SCOTUS narrowly upholds Constitutional freedom of religion (for now)

Hobby Lobby, and other traditional-morals companies, have the right to opt out of the portion of Obamacare, that forces them to provide contraceptives.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday morning that companies can have religious objections, allowing them to opt out of Obamcare contraceptive mandates.
“This is a landmark decision for religious freedom. The Supreme Court recognized that Americans do not lose their religious freedom when they run a family business.” stated Lori Windham, Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and counsel for Hobby Lobby in this case:
Barbara Green, co-founder of Hobby Lobby said:
“Our family is overjoyed by the Supreme Court’s decision. Today the nation’s highest court has re-affirmed the vital importance of religious liberty as one of our country’s founding principles. The Court’s decision is a victory, not just for our family business, but for all who seek to live out their faith. We are grateful to God and to those who have supported us on this difficult journey.”
The SCOTUS ruling was 5-4 decision. supporting the idea that liberals on the court decide law based on political interests, not the US Constitution, which protects freedom of religion.
Four ideologue liberals on the court voted against religions freedom, in favor of the forced Obamacare requirements.
The ruling means the Obama administration has to come up with some other avenue if it wants to give free birth control. The court left open other roads to that goal.
Free birth control is among many perks that n=must be provided at no extra charge under Obamacare.

Can we get over all these silly “Civil Rights” celebrations?

On Sunday, 70-or-so people commemorated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the decision in the Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

 The “celebration” took place in Conway, in Horry County, not too far from where murders were in the headlines just weeks ago, connected to a popular beach week for bikers.

Instead of talking about ending violence and crime, the meeting in Conway on Sunday was more an effort to target voter participation and dredge up hard times of the past.

The big question is: do these constant commemorations of “The Struggle” do anything more than fuel hatred and polarization?

And what part does the media have in the animosity, and instability of thought, in the Black Community?

Aside from remembering discrimination as if it is relevant today, these modern “civil rights leaders" never mention Abraham Lincoln, or the 400,000 American soldiers who gave their lives in the fight that lead to the end of Slavery, 150 years ago.

On top of that, the civil rights crowd concentrates on the civil rights of Black Americans. Yet many others have faced discrimination in this country. That's not very inclusive of your fellow citizens. 

To drone on and on about the history of people, based on race, because they vote monotonically, is divisive, and one of the major impediments to racial resolution.

It would be much more productive if these rallies for “civil rights” spoke of the strength of intact families, self-sufficiency and giving thanks to ALL people who have helped secure individual rights for ALL Americans.

Sheheen exploiting child deaths, should be more responsible to save kids' lives

Media using DSS deaths to help Sheheen

The anatomy of Big Government feeding itself with its failure.

Democrats, in the gubernatorial election campaign of Sen. Vincent Sheheen, are trying to use the deaths of children in the state's social welfare system to get him elected.

Sheheen, a Democrat, is saying - in effect -  that Gov. Nikki Haley (her agency chief) is responsible for the deaths of children being overseen by the government's DSS, foster care program.

First of all: No government agency, unless it is doing the killing, is responsible for deaths that have happened to children under the state's Department of Social Services.

It's the monsters killing the children who are responsible.

But the DSS case is classic liberalism. The Democrats blame a government agency, if Republicans are in office, where an egregious action has happened.

Then, the media immediately jumps on the Democrats' campaign mantra.

According to The State newspaper, in a report published Sunday: “About 40 percent of child-welfare workers across South Carolina – including two-thirds of the workers in Kershaw County, more in half in Lexington and 43 percent in Richland County – try to handle more than the 17 cases at any one time that national experts recommend.”

So NOT ENOUGH GOVERNMENT WORKERS, IS THE PROBLEM.

The article is filled with the comments of liberal advocacy “experts” who usually are much better at getting themselves well-paying positions as leftwing mouthpieces, than ever helping a child.

Basically, the liberals say: it's OUR (the taxpayers') fault these children are dying because we don't spend more to pay social welfare workers. So the new SC budget has lots of new money in it for more welfare case workers.

But without even researching it, it's certain we pay now for more social welfare programs, with more staff,  than we did 30 years ago. You can also bet the number of child deaths under DSS control is exponentially higher today, despite all the money we pay to care for these children.

So what has changed, and caused more deaths today, despite the expenditure of more money?

In the last 30 years or so, the traditional family has suffered major attacks.

Americans, have been taught it's OK to devalue infant life.

Also, the attack on men, by feminists is another assault on the family, along with easy divorce. Trial lawyers love easy divorce to fatten their paychecks.

Liberals champion cause after cause in the name of freedom or protection, but they are never called upon to account for the damage their advocacy, policies, and laws do to our society.

And Republicans are connected to the failure for not standing up against the liberals when they promote bad law or negligent policies, that damage our culture.

How about Vincent Sheheen stands up for stronger families, where it is celebrated for parents to value their children as gifts?

Why not hold traditional, child-producing marriage, as sacred?

And let's begin with ALL Americans waking up, and valuing human life, without so many considering political expediency over the child.  

Government has a role, but unfortunately, the direction liberals have taken us, is what leads to the abuse of children in our society. The worst thing we can do is elect more Democrats as a reaction to the mistakes they have already perpetuated on our children. 

Metts, Benjamin and the politically interesting this week:

Politics is never dull. And the media, and the left, are predictable.


Some of the items of political interest this week:
Are the accusations against embattled Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin over now? The federals Pinson trial is over, but did testimony about  behavior by Benjamin regarding money, partying with women and influence, launch investigators?
The US Supreme Court could rule on a case involving Hobby Lobby that asks that Obama and democrats not be allowed to force companies to pay for abortions and other possible dangerous or immoral contraceptive methods.
Sheriff James Metts, who says he is not guilty, will be formally charged in court for bribery and accusations related to special privileges for illegal immigrants.
Danny Frazier, former Lexington Town councilan goes in front of a judge too.
Expect the media to promote Thomas Ravenel and a partisan-democrat poll showing SC Gov. Nikki Haley in a close race with Vincent Sheheen. The media loved Lindsey Graham in the GOP Primary, because he'll side with democrats at time, and Conservatives dislike that waffling. But now Graham is the Republican, he has a target on him. It's known as the McCain Treatment. The media loved McCain in the 2008 Presidential Primary, but savaged him, as soon as he was nominated, and went against the leftwing god, Barack Obama.
And Ravenel, who once called himself an R, is an embarrassment to SC. The media loves to ridicule us.

SC Political Digest: The Big Lie technique is being used on Americans

SC Political Digest: The Big Lie technique is being used on Americans: The US economy is in a mess. Don't be fooled and don't be spun. The first quarter GDP contracted by 2.9 percent. All the while th...

The Big Lie technique is being used on Americans

The US economy is in a mess. Don't be fooled and don't be spun.
The first quarter GDP contracted by 2.9 percent. All the while the media, and economic experts, have told us we've been in a Recovery since 2009.
In WWII the Japanese citizens were  told New York had been bombed to ground-level by enemies of the US. It was a propaganda strategy to keep up the spirits of the failing NAZI-Japanese forces attempting World domination. It was termed the Big Lie. And it's being perpetuated on the United States by liberals, now.
The US economy has been flat since late 2008, regardless of the lies, fudged data and spin.
The nosedive of our economy began late in President George W. Bush's second term.
Our economy has cyclical downturns. In 2008, there was the collapse of the housing market, thanks to forced lending by Democrats in the federal government. Democrats believe the government must give houses, or loans, to people who cannot afford them, or those not qualified to earn a home loan. So the housing market became artificially inflated, until it crashed.
A good president would lead us out of the disaster, by freeing the American people to re-build the economy. We, as a country, are best when government is a friend  of our businesses.
The Obama Administration has meddled in free enterprise, playing politics with our fiscal health.
Thanks to the fear of socialized healthcare, strangling environmental restraints and incompetency, the Obama Administration  has made a disaster out of an economic downturn, that should have been over a long time ago.
While pundits and the order-taking media will allude to any number, manufactured or not, as a sign the misery is over. It is not good, by any measure, except a false stock market feeding.
The bad economy is not over, and it will not be over, until we clean house in Washington and take the power from the hands of Democrats.
We can begin in November, by giving the Republicans the US Senate, to go along with the US House. Then we must support, call and e-mail, our Conservative leaders when they attack Obama policies.
We must also keep the pressure on middling Republicans, who are scared to oppose Obama, Reid and Pelosi.
The reason for the mess is real simple: it's Democrats. The solution is simple too. The more Conservative we go, and the faster, the sooner we begin to heal this nation, and correct the suffering of the American people.

Beware the Haley push poll, polls from Democrat manipulators

Beware the poll news hacks for Democrats

Earlier this week a poll from a North Carolina-based operation came out that tells us SC Gov. Nikki Haley is in a "Dogfight" in her bid for re-election.
The PPP pol says Haley is at 39% and her democrat opponent, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen is polling at 36%.
What the poll did not tell you is that PPP is an extremely left-leaning outfit, that consistently finds numbers favoring democrat candidates.
While Haley has not been rock-solid Conservative, she has been right enough to fend off her many democrat challengers.
Haley has fought the Obama Administration for the right of South Carolinianas to have jobs at Boeing. She push forward voter integrity laws and she opposses federally dictated Common Core education mandates.
Haley should be in much better shape than US Sen. Graham, becuase she has been a bigger block to leftwing impositions on South Carolina from Washington DC.
While the media may play the polls the PPP poll as if those numbers are somewhat legitimate, chances are, the PPP poll is as much a hoax as manmade global warming.

"I did not have sex.. I was busy stopping Global Warming! Embattled Benjamin plays Climate Card!

As accusations swirl,
Benjamin plays the
"Too Hot" card. 

Climate Change Hysteria Hits Home!

As accusations from adultery to dubious money deals swirl around Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, on Thursday, he hosted a government-sponsored "Famously Hot Climate Action Summit."

Benjamin is looking for ways to to implement Barack Obama’s Climate Change Action Plan at the local level. It also looks like a way to tell his leftwing constituents: Forget Florida, "THIS is why you elected me. 

“We have a moral obligation to protect our children and future generations from the effects of climate change by addressing its causes and impacts,” Benjamin said. “This summit allows us to have a frank and honest discussion about climate change and its effect on the region while helping; and develop new strategies for the challenges that lie ahead. It’s an opportunity for us to move forward together.”

Is this CLOWN Kidding? "Frank and Honest Discussion!" Why not admit the fact that the man-made Global Warming data, from East Anglia University (the Mecca of Global Warming theories) was HOAXED!!!!...FAKED!!!!
Of course the unemployment situation, food stamp explosion and general lack of confidence in government was not mentioned. But the the usual suspects of alleged conservationists, healthcare activists along with housing and community organizers, showed up. 

“What we have to do is recognize that we are being affected,” said Dr. Stuart Hamilton, founder and CEO of Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers.

Hey Dr. Hamilton: Kind of hard to recognize something that is a figment in the mind of a bunch of leftwing grant-recipients.
PS: I wonder how he got that gig; how much does it pay; and where does the money come from? 

Hamilton also said: “The only question (about the burning up of the planet) that has not been really answered is how fast, how much and how bad.”

He left out: "How much is it going to cost each suffering American to pay for your paranoia and imagined boogey man? 

Hamilton also spoke of the vulnerable populations like children and older people and the poor. Just like his daddy, no doubt did, in the 60s. He lamented for those who live in cities, because, he said, the asphalt and concrete reflect and contain heat in and around the city’s corridor. No duh!
Nothing personal: But have the solutions people like him advocate really done much to reduce poverty? 

“The cities are basically a heat island,” Hamilton also said.

Bill Stangler, the Congaree Riverkeeper, pushed water efficiency at consumer levels. But do we need a government GOVERNMENT summit, hosted by Benjamin to tell us to turn the spigot all the way off. Most kids' Mama will tell them that. 

Stangler also said we can "start mitigating climate change by reducing the city’s carbon footprint."

Again: how much is that going to cost, and how much is your take? 

S.C.'s Kyle Carpenter's Medal of Honor, allows Obama to shine his brightest

President Barack Obama presented Gilbert (S.C.'s) U.S. Marine Cpl Kyle Carpenter (Ret.) the Congressional Medal of Honor, June 19.  (Cpl. Kyle Carpenter's Medal of Honor ceremony)

With that, Obama may have been afforded the most inspiring moment of his presidency.

Obama choked back tears, as he described Carpenter throwing himself on a grenade in Afghanistan to save the life of his fellow Marine. “He should not be alive today,” Obama said of the 24-year-old Marine, who was born in Mississippi.

“Greater love have no man than to lay down his life for his friends,”  Obama humbly, and with emotion, quoted from The Bible.

As Obama praised Carpenter, he presented it as sincere. He spoke of the fact that Carpenter flat-lined three times at the site of the explosion. He lamented Carpenter’s five weeks in a coma, and 40 surgeries. “His survival is a miracle, thank God,” Obama said.

Obama spoke, graciously, of Carpenter’s recovery and his completing of the Marine Corps Marathon.

In a lighter moment, Obama joked that Carpenter told him girls dig the scars. Obama seemed to genuinely like the young serviceman who had given his life - he thought - for his country.

And not only that, Obama talked in a way that expressed sincere love for this country.

“You're not going to get a better example of what you want in an a Marine” or what you want in an American, Obama said of Carpenter.

Obama was inspiring, respectful and personable. He spoke well of us.

In a room filled with Carpenter's family, and Marines from Carpenter's unit, Obama also praised the military doctors for doing “God's work.”

Obama's humility in front of The Creator was significant and seemed sincere.

The touching tribute to Carpenter, and to God, may have moved non-believers, too.

Radical leftist and obnoxious political commentator Bill Maher claimed - just after Obama's salute to Carpenter - Obama is a fake.

“Try as he might. President Obama’s public push to showcase himself as a man of faith just isn't believable, Maher said, three days after Carpenter's ceremony. “Obama’s always spouting spiritual (expletive) and I don’t believe it for a second.”

Maher's reaction to Obama seems to be that of one who is offended because it was so effective.
And atheists - as their religion dictates - are not so forgiving when the men they have created as gods, commit their version of blasphemy. 

Despite the reason, Obama was at his best during the celebration of the sacrifice of Cpl. Kyle Carpenter. For that we can thank him. We, our country, could use much more of Obama as he was June 19.

And as we note Carpenter's state of origin, we can also thank God for Mississippi.

Brad Hutto, not Lindsey Graham, should beware of a Thomas Ravenel candidacy

Disgraced felon
Thomas Ravenel. 

In the news of the bizarre, disgraced former SC Treasurer Thomas Ravenel claims he may collect the 10,000 signatures required to get on the ballot.

Ravenel said he wants to run as an independent candidate against US Sen. Lindsey Graham.
There is an adage that any publicity is good publicity. Ravenel who has exposed his life, and lifestyle on a barely-watched TV reality show, certainly puts that belief to the test.
On the show entitled “Southern Charm” Ravenel, 51, and a band of self-centered, look-at-me, cushy-life, lost-in-space cadets, tramp around Charleston. Disturbing decadence would be an understatement.
How many beers can you swill? And how many times can you act appalled that the females of the group have had “dates” with multiple males, or whatever else, in the worms-nest.
The show is appealing, only because of the beauty of the Holy City; not the un-holy gag-reflex Ravenel and Co. provokes.
So the fact that a conceited narcissist wants attention is not a surprise. If there is anyone who looks at Ravenel, with anything more than pity, or contempt, that would be unusual.
His plan to attack the Republican candidate for the US Senate is not so new either. Ravenel after serving time in prison has become a very liberal-like character. I think he threatened to renounce his US citizenship at one point, after getting out.
And the plan by the left, to siphon off just enough votes from the Republican, so the Democrat wins, is becoming more and more identifiable. It actually worked in the Virginia governor's race. But it failed in a Congressional contest in Florida.
That said: Graham is a PRIME TARGET of all third party upstarts, who want to help Democrats.
He certainly is not loved by Conservatives, and rightly so.
But Ravenel is a convicted felon, who was given the trust of the people, only to snort it up his nose.
Considering his track record, Brad Hutto, the democrat US Senate candidate, better watch out. Chances are Ravenel will bleed votes from the Democrat Party candidate, before any true Republican would fall for his PR charade. It's a made-for-the-ignorant political campaign, so Hutto, a democrat, better beware.

Is there any real chance of a federal indictment?

The Benjamin PR strategy, Jimmy Metts and Danny Frazier

Smoke is billowing from city hall. The public has almost NO confidence in the elected.

But media sources, characteristically friendly to Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, are telling him not to be distracted by the sleaze connections to him and things he cannot control.

It's good news to the establishment media that Benjamin is going about his business as if his name has not been tied to frolicking with felines, a $50,000 pay-out and deceitfulness.

The most recent accusation, coming from testimony in a federal trial Wednesday, said Benjamin had influence for an allegedly kick-back driven schemer-for-profit.

While Rome burns, Benjamin's office distributed a newsletter that waxed on about Benjamin's trip to a DC medal of honor ceremony, and a junket to Dallas for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

One public relations expert said by ignoring: “that is just Steve being Steve and moving forward and not being distracted — that’s a positive on either count.”

The newspaper also found more PR masters who say the mayor is using good strategy and doing the right thing. Being busy, carrying out his responsibilities, is ingenious they tell us.

While Benjamin's name is on fire, its mentioned every day in the trial, the media's PR execs say Benjamin is smart to emulate Nero.

But is the Pinson trial, in which Benjamin is starring, tantamount to the infamous Danny Frazier tapes?

Just like the federal trial, the Frazier tapes were filled with details and claims of influence.

And those declarations by Frazier presumably set off an investigation that resulted in the indictment of fellow Bigfish, Sheriff James Metts.

Is the “Whistling past the Graveyard” approach to public relations effective?

In the wake of the Frazier conversations, not much was said, officially. And eventually, so much time passed that many had lost interest, or figured the investigation had produced no fruit.

Others surmised the powerful would not face any charges, because they have all the clout. That's just the way it is, just or not, with the untouchable class.

Metts' office- after issuing his own version of a newsletter in the form a couple of TV interviews- went on as if nothing happened. Just as the media is telling Benjamin to do.

We're told ignoring the gigantic elephant in the room is brilliant, by those who know. But PR, in this case, will not be the final arbiter. If there is a crime, prosecutors will have to find it and act on it. And there has been enough testimony to set off an investigation. 

If there is fire, fiddling may be a PR strategy, but it will not deflect a federal indictment. Just ask Jimmy Metts.

Lexington County takes a Conservative turn

Ned Tolar and wife Vicki. 

Maybe the state of South Carolina did not go more Conservative after Tuesday's elections, but thank goodness, Lexington County did.

The turn to the right was needed. 

Anti-Tax champion Ned Tolar defeated the more-government, more-taxing Bill  Banning for the Dist. 8 seat on Lexington County Council.

Lexington County Council will have three new members in November, of the nine seats. It's 5-4 voting majority for more taxation is most-likely gone. 

Larry Brigham was elected June 10. He likely won because of the incumbent's tax increase vote. 

Banning, a 16-year incumbent, openly supported a $300 million penny sales tax on Lexington County residents. And he voted for property tax increases the last three times one was proposed.

The penny sales tax, and tax increases in general, are POPULAR among longtime government insiders, but loathed by the people.

And Lexington County only has to look across the Saluda River to see what more taxes and big government do to a county.

Richland County is filled with wasteful government boondoggles and a system that smells of corruption. Even the vote to gain a penny sales tax in Richland County was linked to corruption and government incompetence, with the county's voting commission.

It likely still has not been corrected, because government officials would rather have their way, than have  integrity in the system.

Lexington is governed more smartly than Richland. And the election of Tolar will help enforce Lexington County's Conservative belief in less taxation.

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin: It's great to be a Democrat

It's great to be a Democrat, if
prosecution is a possibility. 

In the last week-or-so, testimony in a federal trail has tied Democrat Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin to a pay-out, cavorting with strippers and a cover-up of the truth. 

It would take a prosecutor to tell us if there is a crime in the implications, but it looks bad.

But does Benjamin have anything to worry about?

Just ask Bill Clinton (I did not have....with that woman.) Ask Hillary (What difference does it make) Clinton in reference to the (I don't recall) Rose Law Firm billing records.

Then we had John (“Baby-Mama”) Edwards. He paid for his and his mistress' child with campaign contributions. But Edwards walked. All Democrats. 

And let's not even get into the IRS, DOJ, and NSA scandals of the Obama Administration.

On the other hand: you have Ken Ard, prosecuted. There's Scooter Libby who, in effect, was sentenced to jail in a non-crime investigation, and because he worked for VP Dick Cheney.

And how can we forget freshly indicted Jimmy Metts.

All Republicans.

Ironically, it was Edwards who campaigned on the divisive “Two Americas” slogan in an attempt, as Democrats do, to polarize the country.

Edwards was correct: We have two Americas.

If you are a Republican, you better not step out of line. But if you are a Democrat, chances are, you have nothing to worry about from the long arm of the law.

And no matter what is said about Steve Benjamin, he can always say: It's Great to be a Democrat!...because that means escaping the prosecutor. 

Did Big Education, not children, score a BIG victory in education Tuesday?

Molly Spearman is a moderate, at best, Republican.  Tom Thompson is a Democrat.
The two will face each other in November, in a fight to be South Carolina's Superintendent of Education.

Sadly there are a lot of people in education, as professionals, for the wrong reasons.

Education industry insiders use education funding to enrich themselves. They put themselves first, and care about politics and control.

Children, and are not close to the top of the liberals' priority list.

A lot of South Carolinians are scared of self-serving liberals. We fear education hierarchy  that just wants to make sure administrators, and bureaucrats, get a big slice of the pie, not concerned so much, if the children get less.

The Democrats' tend to ask for, and spend, more money, with less accountability and more blame placed on others.

That approach has been a failure for years.

Public education is one of the most important tasks the government has taken for itself.

It is also a segment of our society that has been controlled, especially in the last 30 years – and until recently- by liberals.

One of the strongest benefits of the Republican Revolution in South Carolina has been the influence more competent, and reasonable, Republican leaders have had on education.

Under Republicans, the opportunity for school choice has expanded.

School choice is popular among every demographic. Regardless of economics, race, religion or political persuasion, THE PEOPLE like diversity in choosing how to educate their children.

Under departing SC Superintendent of Education Mick Zais, with the help of many state legislators, more charter schools have opened. More children have had choices.

Students, who would have quit school because of a job or an extreme circumstance, have been able to go to school around a work schedule. Or a student in a charter, non-cookie-cutter school, has been able to take classes that address a learning nuance.

And believe it or not, academic achievement and a high school diploma extends the hope for the otherwise at-risk child's potential. Maybe he or she won't give up so easily, having completed high school. It means something. It's a source of pride.

But the fear on the morning after, is that South Carolina's children will now be put on the back of the bus, while education bigwigs, or political manipulators, pat themselves on the back, and tell us how they are "doing it for the children."

But I fear, based on history, the children will not be the top priority. 

Five-year anniversary of Sanford's THE CONFESSION!

Is Sanford the Gothic Southern Tragedy,
or is there a more interesting chapter?

There are a lot of people in South Carolina politics who still really believe in former Gov. Mark Sanford.

He's a very persuasive and attractive figure.

Sanford waltzed to election a year ago and is the US Rep. For SC - Dist. 1.

It's ironic that his name would be mentioned today. It's June 24, and Run-Off day, two weeks after the June 10 primaries.

It was a 2002 GOP Primary in which Sanford came from nowhere and took out former Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler, to win the Republican nomination for the governor's office.

Today is also the FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY of THE CONFESSION.

I remember listening to, not watching, Sanford on a live press conference broadcast on WIS-TV in Columbia. It was the aftermath. 

The Governor could not be found. He had his press secretary tell everybody, including media, he was hiking The Appalachian Trail. Today that term is idiomatic.

But his political opponents had ferreted out his location, and told an eager-to-bust-him reporter that he was flying into Atlanta. The married-with-children governor had been with his lover, in Argentina.

“I've been unfaithful to my wife,” Sanford blurted out in the middle of a rambling monologue that matched his usual pedestrian oratory style. The room, and the second-half of his governorship, had been dull until he shocked the world.

Sanford, the silver-spooned Richard Cory, who walked a few inches above everybody else, had met the political equivalent of the fictional character created by Edwin Arlington Robinson.

If you meet Sanford, you may get the impression he values your opinion more than anyone else's. You could come away feeling he's the nicest, most genuine guy in the world.

Or you may get the opinion that he's petulant and pious, with that aforementioned Cory-esque air.

How he treats you may depend on what you can do for him.

Regardless of how you see Sanford, he is as interesting a character as there is in modern politics.

The biggest question now is: will Sanford one day burst from the bounds of the more-permissive SC First and pursue that once limitless potential that he squandered on weakness; or was it his boredom?

Or will he become the perpetual, small-voice re-elect to an ego-serving office, on a treadmill he once swore against?

Is he Richard Cory, or will he write the last half of the drama with a creativity that will jolt us as THE CONFESSION did five years ago today? 

Richard Cory 

By Edwin Arlington Robinson - 1869–1935

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—

And admirably schooled in every grace:

In fine, we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head. 

The significance of the Lexington Sheriff's office search warrant execution?

On May 1, 2013, agents from the FBI and SLED
raided the Town of South Congaree offices.
Terminations and resignations followed. 

Rumors of crimes in Lexington County, related to video gaming devices, began surfacing in the the summer 2012.
Between last Thursday and Monday, a team from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant on the "Sheriff's Suite" at the Lexington County Sheriff's Department," on Gibson Road in Lexington.
Listed on the search warrant, among many potentially high-volume evidence items, is the "office computer" of Sheriff James Metts.
Is the timing of the raid significant?
The establishment of the search warrant began last Thursday (June 19) less than two days after Metts, with three others, was indicted on bribery-related charges. Metts was not implicated for anything to do with gaming.
The search warrant specifies that it (like almost any search warrant)  is issued because there is probable cause of obtaining  evidence of a crime, or evidence used in the committing of a crime.
With rumors of activity involving illegal gambling circulating for almost two years; where did the probable cause come from at this stage in the game?
It looks like the evidence seized is related to video gambling, whereas the June 17 indictment of Metts had to do with handling alleged illegal immigrants.
Besides Mett's office computer, the warrant executed Monday, lists evidence as: a memo entitled "Video Gaming, Sweepstakes, and Related Enterprises."
Did the arrests of last Thursday set "tongues to wagging?" Is someone, a high-profile, omniscient now talking for fear of the heavy foot of the law coming down?
Indicted with Metts was former South Congaree Police Chief Jason Amodio. He is charged with misconduct in office.
According to the indictment, Amodio took money from former Lexington Town Councilman Danny Frazier, who was indicted, too. Frazier, according the charges, received gaming machines from Amodio that had been seized by the police department.
So who is talking, and what specifically are they telling?
Monday's report of a raid just brings more speculation into the high-profile investigation, just as all the items seized do.
Another evidence item is a "white three-ringed binder containing information on properties being foreclosed on."  What could that be about?
Also on the list in the search warrant are: 2012 campaign notes, personal electronic devices, a laptop,  a vanilla folder, computers, briefcases, appointment books, folders and loose papers.

On the list, too, are six cassette tapes. in a large yellow envelope and cassette removed from a recorder, connected to a phone.

At this point, it is a guessing game, and certainly more intrigue is to come.  

Lexington County Sheriff's offices raided!

Triggered by a document from the US District Court, issued by US Magistrate Judge Paige Jones Gossett,  the Lexington County Sheriff's Department has been raided by investigators. And several items have been seized.

According to one report, the collection of would-be evidence is part of the investigation related to suspended Sheriff James Metts.

A court document states that items were taken from a room housing computers. Items have also been taken from the office of Metts' Public Information Officer John Allard. 

A warrant lists 2012 campaign notes, personal electronic devices, a laptop,  a vanilla folder, computers, briefcases, appointment books, folders and a memo entitled "Video Gaming, Sweepstakes, and Related Enterprises."

Also listed in the warrant are six cassette tapes. Those tapes are said to be in a large yellow envelope. Another cassette was also removed from a recorder that was connected to a phone.

Three incident reports were seized. One incident report is related to a man who had been charged with possessing a gambling device.

After SLED began busting video gaming parlors in 2012, The LCSD, via Allard e-mails, began publicizing the seizing of illegal gaming devices. Allard would send e-mails with reports of seized gaming machines, and photos of the devices collected by the LCSD deputies.

Sheriff James Metts was indicted last week and charged with accepting a bribe, among other things. Three others were indicted at the same time for bribery related offenses, and a video gaming device, charge. The federal indictment came from the US Attorneys office in Columbia.

Copy of one of the incident reports seized:

Monday, September 30, 2013

1:45 p.m. (For immediate release)

INVESTIGATORS SEIZE 53 ILLEGAL VIDEO GAMBLING DEVICES

Photos of video gaming machines confiscated
at the time of the incident report. 

Lexington County Sheriff’s Department investigators in cooperation with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division on Sunday, September 29 seized 53 illegal video gambling devices in a work area and storage room that were partitioned off with plywood walls from the remainder of a commercial building on Morningside Drive near West Columbia. Investigators also arrested a 38-year-old Lexington man on charges that the man unlawfully possessed the video gambling devices that investigators seized.

Lexington County Sheriff James R. Metts said sheriff’s investigators arrested Brinton Lee Motley, 38, of 784 Parkhurst Lane, Lexington, on a charge of unlawfully possessing a gambling device. Motley was being held on Monday, September 30 at the Lexington County Detention Center while awaiting a bond hearing.

Arrest warrants allege that Motley unlawfully possessed 53 video gambling devices as well as pieces, parts and components that are used to repair, replace and operate illegal video gambling devices, Metts said. The illegal video gambling devices that Motley possessed included stand-up Chess Challenge II devices and table-top Double Platinum devices.   

A Lexington County magistrate on Sunday found that the 53 devices all were illegal video gambling devices, which are subject to seizure by law enforcement, Metts said. The magistrate issued an order on Monday to destroy the 53 illegal video gambling devices. Under South Carolina law, a magistrate must determine whether each individual gambling device is illegal.

Sheriff’s investigators developed information that illegal video gambling devices were stored at the commercial building at 2548 Morningside Drive, Metts said. At about 6:21 p.m. on Sunday, investigators executed a search warrant at the Morningside Drive building.

After they executed the search warrant, sheriff’s investigators found 53 illegal video gambling devices in a storage room and work area that were separated from the remainder of the Morningside Drive building with plywood walls, Metts said. The storage room and work area were kept locked with a plywood door. The work area contained several illegal video gambling devices and parts from illegal video gambling devices.

A SLED agent assisted sheriff’s investigators in determining whether the video gambling devices found at the Morningside Drive building were illegal, Metts said. SLED also made arrangements to place 48 of the 53 seized illegal video gambling devices at a warehouse that SLED uses to store such devices so that all of the 53 illegal video gambling devices did not need to be stored at the Sheriff’s Department evidence building.

Metts asked anyone with information about illegal video gambling devices to call the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at (803) 785-8230 or CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Citizens also can report information anonymously by accessing the Crime Tip link on the Sheriff’s Department web site (www.lexingtonsheriff.com).

************************************

Pick Mike Campbell in the Lt. Gov. run-off, Tuesday

Mike Campbell is a young, energetic and refreshing addition to South Carolina's political landscape.

Vote Mike Campbell in
Tuesday's run-off. 

As Lt. Governor, Campbell will oversee the S.C. Office on Aging.
Campbell is the son of former Gov. Carroll Campbell. He watched as his father was overcome by Alzheimer's disease.
Campbell is closely related to the struggles facing the growing elderly population in the state. He will be very sensitive to seniors.
His opponent in the run-off is Henry McMaster.
McMaster's quest for yet another statewide office gives one the sense, he is addicted to a political position.
Not that he would bad, but it may be time for Mr. McMaster to fade into private life.
I'm just not sure he has been so brilliant in his other offices held, that we should give him another state salary and perks.
Campbell is far more likely to use the Lt. Gov. office as a chance to serve South Carolinians.
Let's give Campbell a chance. We've seen McMaster, and I'm not sure we need to go back there.

Vote Ned Tolar in Tuesday's Lexington County Council, Dist. 8 race

Vote Ned Tolar in Tuesday's
 Lexington County Council Dist 8 run-off. 

Vote for Ned Tolar  in the Lexington County Council Dist. 8 race, Tuesday.

Challenger Ned Tolar began his campaign against incumbent Councilman Bill Banning with an anti-tax message.

In an depressed economy, as we've endured since the election of Barack Obama, it is cruel and insensitive to raise taxes. Families cannot afford to pay the government more. 

Let the government, including Lexington County's, make due, until things better. 

Vote for Ned Tolar in the Lexington County Council Dist. 8 run-off, Tuesday (June 24.) 

Both Tolar and Banning are Republicans, but Tolar said Banning has not been Conservative, and Banning supports spending projects too much. 

Tolar says Banning has voted in favor of tax increases by the county, three consecutive times (years.) That claim is true. Banning has been pro-tax. 

Tolar has also made the push for a countywide penny sales tax an issue.

Banning is for the penny sales tax. 

Banning said the penny sales is needed for needed improvements in the county.

Banning got around 38 percent of the June 10, primary vote. He needed 50-plus percent to avoid a run-off. Tolar received about 32 percent of the primary vote.

Billy Oswald, a third candidate, received close to 30 percent of the vote.  Oswald, an anti-tax candidate, strongly endorsed Tolar after the initial primary results were reported.     

Strippers, pay-out, indictments, could Mayor Steve Benjamin be in trouble, electoral or criminal?

Last week was a bad week for Columbia Mayor Steven Benjamin.

Benjamin who may be the most-powerful Democrat in South Carolina , has not yet been charged, but the smoke gets thicker, about every other day, it seems.

In testimony in a federal trial, a former S.C. State University trustee and former business partner of Benjamin's  said he and Benjamin (both married) partied at a strip club and later took two of the dancers back to their hotel room for the evening. Benjamin was on a trip to Florida regarding public investments.

Later in the week, a witness said Benjamin received $50,000 from people accused of public corruption to buy Benjamin out of a dubious real estate deal.
Also: the first indictment was handed down in the “Gambling Ring” investigation. The secretly recorded conversations that triggered the investigation contained Benjamin's name. And the very powerful Lexington County Sheriff, Jimmy Metts, was indicted. But Metts claimed to be a Republican. That may make a difference.
Benjamin began his first term as mayor, five years ago, under a cloud when he was involved in an early morning accident that seriously injured a woman. Questions around that accident, involved procedures by law enforcement investigators. But Benjamin was able to weather the storm, where a candidate from another party, likely would have been jettisoned.
Benjamin was re-elected, as it is hard for a democrat to “scandal” himself out of favor with democrat voters, who seem to be driven by largess, more than integrity or character.
But US Rep. Charlie Rangel, of New York (busted as a tax cheat) is in primary trouble. Is it possible that Benjamin could face political competition? No, not likely. His voters probably don’t care what he does, as an ethics issue.
But if a federal indictment is issued, love from the voters is meaningless.

SC, Haley scores economic victory over NC, luring 7,000 jobs!

SC won a projected 7,000 jobs from a new tire manufacturing plant and two relocated Charlotte.

Take a bow Gov. Haley.
We need those jobs. 

 The coup, announced last week, was largely based on the Palmetto State’s fiscally strong position to offer incentives that North Carolina was not able to match.
South Carolina has become a major player in bringing in jobs, while other states are not as good, or lose jobs.
Amazon came to Lexington County in 2011, amid attacks over incentives. But the giant on-line retailer has more than fulfilled its promises of 2,000 jobs, and delivered far more in benefits to the state, and Lexington County, than it was given to come. 
Lexington has the state's lowest unemployment rate, and is growing at a break-neck pace. 
The same benefit is true from Boein  in Charleston County, after South Carolina officials fought the union-friendly and liberal Obama Administration for those jobs.  
The State newspaper's headline, regarding the new jobs announcement this week, seems to be trying to bash South Carolina and Republican Gov. Nikki Haley because it wrested the 7,000 jobs from North Carolina.
But the media's attack is foolhardy.
The three companies now coming to the state are: Giti Tire and the Lash Group and LPL Financial.
The new jobs were secured for York and Chester counties. It is a potential of 7,000 with expansion.
Good job to South Carolina for enticing this job-provider. In Obama's horrible economy, we needed these jobs more than ever.
The $39 million is a pittance for all the jobs, tax revenue and residual businesses that investment will attract.
Obama invests trillions in food stamps, welfare and Medicaid...and all the recipients do is demand more.
South Carolina was able to out-recruit it's large and more-revered neighbor to the north.
Good job South Carolina for enticing this job-provider. In Obama's horrible economy, we needed this more than ever.

Deductions from the indictment of Lexington County Sheriff James Metts

Do the powerful think they are invisible? 
Lexington County is the home of many long-serving elected officials. 

When politicians get elected, over and over, there is no doubt a sense of invincibility, and a “I can't be touched” mentality, that goes with popularity among voters.

The support staff serving those officials also adopt that aura of power. It was thick in Lexington County. It permeated the sheriff's office.

Why did the first indictment round go down like it did?

Why was Lexington County Sheriff James Metts indicted on a charge related to doing special favors for illegal aliens, and not gambling, despite the Danny Frazier tapes?

Frazier, on the tapes, talked about setting up gaming operations. The  Lexington County Sheriff’s Department (LCSD) went into a flurry of activity, seizing the gaming machines, after Frazier's recording became public by WIS-TV reporter Jody Barr. That is also when Metts gave money back to some gaming-related contributors and expressed impatience with a local TV stations' coverage of him and the relation to the gambling recordings. 

Maybe this:

After the first bust of video gaming devices by SLED, in the summer 2012 - one in Lexington County, one in Richland County - The LCSD began seizing the gaming devices with a fury, and announcing it to the media, with photos, every time a bust was made by sheriff's deputies.

Before that, the gambling law was considered ambiguous, with the gray area tied to a magistrate's decision regarding legal or not. The Town of Irmo even granted licenses for video games, against the waning of Mayor Hardy King. Irmo then had to rescind those license when SLED began seizing video game devices, and arresting video gaming parlor owners.

Lexington County law enforcement, if it was not enforcing a law against video gaming, could have been operating under the idea that the unclear nature of the law, is a defense.

So Metts could have reasoned: why not profit from it until there is a clear ruling on video gaming devices?

Is the worst over for Danny Frazier, where it all began?

Former Lexington Councilman Danny Frazier was at the CENTER of all the talk and speculation, in Aug. 2012. 

A frenzy ensued after WIS-TV reporter Jody Barr obtained audio tapes of Frazier explaining how to set-up a video gaming operation.  Barr was tantalized with a chance to get the tapes, and finally got a call for a Sunday morning meeting for the hand-off. Barr's follow-up was courageous and made a splash of gigantic proportions. 

The tapes were juicy,  not only because Frazier was a Town of Lexington Councilman at the time, but because of some of the details Frazier offered - the personal nature in Frazier's conversations - and the connections Frazier had.

Frazier mentioned several highly placed elected officials. He also talked about the personal relationship with his ex-wife. 

At one point, Frazier opined that you cannot have video gaming in the rich neighborhoods, but the poor will spend lavishly playing the games. 

Frazier was believable, in no small part, because of his position. Frazier also had a part-time job with Metts at the LCSD and a part-time gig with the City of West Columbia, where he once worked as a police officer. Each paid Frazier $15,000 a year for community relations and consulting work.

The names that could be dropped, because of Frazier's office, rolled off tongues from Pelion to Pontiac. And the claims, and the people associated, bordered from the obvious to the outrageous, outlandish and bizarre.

The confrontation between council, Frazier and Jody Barr - with the admonishment of Frazier by the townspeople - asking Frazier to resign - on Aug. 17, 2012, was high drama.

Is the worst over for Frazier? 

Now, with the first shoe of indictment falling, the mention of video gaming is scant, and the consequences for Frazier look minimal. He is being allowed to continue building a new home on Lake Murray.

Other than legal fees and a fine, is the worst over for Frazier? 

It's easy to speculate that he has fully cooperated, and we know the extent of his punishment.

But what has happened to others?

In the aftermath: Lexington Mayor Randy Halfacre, and one-time Frazier friend, is no longer in elected office, defeated twice since the Frazier tapes were released. Sen. Jake Knotts, a Metts confidant, lost his 2012 bid for re-election.

Metts returned a lot of campaign contributions from gambling interests and many said the cloud has been hanging over the LCSD since the Frazier tapes became public. Knotts, who also took money legally, said he'd use some of the contributions from pro-gambling advocates for donations to his church. Bad money to do good.

The MVP of it all

The tapes were so hot, a leftist weekly newspaper in Columbia, and their highly lauded reporter balked at the tapes. Speculation is that Frazier implicated one of the state's top Democrats, so the reporter, who also writes for the radically liberal Huffington Post, was reluctant to go after one of his own.

Gov. Scott Walker victim of Democrat Witch Hunt to compensate for their failure!

Gov. Walker a victim of
democrat witch hunt. 

Very successful and Conservative Wisconsin Gov. Walker is being accused by a partisan special prosecutor.

The charge is part of some convoluted and trumped up accusation that Walker coordinated fundraising activities between himself and other Republicans during the 2012 recall election, that he re soundly won.
In South Carolina, former Lt. Gov Ken Ard was prosecuted and removed from office for using his own money, in a way the government told him he could not.
That is the essence of campaign finance law, gone bad. And it's why liberals want more restrictive campaign finance laws.
Democrats, in South Carolina, have rendered themselves un-electable for statewide office, based on their flawed polices and poor performance.
So a reporter from a liberal newspaper, using a recorded phone call, took down Ard, who was Republican. A democrat now holds the Lt. Gov. post in S.C. And the liberal media says the office-in-turmoil is evidence of a GOP “implosion.”
The reporter who eliminated Ard, was named “Journalist of the Year” by the SC Press Association for his handiwork.
In Texas a few years ago, former US Rep. Tom Delay was indicted, after a prosecutor shopped around for an anti-Republican Grand Jury. Delay was eventually exonerated of all charges, but the democrats took him out of power, which was their goal.
Perverting of the courts by democrats, as a political weapon, has become a common tactic. What if the GOP did the same?
What would democrats do if the very legitimate move was made to IMPEACH President Barack Obama over his failure to uphold the law, as he swore, regarding immigration?
What if a special prosecutor was employed to ferret out Benghazi, spying on reporters, or the IRS targeting political enemies scandal. Would Obama go down for his guilt?
But, it seems, the Witch Hunts like Walker in Wisconsin, are reserved for Republicans only.
Walker gutted the corrupt, greedy and budget-busting "Teachers" union in Wisconsin. And liberals cannot accept that Walker beat them, then won the recall.
And all these newly manufactured charges against Walker are only government-funded retribution, because democrats are too immature and corrupt to accept the voice of the people.
The truth is: as long as it works for the corrupt democrat party, they will keep doing it.
It is up to Republicans to stand up against these bullies, and tell them enough is enough.
For any elected official, of the GOP, you do not have the option to sit back and watch. You are OBLIGATED, and guilty of omission, if you do not step forward and stop these attacks, at every point.
America cannot take more bastardization of our laws from immoral and indecent and relentless political ogres.
Enough is enough.

Vote Atwater in Tuesday's (June 24) GOP Primary run-off

Vote Atwater, Tuesday. 

Vote for Sally Atwater for S.C. Education Superintendent in Tuesday's (June 24) GOP Primary Run-off election. 

Molly Spearman is her opponent.

Atwater solidly and defiantly opposes Common Core Standards (CC) being imposed on South Carolina students. Atwater is for more school choice.

But Atwater is not a polished and slick politician. Atwater is not an education industry insider, like Spearman. Despite rude media attempts to trap Atwater, she has expressed sound core beliefs and Atwater is consulting the right people.

Liberal (Democrats) have severely damaged the quality of education in South Carolina, to enrich themselves. We can not afford any more of that. We cannot afford Mollly Spearman.

Molly Spearman's stand on principles is questionable. It's unclear if she opposes CC.

Common Core Standards do more to indoctrinate children, than it is education. CC teaches that the US Constitution needs to be changed to allow non-native born immigrants to be president.

It also teaches that President Abraham Lincoln did not act decisively enough to attack slavery.

Other Founding Fathers are bashed too, by CC liberal propaganda, presented as learning materials.

And, Spearman does not take a stand for school choice, even though the state's residents are firmly in favor of school choice. School choice broadens opportunity for students and families. It works better  in many cases. Bureaucrats, like Spearman, oppose it because it takes control from industry fat cats.

Also: Atwater makes a good case as to why Molly Spearman is not a good choice for Education Superintendent.

Atwater says: “Spearman switched parties for political expediency.” Spearman was eleted to the S.C. House in the 90s as a Democrat, but switched to Republican when the Rs became the majority of the SC House.

Spearman then worked as a publicly funded lobbyist for liberal Democrats at the State Department of Education. Spearman has given multiple checks to S.C .Democrats including Vince Sheheen, Jim Rex, and Inez Tenenbaum .

“Spearman spent many years as the taxpayer-funded lobbyist and mouthpiece for the liberal Education Establishment in South Carolina. Spearman has flip-flopped on Common Core and been wishy-washy on School Choice.”

We cannot take a chance on Spearman. There is too much to lose. 

Illegals get special privileges from Metts, and it SCARES them?

You cannot make this stuff up. It certainly goes under the Bizarre world of media ignorance.  

Lexington County Sheriff Jimmy Metts allegedly takes a bribe from a businessman to allow illegal immigrants freedom, and special privileges, and The State newspaper says it makes Hispanics MORE distrustful of Law Enforcement.

A reporter from The State named Harrison Cahill says: “a woman who wanted to remain anonymous and who prepares taxes for the Hispanic community said the general feeling Hispanic people have towards police is “scared.'”

SCARED. You have a rich restaurant owner doing you favors, with a powerful sheriff, and you are SCARED. Don't make me laugh.

I bet a lot of LEGAL AMERICANS would like to get the treatment that SCARES you.
The article is pretty much a blatant propaganda piece for the amnesty bill Obama is trying to force on this country. 

Also in the article: “Jose De La Cruz of Columbia said it is hard for the Hispanic community to trust political leaders if there is nobody to hold (law enforcement) accountable.”

Nobody Holds Them Accountable?....What ROCK have you been under???? Metts was INDICTED!!!

And to top it off, it says this in the article: Metts was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for accepting bribes to keep undocumented immigrants out of jail so that they could keep working in the restaurant business. Greg Leon, the owner of some area San Jose Mexican restaurants, also was indicted for bribing Metts.

The rest of the article goes on bashing law enforcement because FAVORS WERE DONE FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS.

Forgive me: But these people have to be smarter than this. Or do they think we're stupid?

I can understand the activists who make a living off of attacking our institutions. But The State taking the stance defies all logic, and is a big hit to the newspaper's integrity.

You are not this stupid, are you?   

Liberal-Tarians are tools of the failed democrats

Liberals are having a difficult admitting to Obama,'s IRS scandal. And that could be dangerous to our recovery if they can co-opt a small percentage of self-called "Independent" or Liberal-Tarian voters.
Tom Ervin, a trial lawyer and democrat by his actions and contributions, calls himself a Republican. But he is running as an "Independent" in an effort that would elect Sen. Vincent Sheheen, the admitted democrat running against Republican Gov. Nikki Haley. 
The sometimes moderate, but left-leaning South Carolina-based FITS News site characterizes the Obama IRS targeting of his political enemies as an effort to : "discriminate against "limited government" groups." Link: Liberal-Tarians are just as culpable as liberals
In true Liberal-Tarian form and like most establishment media outposts, FITS News misses the point. His description of the IRS scandal is not accurate. 
Obama HATES CONSERVATIVES, not necessarily  limited government groups. If a group wants to limit guns, Obama likes you. If the ACLU wants to stop your right to pray to God, Obama is your friend. But like so many left-leaners, FITS is rushing to get under the umbrella of personal victim-hood. But Obama does not want to target Liberal-Tarians. He needs them. 
REVENGE 
Obama in a 2012 campaign speech, urged his followers to vote for REVENGE Link: Obama telling followers to vote for REVENGE!
Obama wants Revenge on the Americans not like him.Obama thinks "he built it" even though you did. 
He does not believe he is supposed to be representing ALL Americans, only his special interest groups.
He does not think he is in office to serve CONSERVATIVES.
And: Obama does not HATE third-party Liberal-Tarians, like FITS News. Liberal-Tarians are Obama's friend. 
Democrats have lost the center voters because Obama's REVENGE extended to many of the Liberal-Tarians who may have thought Obama was like them. 
But despite the fact that Obama has failed Liberal-Tarians, Obama hopes to maintain a small percentage of these Liberal-Tarians to do his bidding. See Virginia. In Virginia, a Liberal-Tarian candidate took just enough Republican vote away, so that a radical liberal, Terry  McAuliffe, was elected. That's what democrats are trying to arrange all over the country (see Ervin in SC.) Some Liberal-Tarians, like FITS, want to help them accomplish their plan. 
But remember, Liberal-Tarians are the democrat's best hope to get elected, after the disaster of Obama.
Don't help them. They have already done enough damage. 

The sad case of the Susan Wilkes murder, and the questions left

Susan

Accused killer, Marion Wilkes.

Westover Acres is a very calm and gentle neighborhood.

It sits just two or three miles from Downtown Columbia. There is a church on each corner of the entryway before the street where Marion and Susan Wilkes lived.

It is heartbreaking to hear this attractive, and full-of-life woman was killed at her home, by the people who should have been protecting her.

Pain poured from the pages of Facebook, as news of harm to her, trickled out. People loved her, respected her and worried about Susan Wilkes. 

One of the biggest questions asked by those who did not know her was: Is the son, her son too? How could he do what he is accused of doing to his own mother? That is very disturbing.  

Neighbors were in disbelief as the story of what really happened, began to become more clear. 

Wilkes and his son, Joe,allegedly stabbed Susan Wilkes, wrapped her body in a tarp, left her for a week, before concocting a story about her walking away.

Susan Wilkes body was found in Newberry County, buried in the yard of someone Joe Wilkes knew.

Accused Killer Joe Wilkes.

What a bizarre and sickening set of events.

There are cases where we hear of murders, but there are circumstances we more easily accept. There may be a drug habit, or drug dealing, involved that the victim is a part of.

Sometimes there is a big insurance policy, and the killer is stupid enough to believe he can kill and collect. Tales of infidelity often result in drastic actions by a spouse. 

In the Wilkes' case, the alleged murderers are lying to authorities, so it is unclear what happened. But we know it is an ugly scene. 

From Marion Wilkes strange, and at times rambling TV interview, before his wife's body was found, this case was weird. Wilkes talked about his former Sunday school students. So often we see that attempt to touch something wholesome from those involved in such a crime.

How about the report that the Wilkes, both men ages 73 and 23, had marijuana in their cars?

Strange indeed.

And for the people living in Westover Acres, especially those near the Wilkes, the level of bewilderment is intense.

This is truly a sad, and baffling, case,

Whisper campaign, why more indictments are likely in Lexington County

The fact that four people have been indicted in Lexington County, makes ears perk up, when we are told by insiders, more is to come. It took a long time, but they came. 

The reason we pay attention when a sitting county councilman, a mayor, or a state senator says there is more coming, is because the likelihood these people KNOW.
Talk to people in Lexington. They will assure you more indictments are coming. 

Elected officials get out and talk to people. When they are at the skating rink, the baseball game or the ice cream shop, people come up to them, and tell them what they know.

Sometimes the elected are questioned themselves, in connection with a case law enforcement will be sending to a grand jury.

In the Lexington indictments, charges were rumored for a year. In South Congaree, a year-or-so ago, town offices were closed by investigators, and evidence was stripped from the building. And South Congaree's former police chief was indicted earlier this week.

There was a shake-up in town government after that. 

If an FBI agent has contacted a receptionist and asked questions, that news gets out.

If a store manager has been asked to provide would-be evidence, they tell it to people they interact with in the community about who ask them what.

So when high-ranking officials say more is coming, chances are they know what they are talking about.

But even when we believe more is coming, there are questions.

When will the next round come?

Who will it be? The anticipation is irresistible. 

For some the anticipation is sport. Not always because we savor the turmoil of others. Reputations are broken, familes are harmed. The innocent will have to pay in some cases.

 But many honest, everyday Lexington County residents craves fairness in our lives.

And so many times, we see the powerful do as they please, enrich themselves to things we cannot have, and get away wit it, while we just have to, shut up, suck it up and take it. Lots of times, the privileged use taxpayer money, as if it were their own. 

So when there is justice, there is also relief and a sense of joy. We are glad that people we know are crooked, FINALLY got caught.

Hopeful democrat ed. super: Toke it for the Children!

Democrat front-runner for S.C. Education Superintendent, Sheila Gallagher, wants to legalize DOPE to pay for schools. South Carolina is a WONDERFUL state. But when we have an Education Superintendent candidate who wants to use drug money for schools, it makes us look ignorant.
Remember, this is the party that gave us Alvin Greene as their nominee for the U.S. Senate. Of course Greene is not even close to as stupid as U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. So I guess that may explain democrat logic.

Does this democrat have any idea how much production loss,  crime and health problems, drugs cause?

The media is trying to keep Gallagher, and her embarrassing ideology out of the news. But she is a walking laughingstock.  

Do we want a Education Superintendent who must live under a rock? This women is out to lunch.

Liberals have had education in South Carolina for decades, and all they have done is damage it, then tell you they MUST have more money, and they will fix it.

Just Say NO To Drugs. Just Say NO to democrats, and their STUPID ideas.  

If Benjamin has severe failings, does it matter?

A lot of voters do not punish their elected officials for immoral or even illegal behavior. This is especially true of democrats. 

Could Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, a democrat, do just about anything he wants, and still get re-elected? 

Could Benjamin, a democrat, get away with just about anything, based on his party's standards for their "leaders?"

The landmark example is President Bill Clinton. Clinton, while president, of course lied about an affair with a girl barely 20, when he was about 50. Clinton is a hero to the democrat party. He would certainly be a favorite for re-election, today, if he was eligible.

And with the nosediving popularity of President Barack Obama, after so many failures in office, Clinton may be the most-powerful democrat in the country. 

Benjamin allegedly took an overnight trip on a private jet to Florida, where he and others visited a strip club.

Benjamin, who is married, and friends, allegedly wound up taking two young women from the club back to their hotel, according to testimony from Dr. Charles Smith, a former S.C. State University administrator. Smith made his claims in a federal criminal trial Wednesday.

Benjamin has not been charged with any crime, but prosecutors have brought up his name a few times in the corruption trial. Benjamin and an associate were allegedly in Florida discussing development projects for Orangeburg and Columbia. 
Benjamin’s lawyer and spokesman had no immediate comment Wednesday. Does he really even need to respond? Do his voters care? 

When you look at the electorate among the democrat party, it would take a lot more to topple Benjamin from power. 

Strange Wilkes, missing woman interview?

Susan Reynolds Wilkes, missing since last Thursday. 

Marion Wilkes and Joseph Cody Wilkes, the husband and son of a West Columbia woman missing since last Thursday have been arrested on murder charges.
Susan Wilkes was last seen during a morning walk a week ago. She has not been found.
This is a sad case.
More information to be released later today (Thurs.)

For residents of the neighborhoods around Westover acres in West Columbia, the case of Susan's Wilkes' disappearance has been a baffling and mysterious one. Until now.

If you watched the TV interview with Marion Wilkes, last week, after his wife was reported as  "misssing" something seemed askew.
Wilkes seemed very calm, and concentrated more on lauding the West Columbia Police Department, more than he seemed worried about his wife. He also did not report her missing until a day-and-a-half after she allegedly went missing.
Marion Wilkes also mentioned in the interview trips to Charleston or to the movies, more than one movie at a time, for his wife. That's a bit unusual.
While an arrest of a husband for murder of his wife is always shocking, those who watched the video may have thought something was amiss.

Below:
Release from Scott Morrison from the office of West Columbia Police Chief Dennis Tyndall:
West Columbia Police Make Arrests In Missing Women Case
(West Columbia, S.C.) – The West Columbia Police Department has made two arrests in the disappearance of Susan R. Wilkes.
According to Chief Dennis Tyndall, his investigators have charged Marion C. Wilkes 73, of 106 Linnet Dr., West Columbia with simple possession of Marijuana and the Murder of his wife, Susan R. Wilkes. Also Joseph Cody Wilkes 23 yoa, of 106 Linnet Dr., West Columbia has been charged with Murder.
More information about this investigation will be available on Thursday June 19, 2014
Both suspects will be held at the Lexington County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.