Tag: James L. Petigru

SC General Assembly Bolsheviks?

It didn’t take long for ‘stupid’ to raise its head in the current legislative session of the SC General Assembly.
Yesterday state Rep. Mike Pitts (R-Laurens) introduced a bill to clamp down on the media in the state.

Called the “South Carolina Responsible Journalism Registry Law”, Pitts proposes to set requirements for journalists working in the media, including registration requirements with the Office of the Secretary of State and fee payments.

Even Pitts acknowledges his bill stands no chance of passing (it is unconstitutional as well as being plain stupid). But, such is the way of the General Assembly in most years.

According to reports, Pitts told one media outlet his bill is meant to stimulate discussion of how the Second Amendment is treated in the press (according to Pitts’ interpretation of articles at least.)

If I get this right, we have a South Carolina lawmaker who wishes to violate the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law…abridging freedom of speech or of the press,” in order to guarantee the Second Amendment is not criticized.

That’s virtually straight out of Lenin and his Bolshevik revolution – grab control of the press so you control the message and eliminate all opposition to your political views.

I seriously doubt there is a nascent Communist Party rearing its head in Columbia, but ‘one never knows do one?’

General Assembly Failing Citizens Again

SC House Confederate Flag Debate Today

The SC House of Representatives will begin today what should be the final debate on removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds.

After a bill to remove the flag raced through the SC Senate in the last two days, garnering only three No votes, momentum is on the side of removing the flag.

But, the House may not be as easy even though the bill received first reading approval yesterday.

A total of 26 amendments to the bill are already filed with the possibility of more coming.

Some of the amendments deal with flags to replace the current one when it comes down.

Some are in the realm of the absurd – just like South Carolina politics most of the time.

One, I am told, calls for the American flag to be flown upside down when the Confederate flag is removed. This may not be as ridiculous as it first sounds.

Flying the American flag upside down is an international signal of distress. That seems very appropriate in an area near the statehouse.

Obamacare Nullification Fails, the Revenge of James L. Petigru

Somewhere James L. Petigru has a little smile on his face today as South Carolina’s latest attempt at nullification of a federal law went down in the S.C. Senate earlier this week.

Petigru, a 19th Century lawyer, legislator, S.C. attorney general and judge, was a leader of anti-nullification forces in South Carolina before the Civil War and critic of secession, yet a well-respected Charleston resident both before and after the war.

When South Carolina voted to secede from the Union in December 1860, Petigru uttered his most famous quote, calling the state “too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.”

SCGOP In-Fighting

Nikki Haley and her Dead Voters

The Columbia Free Times reported last week that the claim of Gov. Nikki Haley that dead persons were voting in South Carolina elections was completely unfounded.

Of the 957 deceased voters Gov. Nikki Haley alleged voted in statewide elections, exactly none have been verified.

After 18 months of investigation, SLED issued a 500 page report last week finding no evidence that anyone cast a ballot in the name of a dead person.

Secession Again?

An unpopular (in some regions) candidate wins a close election in a sharply divided country to serve as president over the next four years. Sounds like a good reason for secession.

1860?

No, 2012, but, once again the secession beat is being heard in South Carolina and thoughts of James L. Petigru come to mind.

Elements in the state are trying to revisit history as new petitions to secede from the Union emerged on the White House website over the weekend following the presidential election.