Then... Can We Have Our Money Back?

A little look at why we love Nikki Haley.

DeMint Says NO

"I’m glad the President recognizes that tax increases hurt the economy. I mean, I guess that’s progress... most of us who ran this election said we were not going to vote for anything that increased the deficit. This does. It raises taxes, it raises the death tax. I don’t think we needed to negotiate that aspect of this thing away. I don’t think we need to extend unemployment any further without paying for it, and without making some modifications such as turning it into a loan at some point."
-Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) on The Hugh Hewitt Show

Our favorite Senator points out how lacking the tax compromise with Obama is. He won't vote for cloture and he won't vote for the bill should it make it past filibuster.

Smilin' Faces, Beautiful Places

Governor-elect Nikki Haley

Congressman-elect Mick Mulvaney (R-SC05)

Fearless

On election eve, we predict:

--Republicans will gain 74 seats in the House of Representatives-- the biggest such win since the 1920's

--Republicans will gain 10 seats in the Senate to narrowly take control 51-49

Close to home, the SACK SPRATT signs come true and Mick Mulvaney wins by 8 points

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UPDATE:
Looks like the Republicans will have 65 plus pick-ups in the House and 6,7, or 8 pick-ups in the Senate. Ten governorships flip to the R's and many state legislatures. What a massive change.

Here at home, ol' John Spratt was indeed sacked by a 10 point margin, 55-45, by Mick Mulvaney.

Republicans won every single race on the statewide ballot, most notably Nikki Haley our great new Governor.

The Congressional delegation now consists of 2 Republican Senators, 5 Republican Representatives, and 1 lone Democrat, Jim Clyburn. Even our state Representative, the longest serving legislator in Columbia, lost re-election to his Republican opponent.

What A Hoot

Everyone knows the old saw about how media lefties, when venturing from their coastal enclaves, need a visa to visit the rest of the country. A few years back this was brought to life by the internal memo warning reporters to make sure they had their shots up to date before venturing off to Alabama and North Carolina to observe those odd creatures, NASCAR fans, in their natural habitat.

Now we have a real screamer: left wing academics gathering in Berkeley, CA to figure out the "Tea Party". This is one of the most (unintentionally) amusing things I've read in a long time.

I'll offer something that may help. There is no such thing as the "Tea Party". It doesn't exist. It's like Francis Marion... a ghost... The Swamp Fox.

H/T: Maggie's Farm

Stay Cocky, My Friend

35-21

Believe Me, You Don't

The more I see national coverage of the Alvin Greene issue the more I realize that their ignorance is only eclipsed by their arrogance and condescension.


In Chinatown crusty old Noah Cross (John Huston) tries to let private eye Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) know that he's heading down the wrong path.



"You may think you know what you're dealing with, but, believe me, you don't."


Of course Jake doesn't believe him. But, Noah was exactly right.

I'll give the legacy media one small hint. If you think James Clyburn is leading you towards the truth, well, you may think you know what you're dealing with, but, believe me, you don't.

Primarily

Our primary elections are next Tuesday, June 8th, and in South Carolina we vote on every office. There is no registration by party in South Carolina. A registered voter goes in on primary day and asks for the Republican or Democrat program for the voting computer. (Every precinct in the state uses identical electronic voting machines, by the way.) Voting in the Democrat primary in statewide races is like picking the Washington Nationals to win the World Series: a pointless activity.

So, though I've never been a registered Republican in my 38 years of voting, I'll ask for the Republican ballot and vote among over 30 candidates in a dozen or so races. DeMint for Senate of course, Mulvaney for the right to knock off John Spratt this November, Loftis for State Treasurer and on and on and on.

But the race that suddenly got national attention a few weeks ago is for Governor. Two of the candidates had run and won statewide office before: McMaster the current AG, and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer. (In SC the Lt. Gov. does NOT run with the Governor like the US President/ Vice President. I've seen some outside reports that assumed that Andre Bauer was Governor Sanford's "running mate." That's not true.) As statewide office holders McMaster and Bauer polled ahead of Gresham Barrett, a US Representative from an Upstate district, and Nikki Haley, a state representative, on name recognition if nothing else.

Then a few things happened to upset the old boy network that wanted a Bauer win at best or, at least, a McMaster/ Bauer run-off. And, when you talk about The Old Boys, in South Carolina you're talking about Sanford enemy Jake Knotts and his crew.

Jake Knotts

First a few groups started to throw support and funding behind Sanford protege Haley. That helped her a bit, but nothing like what happened when Governor Sarah Palin left the NRA convention in Charlotte and stopped in Columbia to endorse Nikki.

Polls after the Palin endorsement showed Nikki Haley leaping from 4th to 1st. McMaster was now running second and that meant ol' Jake Knotts had a problem-- his boy Andre was out of the running and wouldn't even make the June 22nd run-off. But, coincidentally I'm sure, slime started oozing out of the dark corners of the state. First a hapless blogger leveled a dirty smear without any evidence. When that seemed to go nowhere a Bauer aide leveled a similar, sad, laughable attack on Haley. Since there was no evidence for this one either the electorate seemed to be seeing through it.

So, desperate, Knotts last night played trump. He intimated, in public on an Internet radio program that Nikki Haley isn't the Methodist she claimsto be, in fact ol' Jake said that like Obama, she's a "raghead." The exact quote: “We already got one raghead in the White House. We don’t need another in the Governor’s Mansion.”

And so this is what the mighty fixer Jake Knotts has come to as he sees Andre Bauer's ascendancy in grave doubt. See, with his boy Bauer in the Governor's chair Jake and his crowd would be dippin' even deeper into the emptying trough down in Columbia. Since the office of Governor is weak by design in South Carolina (see: carpetbaggers and scalawags post- War Between The States for the reason) even a Mark Sanford or Nikki Haley can't keep the oily Knotts crew from their corruption. But the difference between a Haley vetoing their schemes and a Bauer rubber-stamping them is big. Big enough for Jake Knotts to pull out everything his ugly mind can think of-- but will the voters fall for the sleaze and insult campaign next Tuesday?

The days of guys like John Spratt and Jake Knotts are coming to an end. We hope it starts Tuesday June 8th. That would be change we can believe in.

UPDATE: Nikki Haley got 49% of the vote. Her closest competitor, who she will meet in a 6/22 runoff, was 27 percentage points behind. Jake's boy, Andre Bauer, finished dead last.

It's CWS Time

The NCAA College World Series Tournament begins this weekend so over Memorial Day weekend the 64 teams and the brackets were announced. Of course, while the NCAA basketball tournament gets extensive media attention, only hardcore baseball fans followthe CWS.

Around these parts we're pretty pleased that FIVE South Carolina teams made the tournament. Throw in the state to the north of us and 8 of the 64 entries are from the Carolinas. Two of the 16 first round tourney sites are in SC: Coastal Carolina U in Conway (over near Myrtle Beach), and USC in Columbia. In fact, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are the #4 seed in the entire tournament-- a tremendous achievement for the Chants.

Good luck to all the South Carolina teams: The Citadel Bulldogs, College of Charleston Cougars, Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers, Clemson University Tigers, and the Carolina Gamecocks.

Carolina Stadium, USC, Columbia, SC

From 4th To 1st

In March Rasmussen Reports found that in the Republican primary race for Governor of our state Nikki Haley was out of the running in 4th place with 12% support.

Thursday they released their latest data and Haley has jumped to a double digit lead over the field. So... what happened in the meantime? A few things, but chiefly, this:

If no candidate reaches 50% in the June 8th primary election the top two will be in a run-off.

School's Out For Summer

Looking for sandy, oil-free beaches.

Winds of Change

Maybe all it took to get some of the crustiest old Dems out of DC was to put them in charge of everything.

We can't do anything about most of those races, but we can do our part to send John Spratt back home this November.

Mick Mulvaney is just the guy to do that.

One of 'em who come runnin'-- every time

The big story in our little unincorporated community the past week has been the death of SC Highway Patrol trooper, Cpl. D. Kevin Cusack.

How big a story? Well, 700 people came to the neighborhood for his memorial service-- including the Governor.

York County Sheriff's deputies had taken over almost all the Highway Patrol's duties Monday so as many troopers as possible could attend the services. One of the deputies in the middle of the road was a guy with creases in his face deep as any furrow plowed by a mule in red clay soil, named Ronnie Wilburn.
"There's those who love the police, and there's those who don't," Wilburn said. "But I can tell you that it don't matter one way or another, when people need help, in a house or out here on the roads, we come runnin'. Cusack was one of 'em who come runnin' - every time."

The Rock Hill Herald tells it well.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

The Intimidator.

A Long Bumpy Road

Byron York has surmised that it's not too early to start handicapping the 2012 Republican presidential primaries. Since the state of South Carolina usually picks the winner (who sometimes turns out to be a loser, see: Dole, McCain) Mr. York decides to focus on the Palmetto State. What he finds out is... it's too soon to tell, but it will be interesting.

Play Ball!

College baseball opening day is here. The USC Gamecocks take on Duquesne in Columbia at 3PM and the Clemson University Tigers host Miami of Ohio at 4PM in Clemson, SC.

Clear blue skies and temperatures in the upper 50's are predicted for both games.

Now, play ball!

Upset

Congratulations to coach Bobby Cremins and his College of Charleston Cougars for their upset victory over the fellows from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We don't care a bit about basketball but we do know that the Tar Heels are well regarded in that athletic endeavour and have allowed the national media to call their school "Carolina" over the years.

The report on the exciting battle is here. Frankly, we haven't read the story because, well, it's basketball. But, good job Cougars.

Clemson Wins Music City Bowl

Congratulations to Clemson University! The Tigers beat SEC representative University of Kentucky up in Nashville last evening 21-13. It was an entertaining contest from start to finish and the Tigers had just a one point lead when the great C.J. Spiller zipped in for a 4th quarter score that secured the win.

Spiller scores the final TD.

Details and more pictures in the Greenville News.

Tigers In Championship Game

Congratulations to the Clemson Tigers and their offensive dynamo, C.J. Spiller for the berth in the ACC Championship game against the Ramblin' Wreck. Go Tigers!

Don't worry about next week's game, fellas. Just think about Georgia Tech.

Next week in Columbia doesn't matter. Only winning December 5th in Tampa and an Orange Bowl bid to follow should be on your minds!

No Voting

We are the "votingest" people I've ever seen here in the Palmetto State. If there is an election day we have something to vote on. Partly this is because nearly every statewide office is up for a vote by the people. By constitution the governor appoints pretty much nobody. This goes back to the time just after The War Between the States when citizens were worried that a powerful, Yankee-appointed governor could put a bunch of scalawags and carpetbaggers in all the state offices. So, there are party primaries for every office and then general elections and propositions plus local elections and on and on.

But this election day is different. We don't have a single thing to vote on. Our neighbors right up the road have a state congressional election-- but we got nuthin'. I have voter withdrawal today. Luckily, it's in the 70's and there isn't a cloud in the sky so I can be outside all day (with periodic looks at the trading screen) and think about things other than elections. I hear there's one in New Jersey, and another in Virginia, and one in New York that are getting lots of attention. In nearby Charlotte they're picking a new mayor-- the last one has been in office for fourteen years and is a likable chap. But, we have nothing to vote on here. Somehow we'll get by.