, Jim DeMint, wins the competition hands down! Now Mark Sanford has been added to the mix!

Meanwhile, the state remains way behind the national average economically and socially, but no worry, as the voters throughout South Carolina seem willing to stick in their Civil War mold, and support the Tea Party Movement, which wishes to bring South Carolina back to the “glory days” of Strom Thurmond, and even further back, John C. Calhoun!

Mark Sanford Vs. Elizabeth Colbert Busch: The Race To Watch On Ability To Overcome A Sex Scandal!

Ronald 4 Comments

Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, the center of a lurid sex scandal, is trying to restart his career by going back to the Congressional seat in Charleston which he held before he became Governor.

Once having Presidential ambitions, which fell by the wayside once he was involved with an Argentine beauty, and disappeared for days without explanation, Sanford now faces the challenge of the candidacy of Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of Stephen Colbert, the comedian on Comedy Channel, who is one of the best political comedians in America, along with Jon Stewart of the same channel.

The race is very close, but if Sanford wins, his political career would be revived, and if he loses, he is done with politics, and would go back to his former real estate career.

Can a disgraced politician survive a sex scandal? Well, Senator David Vitter of Louisiana has done so, but that is an exception.

Of course, former President Bill Clinton did so, although not running for office again.

Former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner is considering running for Mayor of New York City, which will be another test of ability to come back from a sex scandal.

Realize that in almost all cases, a sex scandal destroys the career of a politician for good, so the Sanford and, possibly, Weiner cases will be very telling to see if the voters are willing to forgive, if not forget, their transgressions.

We shall see regarding Sanford tomorrow night, and Weiner making a decision to run in the next month before the deadline to file for the New York Mayoralty!

The Loony Politics Of South Carolina

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South Carolina, the “Rebel” state which started the Civil War at Fort Sumter in 1861, has become one of the looniest states in American politics!

Not only is it the state of Congressman Joe Wilson, who yelled out that President Barack Obama was lying, during a State of the Union Address.

Not only is it the state of Governor Nikki Haley, hailed because she is the second Indian American Governor, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, but who has the most extremist views on many topics, similar to Jindal.

Not only is it the state of Jim DeMint, the leader of the Tea Party Senators, who now is leaving the Senate to join the Heritage Foundation, a right wing think thank.

Not only is it the state of newly appointed Senator Tim Scott, the first African American Republican Senator since Edward Brooke of Massachusetts in the 1960s and 1970s—a man nothing like Brooke, but rather closer in extremist views to fellow African American Republican Congressman Allen West of Florida, who lost his reelection to the House this November. Scott favors cuts in food stamps, HIV AIDS support; called for the impeachment of President Obama over the debt limit; and wants billions of dollars in aid to the oil industry, among other crazy, extremist ideas.

This is also the state of Senator Lindsey Graham, who has tied himself to Senator John McCain in going after Susan Rice, United Nations Ambassador, over the Benghazi, Libya incident, for which she had no blame, and therefore negating her chance to be Secretary of State in tne next term of Barack Obama.

But now to top it off, former Governor Mark Sanford, who resigned over his love affair with a woman in Argentina, and whose wife divorced him, has decided to run for Congressman Scott’s seat in the House of Representatives, a seat he once held before becoming Governor, as a way to revive his flagging political career.

Oh, and by the way, Scott’s House seat, once held by Sanford, and maybe again, is in Charleston, where the Civil War began at Fort Sumter!

So has anything changed in South Carolina since 1861? One has to wonder!

An Eventful Four Days In American History–April 12-15

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Every day in the calendar year one can find historical events of great significance, but in many ways, the days from April 12 to 15 are particularly outstanding for turning point moments in American history.

April 12 is the day the Civil War began at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina in 1861.

April 12 is also the day of the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union, to go into space in 1961, followed by American astronaut Alan Shepard on May 5 to go into space.

Sadly, April 12 is also the day of the death of the greatest President of the 20th century, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945.

April 13 marks the birthday of one of our greatest Presidents, Thomas Jefferson, in 1743.

April 14 is another sad day, marking the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, our greatest President, shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, and dying the morning of April 15, 1865, at 7:22 AM, at the Peterson House across the street.

Also, on April 15, 1947, the nation witnessed the racial integration of baseball with the courage and skills of second baseman Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Any four day period that includes the birthday of a President, the death of our two greatest Presidents, the beginning of the most significant event in American history (the Civil War), the ushering in of the Space Age for the United States, and the integration of major league baseball, is simply an amazing four days!

150 Years Ago Today, The Civil War Began!

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On this day, April 12, in 1861, 150 years ago, the greatest tragedy in American history began, with the South Carolina government ordering the state militia to commence an attack against the US military fort, Fort Sumter, lying on an island in Charleston Harbor!

620,000 men were killed in the war that ensued for four years minus three days! 360,000 Union soldiers and 260,000 Confederate soldiers lost their lives, and two percent of the population were wiped out, creating a young and middle age male shortage only overcome by immigration over the next two generations!

The South tried to say the war was fought over different civilizations clashing, and the fight for states rights, but the truth is that it was the institution of slavery and its expansion westward and northward which led to the war!

Today, we still hear Southerners and even Westerners threaten secession from the Union, but they well know that cannot be allowed to happen, as the Union won the war and settled the issue of states rights for all time, no matter what radicals say!

The Civil War remains the greatest crisis in American history, and scars still remain, as South Carolina is today celebrating, rather then commemorating, the Fort Sumter attack, as if it is something to be proud of!

But the regionalism that existed then still exists today and affects our politics in the 21st century!

More will be said about the Civil War as we continue to follow the events of that tragic conflict over the next four years!