Monthly Archives: June 2012

He don’t know me very well, do he?

D.C. wimps can’t handle FAMOUSLY Hot…

This morning on Twitter, The Washington Post whined that “Today is going to be very hot in D.C.”

I followed the link. You know what they think is “very hot?”

They were expecting it to be between 97 and 102. (OK, actually it turned out to be 104 there; but that wasn’t what was forecast this morning.) Really. What we would consider to be middlin’ warm here in Famously Hot Columbia, SC. A good day for seersucker, perhaps, but no use complaining…

So I reTweeted that, adding the message, “Oh, yeah? Well, it’s going to be 107 here, you wimps…”

As it turns out, I was being modest, as you can see from the actual screenshot from my phone this afternoon.

Earlier, on NPR, I had heard someone marveling over how hot it was supposed to be in various places across the country. No mention of Columbia. And none of the forecasts cited were as hot as it was supposed to get here.

‘Dewey Defeats Truman,’ 2012 style

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Bud brought our attention to this on an earlier comment:

Everyone knows the famous photo of the Chicago Tribune’s front page declaring, in error, “Dewey Defeats Truman” in 1948. (The newspaper fell victim to its early deadlines and made a guess at the presidential election result at press time, damning itself to history.)

CNN’s erroneous report this morning that the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down President Obama’s healthcare reform — live on air for 7 minutes, with a lower-third caption — has spawned its own “Dewey Defeats Truman,” courtesy of Gary He, a product director at Insider Images (and Photoshop,of course)…

I thought I’d just make it easier for y’all to see.

So that you might fully savor the visual reference, here’s a link to the original.

Actually, there were a number of originals shot from slightly different angles, and/or split-seconds apart.

Of course, this iconic image has been spoofed before…

Tom Davis on Lindsey Graham on mandates

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File photo of Tom, taken at the governor's mansion back when he worked for Mark Sanford.

Most of the time, people say that Tom Davis is gearing up to run against Lindsey Graham in the 2014 Republican primary. Sometimes, they shift and say he’s one of those preparing to run against Nikki Haley that year. But usually, it’s Lindsey Graham.

Tom encourages that way of looking at things by posting stuff like this on Facebook:

Lindsey Graham is now in front of every TV camera he can find, condemning health insurance mandates, but making no mention of the bill he cosponsored in 2009 (S. 391; the Wyden-Bennett Act) to impose mandates and corresponding noncompliance penalties.

I had forgotten about the Wyden-Bennett Act, if I ever knew about it. Well, good for Lindsey.

Tom forgets that conservatives used to be for mandates, before Barack Obama started agreeing with them. But Tom is not alone in that. Republicans in general have wiped that from their memories, because it would be inconvenient to their goal of demonizing the president over it.

Remember how in 1984, Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia? Until things changed, and all those records and memories were expunged, because now Oceania had always been allied with Eastasia, and at war with Eurasia?

It works like that.

Panel clears Haley, again, of corruption charges

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This just in:

Gov. Nikki Haley did not use her office for personal gain while serving as a representative from Lexington County, the S.C. House Ethics Committee ruled Friday.

The committee weighed seven allegations against Haley that included illegally lobbying for her employers and using her office to pressure lobbyists and their clients for donations to a foundation where she worked.

All the charges were dismissed….

It’s good to know that Lexington Medical Center paid her $110,000 per annum, and Wilbur Smith paid her $48,000, because of sterling qualities of hers that had nothing, repeat nothing, to do with her influence as a legislator. Perhaps it was because she’s such an awesome accountant, or something like that.

Whew.

Of course, now we’re left with her as governor. We’re left with the woman who defended herself from these charges by getting all emotional and painting her accuser, John Rainey, as “a racist, sexist bigot.” From The State’s report:

Her voice shaking slightly, Gov. Nikki Haley told House members Thursday who are looking into whether she illegally used her office for personal gain that the GOP activist who filed the complaint against her is “a racist, sexist bigot who has tried everything in his power to hurt me and my family.”

Haley’s allegations of bias came after an executive testified that a Columbia engineering firm paid then-state Rep. Haley, a Lexington County Republican, $48,000 over almost two years as a “passive” consultant to scout out new business, but Haley turned up no new work…

Nothing like character assassination and innuendo for persuading people of the quality of your own character, eh?

I’m trying to think of the last time I spent any time with John Rainey. I think it years ago, the time he invited me to sit at his table at the annual NAACP banquet.

And the last time before that, years earlier, I had a lunch with him at the Capital City Club, in which he went on and on about his plans for the African-American Monument on the State House grounds. He left shortly before I did, and when I was heading back to the office, I saw him meandering about on the grounds, scouting out the place where the monument would eventually be placed. He was really passionate about getting that thing built…

But I digress.

Here’s a good view of the big Cayce fire

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I had been reading about the huge fire over in Cayce on Twitter while eating breakfast at the Capital City Club, and meant to look out the window from the appropriate side (the club overlooks the city in every direction) before leaving. I forgot, but a news bulletin about the fire dinging on my phone as the elevator arrived down in the lobby caused me to go back up and look.

I’m glad I did, because I got a great view from the south side of the club. (The photo is only slightly marred by reflection off the window.)

Everyone I’ve run into has been speculating as to what is burning. Here’s what thestate.com has on it so far:

A fire has ignited a building filled with plastic at CMC Recycling in Cayce.

A large plume of black smoke could be seen early Friday morning over the Columbia area, originating at the property at 2350 Foreman St.

Cayce, West Columbia and Lexington County fire districts sent crews to the scene.

Officials have evacuated Foreman Street up to Frink Street.

The large commercial building was filled with plastic, contributing to the dense black smoke…

No one was injured in the fire…

Virtual Front Page, Wednesday, June 28, 2012

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Kind of a big news day. Here are the top six stories:

SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS HEALTH-CARE LAW (WashPost) — Hey, it’s not just me. The WashPost also put it in all caps. The subhed: Roberts joins liberal wing, says mandate is permissible. You might also want to check out the NYT report, as they historically do an excellent job of explaining court decisions.
Health Care Law Upheld: Now What? (NPR) — A look at where we stand now.
House holds Eric Holder in contempt (The Guardian) — And then the Republicans were all like, “Oh, yeah? Well then, we’ll just cite your AG with contempt!”
5 witnesses say Haley did nothing wrong (thestate.com) — I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a feeling that when these unprecedented hearings are over, the gov is gonna walk. You?
Murdoch to invest billions in the US (The Guardian) — Apparently, the grass looks greener over here, where we’re not all in his face over phone-hacking. Otherwise, the story is about the Big Split that has been foreshadowed the last couple of days.
Stocks Bounce Back (WSJ) — Apparently because of encouraging news out of Europe.

New GOP meme: attacking Obamacare as a tax

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Recovering from the blow to their position on Obamacare, Republicans (except Mitt Romney, whose signature achievement as governor was just vindicated, although you won’t hear him say so in this bizarre political climate) have already shifted tactics.

They are genetically compelled to attack, attack, attack the president. So their new means of doing so is to seize upon the court’s assertion that Obamacare constitutes taxation, and attack it accordingly (all taxes being, according to their ideology, bad). Lindsey Graham, being the smartest Republican in Washington, was among the first to make this shift:

To our Democrat colleagues, stand by your tax increase or stand with us to Repeal and Replace Obamacare.

(Note the way he says “Democrat colleagues.” This is a subtle ruse on his part to hide from his base the fact that he is as smart as he is: Look at me! I don’t know the difference between a noun and an adjective any more than you do! But then, he hurts himself with that same base by calling the enemy “colleagues.”)

Democrats, being partisans, will probably not respond any more intelligently.

But here’s how I wish they would respond: By saying, OK, it’s a tax. So let’s stop fooling around. Let’s replace this with single-payer, which of course we would all support through our taxes.

I’d like to see that, but I’m not holding my breath. I’d done enough of that, waiting on the Supremes to make up their minds.

VICTORY FOR COMMON SENSE: OBAMACARE UPHELD BY SCOTUS

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So far, it’s only bulletins, and responsible news agencies are waiting until they’ve actually read and absorbed it all, as indicated by this notice from The New York Times:

The Supreme Court has ruled on President Obama’s health-care overhaul, and Times reporters and editors are analyzing the decision. Once we are comfortable with its basic meaning, you can expect a torrent of coverage.

But what we have is this: The mandate is upheld, and apparently the rest of the law, except a provision whereby the federal government would dictate to the states what they may do with Medicaid.

It was a 5-4 decision, with Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Alito and Thomas dissenting.

Of course, it should have been 9-0, as the notion that the mandate was unconstitutional was never founded in reality.

If you want to read the decision yourself, here it is.

So here’s the good news: The Constitution, thank goodness, does not stand as a bar to health care reform in this country (a mandate, or some means for getting everyone into the system, being essential to any kind of actual solution).

Obamacare falls far short of being the reform we need (which is single-payer, of course), but at least the pathway is open to real reform as we go forward. And this law is a start.

We can all be thankful for that. And we should be. Many won’t, of course, and that’s a terrible shame, as it is the measure of how terribly divided we are as a country. But at least the hope of a sensible health care system was not destroyed today, whether everyone understands that or not.

Selling the ‘party’ view of reality keeps on getting a little tougher every day

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I took Dick Harpootlian to task a bit earlier today for his implied assumption that any Democrat is better than any Republican. Now it’s the GOP’s turn.

Just got this release from SC Senate Republicans:

Reform doesn’t come easy, even when we have a majority in the Senate.

Senate rules, arcane procedures, and the like let single senators or blocks of Democrats wield extraordinary power to block good reforms from becoming law.

We have a chance to change that. We have to go from a majority to a filibuster-proof majority…

To do that, not only do we have to pick up two seats, we have to maintain Republican control of two other critically important seats that will be heavily contested by Democrats – the seat held by Senator John Courson and the seat that was vacated by former Senator Glenn McConnell.

The bottom line? We need your help.

Yeah, OK. But here’s the thing: How does electing more Republicans automatically give you a stronger majority for “reform?” Let’s consider what one Senate Republican said himself within the last 24 hours (in a missive from the Senate Republican Caucus, by the way):

June 26, 2012 (COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Senator Jake Knotts (R-Lexington) today released the following statement:

“Michael Haley should be ashamed of himself for invoking the memory of dead soldiers just to make a partisan political point. As a commissioned officer in the South Carolina National Guard, Mr. Haley should know that he is not permitted to engage in partisan rhetoric. Yet he continues to participate in contentious partisan issues. Mr. Haley should immediately apologize to the families of those brave heroes for using them as political cover. As my friend and fellow veteran Senator Phil Leventis said from the state Senate floor this week, if Mr. Haley insists on being involved in politics, he should consider resigning his commission. The two cannot be mutually exclusive.”

“Everybody makes mistakes, including myself, but the important thing is to admit to being wrong, apologize for those mistakes and refrain from making them again. I call on Mr. Haley to do the honorable thing in this situation.”

First set aside Jake’s assertion that “The two cannot be mutually exclusive,” when I think he means “The two are mutually exclusive.” Or something, other than what he said. I’ve been scratching my head over that, but never mind; it’s irrelevant to the point at hand.

And the point at hand is this. Republican Jake is categorizing a push for “reform” by the Republican governor as “partisan rhetoric” and “contentious partisan issues.” In taking this position, he finds more common ground with Democrat Phil Leventis than he does with the GOP governor.

So… considering that Jake is a Republican (and he is a Republican, despite the fantasies of many Republicans to the contrary), how does it follow that electing more Republicans moves you closer to “reform,” even the GOP definition of reform, as limited as it may be?

Again, the whole logic upon which the routine assumptions of political parties rests falls apart. Despite his shaky ways of expressing it, the way Jake Knotts sees the Senate is a lot closer to reality than the way his party officially views it. Senators often do tend to form alliances based more upon whether an individual member agrees with them on a given issue than upon whether he has a D or an R after his name. Still. After roughly a decade of being organized along partisan lines (which happened as soon as Republicans had a majority).

And I’ll go farther: Not only is that the way it is, it’s the way it should be. Parties maintain that their members should always agree with anything said by a member of Party A, no matter how stupid, and always disagree with anything said by a member of Party B, no matter how wise. And that way of looking at things is indefensible.

Fast and Furious and Very Confusing

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Some of my readers have evinced an interest in this Fast and Furious thing that is causing such a stir in Washington. Seeking to learn more about it, I started reading the results of a six-month investigation into the case by Fortune magazine. It left me more or less as confused as I was before.

An excerpt:

As political pressure has mounted, ATF and Justice Department officials have reversed themselves. After initially supporting Group VII agents and denying the allegations, they have since agreed that the ATF purposefully chose not to interdict guns it lawfully could have seized. Holder testified in December that “the use of this misguided tactic is inexcusable, and it must never happen again.”

There’s the rub.

Quite simply, there’s a fundamental misconception at the heart of the Fast and Furious scandal. Nobody disputes that suspected straw purchasers under surveillance by the ATF repeatedly bought guns that eventually fell into criminal hands. Issa and others charge that the ATF intentionally allowed guns to walk as an operational tactic. But five law-enforcement agents directly involved in Fast and Furious tell Fortune that the ATF had no such tactic. They insist they never purposefully allowed guns to be illegally trafficked. Just the opposite: They say they seized weapons whenever they could but were hamstrung by prosecutors and weak laws, which stymied them at every turn.

Indeed, a six-month Fortune investigation reveals that the public case alleging that Voth and his colleagues walked guns is replete with distortions, errors, partial truths, and even some outright lies. Fortune reviewed more than 2,000 pages of confidential ATF documents and interviewed 39 people, including seven law-enforcement agents with direct knowledge of the case. Several, including Voth, are speaking out for the first time.

How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It’s a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson’s anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general’s report is submitted.)

“Republican senators are whipping up the country into a psychotic frenzy with these reports that are patently false,” says Linda Wallace, a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation unit who was assigned to the Fast and Furious team (and recently retired from the IRS). A self-described gun-rights supporter, Wallace has not been criticized by Issa’s committee.

The ATF’s accusers seem untroubled by evidence that the policy they have pilloried didn’t actually exist. “It gets back to something basic for me,” says Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). “Terry was murdered, and guns from this operation were found at his murder site.” A spokesman for Issa denies that politics has played a role in the congressman’s actions and says “multiple individuals across the Justice Department’s component agencies share responsibility for the failure that occurred in Operation Fast and Furious.” Issa’s spokesman asserts that even if ATF agents followed prosecutors’ directives, “the practice is nonetheless gun walking.” Attorneys for Dodson declined to comment on the record…

A bit further down, I find a description of the thing that has confused me the most about this case, and all the GOP indignation over it:

Irony abounds when it comes to the Fast and Furious scandal. But the ultimate irony is this: Republicans who support the National Rifle Association and its attempts to weaken gun laws are lambasting ATF agents for not seizing enough weapons—ones that, in this case, prosecutors deemed to be legal…

And those grapes were probably sour anyway…

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Dick Harpootlian is making the best of the fact that his preferred candidate lost the primary that he had fought and clawed to get him into, issuing the following statement last night:

I would like to congratulate Dr. Gloria Tinubu on winning the Democratic run-off election and becoming our nominee for the 7th Congressional District. She ran a great campaign. If Republican’s worked half as hard as Dr. Tinubu, state government wouldn’t be on the verge of a shutdown this week. The Republican runoff was a race between Nikki Haley and Andre Bauer and either way South Carolina loses. They spent the last week in the 7th demonstrating the petty, selfish politics voters have come to expect from Republicans. Dr. Tinubu demonstrated the alternative Democrats are offering: determined and hardworking. The Democratic Party looks forward to working with Dr. Tinubu to elect her as our first Congresswoman from the 7th Congressional District this November.

Aw, he didn’t want those grapes he couldn’t reach anyway…

Remembering (or not) the creative act

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This morning on NPR, Nora Ephron was remembered. Here are the opening lines of that report:

Nora Ephron brought us two of the most indelible scenes in contemporary cinema — and they’re startlingly different.

There’s the infamous “Silkwood shower,” from the 1983 movie, with Meryl Streep as a terrified worker at a nuclear power plant, being frantically scrubbed after exposure to radiation.

Then there’s the scene in which Meg Ryan drives home a point to Billy Crystal at Katz’s Deli, in 1989′s When Harry Met Sally. You know — the one that ends with “I’ll have what she’s having.”…

But here’s the thing. On the same radio station over the weekend, I heard Rob Reiner being interviewed on “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” He directed “When Harry Met Sally,” and he said this about it:

GROSZ: You know, so many of your movies specifically have very quotable lines. From “I’ll have what she’s having,” or, you know, “turn it up to 11,” or, you know, how many times do you ask a waiter for something and he turns to you and he says “as you wish?”

(LAUGHTER)

GROSZ: I mean there’s so many lines from your movies that are quotable. Do you go for that? Do you grab the script and scream at the writer?

REINER: No, no, you know, you just make a movie and you put these things in. And you never know what’s going to – you know, “I’ll have what she’s having” was a line that Billy Crystal came up with in that scene. We didn’t – my mother, you know, is the one who delivered that line…

So which was it? If she were alive, would Ms. Ephron agree with Mr. Reiner’s memory? I guess when a lot of creative people get together and collaborate on something that works and is remembered, it’s sometimes tough to remember who did what.

I know I sometimes have trouble remembering, from my career, whether I came up with a particular idea — or even whether I wrote a particular editorial — because all I know for sure was that I was heavily involved in the discussion.

It’s funny the things you can’t remember, years later. For instance, when I mentioned the other day meeting Barack Obama, it got me to thinking about others I had met. And I remembered the first presidential candidate I covered. It was Jimmy Carter. I remember being excited to be there, not only because it was an exciting thing to be covering an aspect of a presidential election (it was a routine reception in Memphis), but because I really liked Jimmy, and was excited about his 1976 candidacy. I remember a number of details about the event — such as the Secret Service requiring me to take a telephoto lens I’d brought with me out of its cylindrical case, to make sure it wasn’t a weapon — but I realized I couldn’t remember whether I shook hands with Gov. Carter or interacted with him in any way.

Odd that I have no idea about that. Memory is a funny thing.

I was struck by this when I interviewed the late Ted Sorensen, JFK’s legendary speechwriter. In the video below, you’ll see him be unsure about who came up with a certain line, but generously and loyally giving the credit to President Kennedy…

Your Virtual Front Page, Tuesday, June 26, 2012

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Kind of a slow news day, but that just makes it a challenge:

Gun battles erupt near Damascus (BBC) — Of course, it’s not a slow news day in Syria… Meanwhile, Turkey Says It May Target Any Syrian Forces Nearing Border after downing of Turkish aircraft.
Reid: Student loan issue basically worked out (WashPost) — Hey, it’s news when this Congress works out anything.
Fans greet returning Gamecocks (thestate.com) — It really shows how far we’ve come when we’re all let down for our baseball team to come in second in the nation. Good job, guys. As Ron Morris wrote, “These will stand forever as the glory days for USC baseball, a three-year stretch unmatched by any team in any other sport at USC. Along the way, USC posted 158 wins and lost 50 games.”
Murdoch admits News Corp faces divided future (The Guardian) — This is a few hours old, but it’s still a talker of a business story.
University Of Virginia Reinstates President, After Public Outcry (NPR) — After the vote, she said, “I want to partner with you in bringing about what’s best for the university.” Now see, I would have fired her again right then and there, for using “partner” as a verb…
Big Ben tower renamed for jubilee (BBC) — Big Liz?

The Guys gird themselves for battle. Or something.

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You ever watch people in a public place doing something fairly ordinary, but there’s something about it that makes it interesting, and you’d like to ask them what’s up, but the normal social threshold for doing so just isn’t quite there, and you’d sound sort of loony asking? You know, people you see and without being able to help yourself, starting making up a story about, for no particular reason?

It happens to me a lot. But I’m easily distracted.

One recent morning, I was coming down the steps in the city garage behind the Capitol Center (yep, I’d been to breakfast at Cap City), and as I passed one of those glassless windows in the concrete — between the 2nd and 1st floors, it was — I saw five guys standing lined up with their backs to me in the median of Assembly. They were in dress shirts and pants, but no coats yet. They were standing alongside two SUVs, standing so close to the tinted windows that their noses couldn’t be a foot away. All in the same attitude. It was like a drill team or something, and this was their routine. I half expected each of them to hold an arm out to the side to dress the line.

I kept descending the steps, and by the time I passed the next window, I realized they were putting on, or adjusting, ties. They were making quite a production of it. I was next put in mind of a group of commandos in an action thriller — you know, the guys who, after they’ve slipped in past security, reach into their duffels and, all together, in practiced motions, pull out black coveralls and automatic weapons. (Forgive me; I’ve recently watched the whole “Die Hard” series while working out at home. There’s a scene like that in every one of those. See the video below.)

By the time I’d reached the street, they were pulling on suit coats, very deliberately and seriously. In all this process, there had been nothing of preening; they were too sober about it. Deadly serious. They were girding themselves, preparing for… I don’t know what. Something they had trained for, seemingly. The two younger guys closest to me looked like athletes. And the older, beefier guys could have been ex-athletes. Or soldiers. Or cops. Putting on suits didn’t look like an everyday thing to them, although when they were done they were the essence of business propriety.

I didn’t notice any of them talking to each other as they started walking together along the median. They were just… moving out. Again, like they’d rehearsed this.

Sorry that I hadn’t taken a picture from the stairwell when I’d first noticed them lined up, looking at themselves in the SUV windows (if you’d seen that, you’d know why they seemed out of the ordinary), I shot a picture of them crossing Assembly after I stopped at the light there. I had to stop again at the light at Main and Gervais. By that time, they were crossing the street in front of me, headed for the State House.

All that time, they had walked down the street with the air of the Earps and Doc Holliday heading for the O.K. Corral. Not talking at all, that I could see.

Initially I had thought they were headed for some serious business meeting in the Capitol Center (the old AT&T building), maybe at the state Commerce Department, or one of the law firms in the building. “Business” in the sense that Beaver Cleaver used it: They were gonna give somebody “the business.” Lay down the law, as Dad did when Wally or the Beav got out of hand.

But when I saw them headed for the State House, I decided they were either representing a police association that was lobbying lawmakers about some kind of law enforcement legislation, or one or more of them (or maybe a fallen comrade) was about to be honored by a resolution of the General Assembly.

But really, I have no idea. I just knew there was some kind of Serious Guy Business going down. And these guys had dressed for the occasion, right there on the street, in unison.

A tick whose bite can make you allergic to meat? That’s it! I may never venture outdoors again…

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I already had plenty of reasons to avoid going outdoors, including:

The heat, exacerbated by the humidity.
Sunburn.
Mosquitoes.
The fact that statistics show that more than 99 percent of yard work occurs there.

Now there’s this:

Meat lovers, beware. One bite from the tiny lone star tick may be enough to cause meat allergies and turn you into a vegetarian. Dr. Scott Commins of the University of Virginia has been seeing meat allergies popping up along the East Coast and thinks the tiny tick may be to blame. Of the nearly 400 cases he’s seen, nearly 90 percent report a history of tick bites. Commins says saliva from the tick that makes its way into the wound can cause some people to break out into hives or even anaphylactic shock three to six hours after chowing down on some animal carcass. So make sure either your sleeves are rolled up or you’re adequately covered in bug repellent before hitting that summer barbecue.

The lone star tick.

My diet is already limited enough with the allergies I have. An allergy to meat would be catastrophic, if you’ll excuse the understatement. As the colleague who brought this to my attention wrote, “Good grief! You need to avoid this fella at all costs or you’ll be down to nothing but rice!”

Add to that the fact that I’m one of these people who thinks that the only real food is meat; other foods are meant to complement meat. I heard an overweight standup comic say it well a number of years ago. It went something like: Salad isn’t food. Salad is something you eat with food.

So it’s settled. From now on, I just need to figure a way to protect myself between the house and the car …

Help Harvest Hope feed those who need help

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And if you can’t give blood, maybe you can give to help the needy be fed.

Right after posting the thing about the need for blood, I read this appeal from Denise Holland at Harvest Hope Food Bank:

Two weeks ago, one night about 9:30 pm, returning from Walmart, I walked back into my house sobbing because my heart was completely filled with many emotions. My husband looked at me confused, asking what is wrong as a trip to Walmart normally does not do this.

I sat down and told him the following very true, very moving story…I hope you will feel moved and called to action.

Upon finishing my shopping, I got in a long checkout line in the non-food section. I was there after 9pm to pick up a few last minute items for a children’s activity at church. I was behind a young couple, with a small baby sitting in the infant portion of the buggy. They caught my attention. I was struck at how much the young man with his wife reminded me of my own grown children. A nice appearance, the young man had on athletic type shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops, the young lady had on jeans and a hoodie, the baby was clean and dressed in a little onesie. As I stood there, I noticed a little more. They were wearing very simple wedding bands, and the dad kept putting his hand on the back of his wife and child’s mother, saying “are you feeling ok?” “Do you want to go sit in the car?” She did look in my opinion pale like she did not feel really great. I heard her reply very nicely to him, “no I am fine” and smiled back at her husband.

Well naturally I started playing with the baby, making silly old lady sounds and faces to get the baby to smile and laugh. The baby’s dad (obviously a little girl by the pink onesie) occasionally touched the little baby and bent down to kiss her neck of which she just giggled and smiled. At one point he looked back at me and I said to him, “that little girl certainly loves her daddy’s kisses”. He smiled and said yes. The couple then gave their attention to counting the items in their buggy and began a sorting process counting out 10 jars of baby food, separating them in rows in the buggy. Then it struck me that all they had in their buggy was jars of baby food and several canisters of baby formula. The mom and dad appeared to be in low conversation like they were worried and checking twice everything they had. I continued to play (at a respectful distance) with the baby.

While I stood there, I prayed “Lord this could be my children” and I felt in my heart that they were concerned about the amount in their buggy…

To read the rest of Denise’s story, click here.

It’s a bit long, but here’s the upshot of it: The young husband is about to go away to serve in the military, and he and his wife were trying to stockpile plenty of food for the baby, as the Mom’s transportation options are limited. When they got to the register, they couldn’t afford what they had selected (nothing but baby food), so Denise paid for them.

But there are many stories like this in our community, and while she’s got a really big heart, Denise can’t help them all out of her own pocket. So help out Harvest Hope.

Emergency blood shortage! Please give…

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This came in this morning, and I meant to post it before now:

Columbia, SC (June 25, 2012) – The American Red Cross blood supply has reached emergency

levels with 50,000 fewer donations than expected in June. This shortfall leaves the Red Cross with half

the readily available blood products on hand now than this time last year.

The Red Cross is calling on all eligible blood donors – now more than ever – to roll up a sleeve and

give as soon as possible. All blood types are needed, but especially O positive, O negative, B negative

and A negative in order to meet patient demand this summer.

An unseasonably early start to spring may be a contributing factor to this year’s decrease in donations.

Many regular donors got an early start on summer activities and aren’t taking time to give blood or

platelets. In addition, this year’s mid-week Independence Day holiday has reduced the number of

scheduled Red Cross blood drives. Many sponsors, especially businesses, are unable to host drives

because employees are taking extended vacations.

Unfortunately, patients don’t get a holiday from needing blood products. The need is constant. Every

two seconds, someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion. Blood and platelets are needed

for many different reasons, including accident and burn victims, heart surgery patients, organ transplant

patients, premature babies – when there are complications during childbirth – and for patients receiving

treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease.

“Every day, the Red Cross must collect more than 17,000 units of blood for patients at more than

3,000 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country. Of that, the South Carolina Blood Services

Region must collect approximately 500 units per day,” said Julie Weilacher, interim CEO of the

American Red Cross South Carolina Blood Services Region. “We need donors to make appointments

in the coming days and weeks to help us ensure that all patient blood needs can be met. Each unit of

whole blood can help save more than one life.”

“There is always the chance that a physician could postpone an elective surgery if the needed blood

products aren’t readily available or, in a worst case scenario, have to forego a more serious procedure

because of a shortage of blood,” Weilacher added. “Our goal is to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

Please give blood with the American Red Cross today. A blood donor card or driver’s license, or two

other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with

parental permission in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may

be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also

have to meet certain height and weight requirements. Call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or

visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or find blood donation opportunities in your community.

Columbia, SC (June 25, 2012) – The American Red Cross blood supply has reached emergencylevels with 50,000 fewer donations than expected in June. This shortfall leaves the Red Cross with halfthe readily available blood products on hand now than this time last year.
The Red Cross is calling on all eligible blood donors – now more than ever – to roll up a sleeve andgive as soon as possible. All blood types are needed, but especially O positive, O negative, B negativeand A negative in order to meet patient demand this summer.
An unseasonably early start to spring may be a contributing factor to this year’s decrease in donations.Many regular donors got an early start on summer activities and aren’t taking time to give blood orplatelets. In addition, this year’s mid-week Independence Day holiday has reduced the number ofscheduled Red Cross blood drives. Many sponsors, especially businesses, are unable to host drivesbecause employees are taking extended vacations.
Unfortunately, patients don’t get a holiday from needing blood products. The need is constant. Everytwo seconds, someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion. Blood and platelets are neededfor many different reasons, including accident and burn victims, heart surgery patients, organ transplantpatients, premature babies – when there are complications during childbirth – and for patients receivingtreatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease.
“Every day, the Red Cross must collect more than 17,000 units of blood for patients at more than3,000 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country. Of that, the South Carolina Blood ServicesRegion must collect approximately 500 units per day,” said Julie Weilacher, interim CEO of theAmerican Red Cross South Carolina Blood Services Region. “We need donors to make appointmentsin the coming days and weeks to help us ensure that all patient blood needs can be met. Each unit ofwhole blood can help save more than one life.”
“There is always the chance that a physician could postpone an elective surgery if the needed bloodproducts aren’t readily available or, in a worst case scenario, have to forego a more serious procedurebecause of a shortage of blood,” Weilacher added. “Our goal is to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
Please give blood with the American Red Cross today. A blood donor card or driver’s license, or twoother forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 withparental permission in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health maybe eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger alsohave to meet certain height and weight requirements. Call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) orvisit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or find blood donation opportunities in your community.

For those who live in Columbia, there’s the Famously Hot Columbia drive at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center on Friday. For me, that’s about 10 days too early, but I plan to give as soon as my required 112 days have passed since I gave on March 19.

There are various other drives in the Midlands over the next few days, but the easiest thing is just to call the Red Cross and arrange to give either at the Bull Street HQ or any of the drives.

Yeah, but you’re not what I had in mind, Gary

36 Replies

WARNING! THE ABOVE VIDEO IS EXTREMELY LOUD! So if you want to see it, turn your volume way down first…

Just before routinely deleting another release from Libertarian Gary Johnson, I glanced at the content:

June 25, 2012, Santa Fe, N.M. – In a new video, “The Vote for Freedom is Never Wasted,” Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson has words for Democrats and Republicans who are worried his candidacy will take votes away from Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

“I say, ‘Good,’” states Johnson in the video. The former two-term governor of New Mexico continues, “They deserve to lose your vote. Take as many votes as possible away from the people in both parties keeping us in a state of perpetual war, increasing unsustainable debt, record joblessness, and a bipartisan economic death wish ruining America for 330,000,000 of us.

“You have stated you want a third choice, and now you have one in me.”

Yeah. OK. Here’s the thing, Gary…

When I complain about the choices I have, it’s really not much help to offer me a much, much worse third option. I mean, by your logic, I should be happy for the chance to vote Nazi, or Communist, because it would be a third way.

The only thing worse than the two parties we have is pretty much every party that has emerged to challenge them in this country. Look at the biggest of the pygmy parties — the Libertarian. It takes the worst thing about the main two parties and takes it to a greater extreme. OK, the second-worst thing.

The second-worst thing about the Democratic and Republican parties is their drive toward ideological purity, as opposed to sensible, pragmatic approaches to policy. (What’s the worst thing? The worst thing is party solidarity — or whatever you want to call the phenomenon whereby a member of Party A greets the stupidest thing a fellow member of Party A says as wisdom, while dismissing as foolishness the wisest thing that a member of Party B says.)

Just because something is an alternative doesn’t mean it’s a good one. Not by a long shot. And in this country, the “alternatives” are generally just plain awful.

ONE Democratic leader backs Tinubu

1 Reply

Harry Ott broke with the establishment pack today:

Columbia, SC – House Minority Leader Harry Ott (D-Calhoun) endorsed Congressional candidate Gloria Bromell Tinubu in the race for South Carolina’s Seventh District on Monday. Tinubu faces Myrtle Beach lawyer Preston Brittain in a runoff on Tuesday. Ott released the following statement:

“I am proud to announce my support for Gloria Bromell Tinubu in Tuesday’s Democratic runoff. Mrs. Tinubu won the initial primary with over 52% of the vote and I believe it would be wrong to reverse her victory. The people of the seventh district have spoken, and they have chosen Gloria.”

“It is time for Democrats to come together and rally behind Gloria Tinubu as our nominee. It is critical to be unified as a party through November and to elect a Democrat who will fight for full employment, improve our public education system, protect medicare and social security, and advocate for investments in highway infrastructure.”

###

So that’s Harry Ott and the AFL-CIO on one side, and John Spratt, Jim Hodges, Vincent Sheheen and John Land… and I suppose we should include Dick Harpootlian… on the other.

And tomorrow, we’ll see just how much pezzonovante endorsements are worth in the Democratic Party these days.

Brad Warthen

All The News That Gives You Fits