Carolina Politics Online

A teenager was decapitated by a roller coaster after he hopped a pair of fences and entered a restricted area Saturday at Six Flags Over Georgia, authorities said.

Six Flags officials are uncertain why the unidentified 17-year-old from Columbia, S.C. scaled two six-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was both off-limits and dangerous to visitors, spokeswoman Hela Sheth said in a news release.

Authorities were investigating reports from witnesses who said the teenager jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman roller coaster, said Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce. Police have declined to release the teenager’s name until an autopsy is completed.

The teen was struck and killed by the roller coaster “while it was in operation,” according to the park’s news release. Police said the ride was going full-speed when the teen was struck.

WBT

I’ve read about this on a few different message forums and have seen some pretty harsh comments regarding this kid’s fatal lack of judgment.  I’ve seen accusations of this incident being “Darwinism in action,” or “thinning the herd.”  I’m not going to say anything that crass.  Sure, those comments may be true.  What the kid did was totally stupid, but let’s all remember how much common sense we had back at that age.  Anyone who never took a stupid and/or dangerous risk when they were young raise your hand.  (Anyone who raises their hand is a liar) When you’re that age you have a false confidence that you are somehow “bullet proof.”  Generally, you wise up as you get older, though some never do.  It’s a sad tragedy and the family deserves everyone’s deepest sympathies….

For now.

This is where I become polically incorrect.  I guarantee that somewhere right now there is a filthy, blood sucking lawyer who is salivating at the opportunity of calling up this kid’s parents and encouraging them go after Six Flags for tens of millions, all for his own greed.  It doesn’t matter that there were fences up and the kid jumped both of them.  It doesn’t matter that there were signs on these fences noting the danger and indicating the area was a restricted zone.  None of that matters because these are the components of your modern day frivolous lawsuit.  If these parents sue Six Flags, they lose all of my sympathy and deserve to be shredded to pieces up and down the blogosphere and throughout the media.

I would like to take every single person who voted today for Knotts, bury them up to their necks in the ground, pour honey over their heads, and then unleash a colony of fire ants.  I think that is the appropriate punishment for what they did today.

If you live in South Carolina’s 23rd Senate District, please get out and vote for Katrina Shealy in tomorrow’s run off election.  Jake Knotts is a paraiah in the Senate and a barrier to any kind of reform.  He is a glutton with our tax dollars and deserves to be kicked out of the capitol building right on his fat ass.

And this is your public service announcement of the day.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint has endorsed Katrina Shealy over Jake Knotts for a Lexington County state Senate seat, weighing in on a race that has divided local, state and federal politicos.

DeMint’s endorsement follows that of Gov. Mark Sanford. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson has appeared in television commercials endorsing Knotts, while U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told House and Senate incumbents earlier this year that he would support their campaigns.

The State

Nice.  Very nice.  Shealy must win this race.  That is a shot in the arm this state needs.

This is the difference between politicians like Sanford and DeMint and politicians like Wilson and Graham.  Sanford and DeMint stand on their principles.  Wilson and Graham are party hacks.

This year’s budget includes at least four earmarks that could benefit people close to Clyburn.

The veteran lawmaker helped secure $784,000 for the planning and design of the International African-American Museum in Charleston. Clyburn’s nephew, Derrick Ballard, is one of the lead architects on that project.

Similarly, in 2005, Clyburn earmarked $145,500 for a community center to be designed by Ballard.

He also set aside $229,000 in this year’s budget to the Charles R. Drew Wellness Center in Columbia — a facility he helped construct with a 2003 earmark of $990,000. His daughter, Angela, is the marketing and membership director there.

He got $282,000 appropriated for The South Sumter Resource Center, where his sister-in- law, Gwendolyn, is housing coordinator for the center’s community development division. He’s secured $670,000 for the resource center in past budgets.

The Post and Courier

Along with the cost of earmarks, this is the other main reason why they need to be eliminated.  What you have here is pure, unadulterated corruption.  James Clyburn is using his power in the Federal Government to steer our tax dollars into the pockets of his family.  The man should be removed from Congress for this immediately, but that’s about as likely as Bush getting impeached.  So, that leaves it up to his constituents to decide in November and they’ll most certainly keep him.  Clyburn’s district has been drawn especially for him and partisans love a corrupt politician as long as he is of the same stripe.

I made a brief post last night summing up the results of several primaries across the state. There were candidates I was really gunning for who came up short and others I was hoping would fall on their faces who managed to eek it out, but nonetheless, the reformers made gains.

The two most watched races in the Senate both had positive results. Tom Davis managed to knock off RINO Catherine Ceips last night in Senate District 46. With Davis being Sanford’s former Chief of Staff, we know we’ll have someone in there who will support the Governor’s low tax, low spend, pro-growth agenda far more than Ceips did, which was practically never.

The other race was in Senate District 23. Katrina Shealy, the Chairman of the Lexington County Republican Committee came up short by five points, but managed to force Jake Knotts into a run off election. I think Shealy would have won this race by her own right had there not been a third candidate running, but that no longer matters. Knotts received 45% of the vote, which means the majority didn’t want him to return. The run off election will be determined by who has the best ground game.

Randy Scott is out in Senate District 39. He was defeated by former State Senator Mike Rose who is another reform minded conservative. With Scott gone that is one less RINO working against our governor for a better South Carolina.

Jim Ritchie may be seeing his final days in the Senate since Shane Martin also held him to a run off. Martin actually beat Ritchie by almost 18 points last night, but he didn’t make the 50% mark. He ended up with 49.63% of the vote. Doh! Fortunately, since Martin did so well I think the odds are in his favor in the run off.

There was some improvement in the House as well, but the Senate is the one that really needs gutted. I would have preferred to see a few more victories last night. We needed Carl Gullick out of the House and it almost happened. We also needed B.R. Skelton out and his opponent gave him a bit of a scare. Luke Rankin is another worthless glutton in the Senate we could have done without.  Hopefully, the strong efforts by the challengers that came up short will be enough to force these guys to reevaluate what it is they are doing in Columbia. Of course, I am not holding my breath.

Overall, I am happy with the results of the election and I hope to see some better things from the new legislature in 2009.  As for the survivors who should have been voted off the island and didn’t, now is the time to start finding their replacements.  We have two years to prepare them.

The State Elections Web Site is not up to date that well. Some races have already been called in the media, but the state site still shows them unreported. What I know so far is the following:

In Senate District 46 Tom Davis has ousted RINO Catherine Ceips. This is a huge, huge win for all the reformers in this state and it shows that Mark Sanford still holds a lot of clout with his constituents even though the legislature snubs him.

In Senate District 23 Katrina Shealey has managed to push Jake Knotts into a run off election, as I predicted would be the case. This is another good turn of events because Knotts is the sorriest excuse for a Republican probably in South Carolina history.

In Senate District 42 Robert Ford managed to miraculously keep his seat from challenger Dwayne Green and by a 50 point margin. I don’t know how he pulled this one off. Ford must have made a deal with the devil.

In House District 38 Joey Millwood has ousted incumbent RINO Bob Walker by 19 votes! This is another victory for those hoping for government reform.

Scott Talley has won the race for Senate District 12. I commented the other day that all three of these guys were decent so this was a win, win situation and step forward.

In House District 37 Steve Parker has trounced incumbent Ralph Davenport by 25 points!

The State is reporting that Senator Randy Scott has lost to his primary challenger, Mike Rose, but I can’t find any returns on that race yet.

Jim Ritchie will have to face challenger Shane Martin again in a run off election for the 13th Senate District.

B.R. Skelton prevailed over challenger Trey Whitehurst in House District 3.

Bob Leach was defeated by his challenger Bill Wylie in House District 21.

There are two candidates running against Democrat with an R next to his name, Jake Knotts, in the Republican primary on Tuesday, Katrina Shealy and Mike Sturkie.  Shealy is the best hope for taking down Knotts, but Sturkie being in the race is going to make that task even more difficult.  Incumbents almost always have an advantage when challenged because of their name recognition.  That can also be a thorn in their side if they gained notoriety during their term.  I think Knotts sucks, but I don’t know exactly what the feel is in his Senatorial district.

Sturkie should have gotten out of this race a while ago because he is not a serious candidate.  Having two challengers to an incumbent hurts the opposition because the anti-incumbent vote generally gets split two ways, allowing the incumbent to cruise to victory.  However, since South Carolina has run off elections, the best hope is probably keeping Knotts below the magic number needed for him to win hands down.  Shealy could pull off an upset Tuesday, that’s certainly possible, but more than likely we’ll have to take fat man to a second election to be rid of him.

Fliers mailed out in the last few days have singled out S.C. House District 81 candidate Tom Young Jr. of Aiken, and he’s not happy about it.

South Carolinians for Responsible Government’s Political Action Committee sent the fliers, in part branding Young as a trial lawyer supported by trial lawyers who want to sue doctors and drive up health costs.
“I was totally blindsided by this attack,” Young said. “I think they singled me out because we’re winning the race.”

The Aiken Standard

I’m not able to substantiate their claim regarding Young. The law firm for where he works says he specializes in “General Practice, Business Litigation, Personal Injury Law, Products Liability, Workers’ Compensation, Insurance Bad Faith, Real Estate Litigation, Residential and Commercial Real Estate Transactions.” It specifically lists medical malpractice for some of the other attorneys in the firm, but not for Young. Working in a law firm that handles medical malpractice suits does not in itself implicate Young in the SCRG’s claim.

If you read Young’s positions on the issues, he sounds like a very good candidate to me. He has stressed the need for limited government and low taxes, an excellent Reagan style view.

The actions of a Columbia high school principal has brought some negative nation wide attention to our state. Eddie Walker, Irmo high school principal announced this week that he would be stepping down as top dog due to the district permitting the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance club at the school. WLTX 19 received the written statement from Walker that was dispersed to the school faculty. Below is an excerpt:

However due to a recent conflict involving my professional and religious beliefs I sent Dr. Angela Bain a letter of resignation effective June 30, 2009. On May 14, 2008, I was instructed by email to allow the formation of a Gay/Straight Alliance Club at Irmo High School. On May 15, 2008 I told Ms. Ann Pilat to allow the formation of this club for the 2008-2009 school year. Allowing the formation of this club on our campus conflicts with my professional beliefs and religious convictions. I considered resigning this year but reconsidered because to not fulfill my written contract for the 2008-2009 school year would also conflict with my professional beliefs and religious convictions. In my opinion failure to fulfill my contract would constitute a breach of trust with School District Five of Lexington and Richland County, my student heroes, returning Irmo High School employees, and new employees who have chosen to work at Irmo High school for the 2008-2009 school year.

The formation of this club conflicts with my professional beliefs in that we do not have other clubs at Irmo High school based on sexual orientation, sexual preference, or sexual activity. In fact our sex education curriculum is abstinence based. I feel the formation of a Gay/Straight Alliance Club at Irmo High school implies that students joining the club will have chosen to or will choose to engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, opposite sex, or members of both sexes.

I don’t agree with Mr. Walker’s decision, but I have a great deal of respect for a man who holds such strong convictions that he will walk away from his life long career when he feels those principles have been compromised. That’s a rare individual indeed. Frankly, I wish we had more educators like Principal Walker, who are committed to many of the traditional values of our society. The way it stands now academia has morphed into a radical leftist cesspool that is brainwashing our youth and teaching them to be stupid and non-productive adults so that they will have to rely more on Washington than themselves.

Principal Walker makes a good point. Does a club, sexual in nature, belong in a high school? There are plenty of parents out there who would object to this. However, at the same time we need to be practical. We have to stop pretending that teenagers don’t know what sex is, aren’t going to do it, and are oblivious to what it means to be homo or heterosexual. This club isn’t going to turn anyone gay and quite honestly I doubt it will even have that much of an impact. Kids that age are extremely judgmental of each other. You have to wear the right clothes, the right shoes. I would surmise that being a liberal for the pro-homosexual agenda probably isn’t the big cool thing to do that’s going to get you elected Prom King or Queen.

Furthermore, I also find Brent Childers’, Executive Director of Faith In America, statement to be confrontational and not productive to the issue at hand:

It is a shame that the principal at Irmo High School in South Carolina decided to place religion-based bigotry and discrimination over his former commitment to his students and staff,” said Faith In America Executive Director Brent Childers.

“We truly believe it is unfortunate that this principal cannot see the immense harm that is caused when a social climate of rejection, condemnation and violence is justified with misguided religious belief. To make such a choice over simply allowing gay youth a forum to meet and talk, alludes to the apparent deep-seated prejudice that must exist in the religious mindset of this person.

“It is unfortunately very similar to the time in our history when segregation in schools was once allowed to flourish because of the deep-seated prejudice that existed in our institutions and the religious mindset of many people during that period.

While condemning the decision of Walker to resign and accusing him of bigotry, Mr. Childers engaged in a bit of his own. He painted an entire religious group as being bigoted and their beliefs, which have been around for thousands of years, to be misguided. Who is Childers to judge? Isn’t that exactly what he is asking Walker not to do? Whatever religious persuasion one follows it is a set doctrine of beliefs. We don’t modify religion to satiate today’s societal appetite of expectations. If that were the case, what would be the point? I think Walker handled himself well and very professionally. He stated his reasons to resign nonconfrontationally, whereas Childers engaged in a mean spirited attack.

I can just imagine Childers preparing his reply, a prissy little man huffing and puffing atop his pedestal because someone has the audacity to exercise his right as an American to disagree with how Childers thinks the world should be viewed. It’s pretty clear who is holding the hatred in his heart.

Additionally, for Childers to compare this with racial segregation is completely over the top. Nobody chooses their race. As for the homosexual community, the jury is still out on that one. What Childers and others like him are seeking isn’t equality, but rather a legitimization of their lifestyle in the eyes of society.

Walker appears to be a decent educator. Perhaps over the next year he’ll change his mind, providing the school would renew his contract after the current media onslaught brought upon them. I’m sure some pro-gay liberals would picket and protest if he were to attempt to stay. What’s been done is likely done, but I hope he’ll continue his career in education at another school in the future.

This is taken from the State Senate’s journal:

I voted against H. 3567 because it increases the overall tax burden on South Carolinians. Furthermore, H. 3567 perpetuates two other inherently unfair burdens on taxpayers. First, this bill devotes half of the revenue raised to Medicaid, a program largely responsible, with its federal counterpart Medicare, for the rampant inflation in health care costs inasmuch as it directly contravenes the free market. Second, this bill devotes half of the revenue raised to tax credits for employer health plans. The latter provision penalizes small businesses that already offer health care for their employees by subsidizing their competitors with a government handout.

This legislation pumps more money into the status quo healthcare system without any consideration of empowering the individual healthcare consumer by way of health savings accounts or, better yet, simply providing a tax refund so that citizens might make their own decisions with their own money. I cannot support an extension of the status quo, particularly on the backs of taxpayers.

Finally, this legislation sets up a trap for the taxpayers. The legislation adds people to the Medicaid rolls which means, of course, that the cost of Medicaid will rise. The increased cigarette tax promises, thankfully, to decrease the purchase of cigarettes. It also, therefore, means that the revenue from this new tax will decrease over time. Sooner rather than later the revenue from the cigarette tax will fall behind the cost of the new Medicaid enrollees. The only place to make up the difference will be the general fund of the state. This reality means that this legislation actually represents a tax increase on everyone. I cannot support that.

I have nothing to add.  He addressed every problem with this bill.  It appears there are still a few Republicans in Columbia that understand the concept of limited government.

Cars lined the edge of Greystone Boulevard early today for a chance to get cheap gas from Galeana Chrysler-Jeep-Kia.

The State

How much gas did they all waste sitting in that mile long line with their engines running?

The Senate District 23 race has the ingredients that make for spicy political campaigns.

Incumbent Jake Knotts has a reputation as a blunt, bare-knuckled in-fighter with an everyman base and a history of delivering the bacon.

Challengers Katrina Shealy and Mike Sturkie have GOP credentials, especially Shealy, and neither is a wallflower.

Both challengers portray themselves as alternatives to what they say is Knotts’ “my way or the highway” style.

The State

Knotts is a lousy big government, big spending RINO who needs to be thrown out of the capitol right on his fat ass.  I am pulling for Shealy.

COLUMBIA — More than 500 members of the Furman University community have signed a letter asking that administrators refuse to allow faculty members to skip graduation ceremonies in protest of President George W. Bush’s visit.

Bush is scheduled to give Furman’s graduation speech May 31 at the fairly conservative school of 2,625 undergraduate students with Baptist roots. Some professors have suggested they would not attend the ceremony in protest.

“Some professors seem intent on turning what should be a celebration of their students’ accomplishments into a forum to air their political differences with President Bush,” said the letter, released Monday by Conservative Students for a Better Tomorrow. “A letter that, by its own contents, accomplishes nothing and seeks to change nothing should be regarded as precisely that: an empty message.”

The Herald-Journal

I don’t agree with this petition by the conservative group asking the administrators to force participation by those faculty members who want to sit out in protest of President Bush.  Sitting out in protest is their First Amendment right as far as I am concerned.  Forcing them to attend won’t change their feelings.  Yes, I think the faculty members are being somewhat petty and immature about this, particularly for people who are supposedly so much more educated and enlightened than the rest of us, but they have the right to express their opinions too.

Sumter High School’s auditorium will provide the stage for one of the first debates of the political season, between incumbent state Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, and his opponent E.B. “Mac” McLeod Monday evening.

Sumter School District 17’s Teacher Forum is sponsoring the candidate forum, as a chance for the two Democratic Senate candidates to sound off.

The forum, which is open to the public, will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Sumter High School’s auditorium. The district said Republican candidate Karen Michalik was invited to participate but was unable to do so. Questions for the debate can be sent to Hafner at hafnerk@sumter17.k12.sc.us.

The Item

BISHOPVILLE — There’s evidence indicating the 2008 version of the Lee County Lizard Man is a dog.

DNA testing on a swab with blood taken from the 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan reportedly damaged by a creature in the early morning hours of Feb. 28 indicates the likely culprit is a domestic dog, according to a report made by Elizabeth Wictum, Forensic Laboratory director at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

While there has been no official sighting of the Lizard Man since July 1988, the evidence found by the Rawsons has created quite a stir not only locally, but also nationwide.

The Item

James Clyburn, 6th District congressman and House majority whip, said Wednesday his office has hired the former Orangeburg County Council chairman to serve as a field representative and liaison between the office and district constituents.

Rickenbacker, who was released from a Columbia-based halfway house April 7 after serving a one-year sentence in a federal prison system for federal bribery and extortion charges, will begin working in his new position as early as today, depending on completion of the required applications.

The Times and Democrat

This man was put in jail for accepting a $50,000 bribe not even two years ago and Clyburn hires him to work in one of his field offices?  Who is advising this man?  The public already has a very dismal view of Washington.  I guess he’ll fit in with every other crook that helps make up the Federal Government.

This is a video from Brad Warthen’s blog on The State.

Second Congressional District Democratic candidate Rob Miller of Beaufort has accepted three invitations to debate his primary opponent, Blaine Lotz of Hilton Head Island.

The winner of the June 2 primary will face incumbent Joe Wilson in November.

Miller has accepted invitations to debate Wilson May 23 on Frank Knapp’s radio program in Columbia; on May 28 in Columbia on Tom Turnipseed’s radio program; and on June 5 in Beaufort in a forum hosted by the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce.

The Beaufort Gazette

A candidate running for a House seat in Richland and Kershaw counties has asked his opponent to sever her ties with a third-party group that advocates using tax credits to pay for private schools.

In a letter to his opponent, Sheri Few, David Herndon said he has concerns about the campaign tactics of South Carolinians for Responsible Government. In the past, Herndon wrote, the group has attacked candidates with which it has disagreed.

In 2006 the group sent out numerous mail pieces critical of Rep. Bill Cotty, the retiring Republican who now represents the district.

The State

If Herndon can’t take the heat he ought to get out of the kitchen. Of course a group is going to run ads against a candidate whose positions they don’t support. That doesn’t make it an attack ad. Too many candidates seem to think that when they are called on their record they are being attacked. In Herndon’s case, they haven’t run anything against him so why is he making an issue out of something that hasn’t even happened?

I am not going to support nor condemn SCRG’s tactics, but it seems to me they are about the only ones trying to seriously fix the failure of public education in this state.