The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Illinois Family Institute ‘Hate Group’; Racist Murder Gang, Not So Much

Posted on | April 3, 2013 | 20 Comments

Dr. Ben Carson has agreed to speak to a pro-family organization which a liberal blogger condemns as a “notorious anti-gay hate group.”

In other words, they think sodomy is a bad idea, an opinion that the Left wishes to forbid. By contrast, the Black Liberation Army — a racial terrorist organization that murdered people — is perfectly OK with liberals, who have provided a Columbia University professorship to 1981 Brinks robbery accomplice Kathy Boudin.

Notorious hatemonger Ace of Spades examines the Left’s logic:

Convicted felony murderer Kathy Boudin is an adjunct professor at Columbia.
But Ben Carson is, according to the left, a “monster.”
He saved lives while Kathy Boudin was ending them. Obviously he’s a monster and she’s a Distinguished Intellectual. Nice leftwing people on Twitter said so.

So . . . disapproving of sodomy is bad, wrong and evil; helping terrorists murder Police Officer Waverly Brown, that’s OK.

If you don’t understand the progressive principle involved here, I’m sure Brett Kimberlin could explain it for you.

UPDATE: Not directly related, but James Taranto remembers a conveniently forgotten racist mass murderer: “Every problem he was involved in he attached some racial motivation to the person and institution he was dealing with.”

UPDATE II: How to get appointed to the Columbia faculty:

“Boudin was personally involved in at least a dozen bombings across the country — including at the Pentagon, the US Capitol and NYPD headquarters — before the Brinks job. She also rented cars both for bank robberies and for the prison escape of cop-killer Joanne Chesimard.”

 

 


Category: Crime, Terrorism

LIVE AT FIVE: 04.03.13

Posted on | April 3, 2013 | 4 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Alabama Lawmakers Tighten Abortion Clinic Regulations

"Crowds" gather to protest tighter abortion clinic regs

“Crowds” gather to protest tighter abortion clinic regs

Apparently requiring local doctors with hospital privileges is a crime against women now

Malaysian PM Dissolves Parliament Before Election
Will the ruling Barisan Nasional party hang on for a 57th year in power?

NY Politicians Arrested In Alleged Mayoral Race Bribe Scheme
Democrat NY state senator accused of trying to buy Republican nomination



POLITICS
SecDef Hagel Calls Norks’ Nuke Ambitions A “Growing Threat”

Great Successor and his posse

Great Successor and his posse

Hagel talks with Chicom Defense Minister as Norks crank up the tension

Intruder Killed Outside Colorado DA’s Home

Indicted Atlanta Educators Surrender In Cheating Scandal

Suspended Priest Pleads Guilty To Meth Charges

AP Stylebook Drops “Illegal Immigrant”

Customers Rush To Connecticut Gun Stores Before Vote On Ban

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) Pushes Bill Requiring Liability Insurance For Gun Owners

Budget Cuts, Immigration Debates Lead To Surge Of Illegals Across Mexican Border

At West Point, A Nearly Full Cemetery (Video)



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Crude Oil Drops In Asian Trade: NYMEX $96.62, Brent $110.24
Fed Officials Cautiously Optimistic On Economic Growth
Survey: Frugality Reigns Five Years Into Crisis
J.C. Penney’s CEO Gets No Stock Award Or Bonus After Dismal Year
US Stocks Fall As American Manufacturing Index Slips
SEC Approves Using Facebook, Twitter For Company Disclosures
Eurozone Hits Record High 12% Unemployment
Sierra Club Sues Over Coal Spills From Trains
Verizon, AT&T EXplore $245 Billion Takeover Of Vodafone
Zynga Says Former OMGPOP CEO Porter Leaving One Year After Deal
Former SEC Head Joins Consulting Firm
Apple Had Designed iPhone 5 And Successor Before Steve Jobs’ Death
Yahoo Teams Up With Dropbox
Nebula Launches Its OpenStack “System”
Twitter Cards Adds More Mobile App Deep-Linking, New Cards
Playboy Calls Your Bluff, Releases iPhone App With “Just The Articles”



SPORTS
Yu Darvish Flirts With Perfect Game

Yu mad, astros?

Yu mad, Astros?

Houston breaks up bid with two outs in ninth, lose anyway 7-0

CNN Video Shows Rutgers Coach Shoving, Hitting, Cursing Players

Kobe’s Triple-Double Pushes Lakers Past Mavericks

Pens’ Win Streak Snapped At 15 By Sabres

Jay-Z Will Keep Cano In Pinstripes

Skylar Diggins Leads Irish Women Past Duke

Caps Beat Hurricanes, Creep Closer To First

Tribe Beats Dickey, Jays 4-1

Bruins Don’t Wait For Jagr, Hold Off Senators 3-2

Rafael Soriano, Untucked



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Emma Watson Covers GQ

She used to be Hermione Granger.

She used to be Hermione Granger.

Talks about stardom, sex, stalkers and The Bling Ring

Tom Hanks To Be Grandpa Again

Amy Poehler’s New Man

Angelina Jolie Opens All-Girl School In Afghanistan

John Mayer Talks Split With Katy Perry On Ellen DeGeneres Show

Jimmy Fallon Closes “Tonight Show” Deal, Seth Meyers Eyed For “Late Night”

Angelina Jolie & Lady Gaga Finances Exposed By Celebrity Hackers


Audrey Hepburn’s Son: My Mother Never Thought She Was Beautiful

HBO Renews “Game Of Thrones” For 4th Season

Hilary Duff Set To Play Ashton Kutcher’s Love Interest On “Two And A Half Men” Season Finale

Lindsay Lohan Decides At Last Minute To Stay In Brazil “Against Everyone’s Advice”

Beyonce Covers Amy Winehouse For “The Great Gatsby”



FOREIGNERS
PM Singh: India’s Economic Downturn Temporary
Israel Launches Airstrikes On Gaza After Rockets Fired Into Southern Israel
Seven Killed, City Darkened In Attack On Peshawar Grid Station
Putin Gives Officials Two Months To Get Rid Of Foreign Assets
Double Standard Emerges In Brazil’s Tourist Gang Rape Investigation
UK Considers Cutting Minimum Wage To Boost Jobs
Canadians’ Alleged Role In Algeria Plot Stokes Fears Of Homegrown Terrorism
Paki Youth Prefer Sharia To Democracy
US Warns Egypt’s Transition May Be Backsliding



BLOGS & STUFF
First Street Journal: The UN Small Arms Treaty
Sense of Events: Guns Will Be Banned By Hook Or By Crook
American Power: It’s Only Racist When White People Say It
Michelle Malkin: Academia Hearts The Weather Underground
Questions And Observations: Regulation Tends To Cost Poor People More
Former DNC Spokeswoman Karen “Crazy Crackers On The Right” Finney Gets Own MSNBC Show
Weasel Zippers: AP Drops “Illegal Immigrant” From Stylebook
Erika Johnsen: Poll – Two Thirds Of Americans Ready For The Keystone Pipeline
Bryan Preston: Obama Underling Promotes President To “Scientist In Chief”
Protein Wisdom: Dr. Ben Carson Says White Liberals “The Most Racist People There Are”
Twitchy: Vicious Liberals Prove Dr. Carson Right
Allahpundit: Senate Gay Marriage Pool Update – Democrat Tom Carper, Republican Mark Kirk Evolve
Gateway Pundit: Bill O’Reilly Blows Up At Laura Ingraham In “Thump The Bible” Gay Marriage Sacrament
Lonely Conservative: New FDA Regulations Could Hike Food Prices


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Category: Live at Five

Fear and Loathing in the Lowcountry UPDATE: Trail Hiker Wins GOP Runoff

Posted on | April 2, 2013 | 71 Comments

UPDATE 11:15 p.m. ET: Welcome, Instapundit readers! As you surely know by now, 1st District GOP voters chose Mark Sanford by a 57-43 margin over Curtis Bostic. A few quick reactions from my Twitter account:

There be plenty of time to re-hash everything tomorrow, but for now: Please hit the tip jar to help pay for this trip.

UPDATE 7:20 p.m. ET: Liveblogging the special election results.

“I had come up to New Hampshire to write a long thing on the McGovern campaign — but after twelve hours in Manchester I hadn’t seen much to indicate that it actually existed, and I was beginning to wonder what the fuck I was going to write about for that issue. . . .
“[I]n mid-February of 1972 there were no visible signs, in New Hampshire, that the citizenry was about to rise up and drive the swine from the temple. Beyond that, it was absolutely clear — according to the Wizards, Gurus, and Gentlemen Journalists in Washington — that Big Ed Muskie, the Man from Maine, had the Democratic nomination so deep in the bag that it was hardly worth arguing about.
“Nobody argued with the things McGovern said. He was right, of course — but nobody took him very seriously, either . . .”
— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72

CHARLESTON, S.C.
Curtis Bostic’s congressional campaign is not exactly an uprising by the citizenry determined to “drive the swine from the temple.” No sane person thinks of South Carolina politics as a temple, and these folks prefer their swine hickory-smoked, slow-cooked, and slathered in vinegar-based sauce.

All the Wizards, Gurus and Gentlemen Journalists expect GOP voters in the 1st District to choose Mark Sanford as their nominee in today’s runoff election because, apparently, adultery is more popular than Jesus in South Carolina.

Speaking of Gentleman Journalists, National Review‘s Jim Geraghty recently paid a visit to Hilton Head:

As one Beaufort County resident put it to me, “I’m hearing folks say, ‘My pastor says I should vote for [Bostic]'”

If the counsel of clergy is heeded, the headline on a Bostic victory will be Miracle Upset, but polls indicate that Christianity itself is now viewed as a liability by South Carolina Republicans, unless it is the cheap-grace gospel wherein Mark Sanford’s 2009 embarrassment is shrugged off as something inconsequential that only the Liberal Media Elite care about. There may still be Republicans who take “family values” seriously, but they are neither fashionable nor influential, and none of the Wizards and Gurus think that the anti-adultery vote will amount to a majority in today’s GOP runoff.

The big news today is that Stephen Colbert will host fundraisers for his sister, the Democrat who already enjoys a vast advantage in campaign cash and who can rely on the united efforts of the Democrat Party to win the May 7 special election.

Meanwhile, for the past week or so, various True Conservatives have been trying to convince people that it is a terrible scandal that Ali Akbar was hired to help promote the candidacy of a Marine Corps veteran and homeschooling father of five. It’s even being treated as semi-scandalous that I’m down here providing my customary Neutral Objective Journalism about the campaign. Of course, Hunter S. Thompson committed more felonies before breakfast every day than have ever been alleged against Ali, and I’ve been up-front about my opinion ever since my first March 20 post about this race, “S.C. Primary: Will Tea Party Rally Behind Curtis Bostic Against Mark Sanford?”

Last night, I found myself in a deep discussion with our hostess here — a Christian homeschooling mother of seven — who was mystified by the hatred against Ali. My best explanation is that Ali’s enemies are like Ferris Bueller’s sister:

“Why should he get to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants? Why should everything work out for him? What makes him so goddamn special?”

It is not Ali’s admitted failures, but his successes, that make him the object of so much wrathful resentment. At a time when the GOP is in a condition of demoralized disarray, there is no shortage of idle and disgruntled Republicans who have nothing better to do than to recycle the same old stories, embellished with new allegations, and I’d be happy to ignore it all, if it didn’t have such a harmfully distracting effect.

Some of my blogger friends seem to have forgotten that it was Ali who, as a consultant to the campaign that elected Scott Brown to the Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, ensured that bloggers like myself, Da Tech Guy, Ace of Spades and Pamela Geller had prime seating at the victory party that January 2010 night in Boston. Pudding, anyone?

Is there a strain of Charles Johnson-ism in all this? Are there people trying to set themselves up as Supreme Arbiters of who is and is not acceptable inside the Big Tent? And, if so, why are they simultaneously indignant about having Ali Akbar work as a digital strategist, but blithely indifferent to having Mark Sanford become the “face” of the Republican Party?

Some would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

Having done all in my power to make peace among friends, I find myself in a familiar place: No one asks for my advice, and when I volunteer advice, I’m ignored. People who claim to like and trust me refuse to listen to me, and instead heed the counsel of those who notoriously hate me.

There is no point trying to blame anyone for this state of affairs. It is what it is, and merely explaining it won’t fix it, but the search for scapegoats — the effort to externalize blame by pointing the finger at our enemies as the cause of woe — is not usually a portent of future success. Certainly, my own personal shortcomings explain my failures better than do any injustices I’ve suffered, and I just wish some of my friends could see their situations in the same light, rather than encouraging vindictive dogpile attacks on their chosen enemies — who also just so happen to be my friends.

No point in blame, no hope for redemption, and no rest for the weary this side of the grave. Please hit the tip jar to pay for this bizarre exercise in Fear and Loathing.

 

 

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Category: Fear. Loathing., South Carolina

New York’s ‘Show-Me-the-Money Culture’ Produces Bizarre Bribery Scandal

Posted on | April 2, 2013 | 7 Comments

Reporting it at ViralRead:

A New York state senator and a city councilman from Queens were arrested today in what federal officials say was an illegal scheme to rig this year’s election for mayor of New York City.
The FBI arrested both state Sen. Malcolm Smith and city Councilman Dan Halloran for their roles in an a alleged bribery scheme to get Smith, a top Democrat, placed on the mayoral ballot as a Republican.

The money quote, so to speak, is from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara:

“Today’s charges demonstrate, once again, that a show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of New York government. The complaint describes an unappetizing smorgasbord of graft and greed involving six officials who together built a corridor of corruption stretching from Queens and the Bronx to Rockland County and all the way up to Albany itself.”

More at Memeorandum.

Category: Corruption, New York

Police Hunt Homeless Suspect

Posted on | April 2, 2013 | 4 Comments

Tobias Dustin Summers is homeless. He is also a career criminal. And now he is the object of a manhunt in California:

Los Angeles police on Saturday identified a suspect in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a young Northridge girl last week as a 30-year-old transient with an extensive criminal history.
Tobias Dustin Summers, who was released from jail in January after serving six days for a probation violation, is the primary focus of the police investigation, LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said at an afternoon news conference at police headquarters downtown.
Summers has a criminal history dating back to 2002 that includes charges of kidnapping, robbery, explosives possession and petty theft, Albanese said. Summers is not a registered sex offender, but authorities said he was arrested on suspicion of battery in 2009 in a case that involved child annoyance. . . .
Authorities described Summers as a transient who frequents North Hollywood and other areas of the San Fernando Valley.

Ten years ago, I wrote an article about the criminal threat posed by the homeless population:

A survey conducted [in 2001] by the Boston Rescue Mission found that 49 percent of their clients said they had criminal records, and 32 percent said they had spent time in prison, while 12 percent said they were discharged directly from a prison to a shelter.
A study in Cambridge, Mass., found that the homeless, though 0.5 percent of the population, accounted for 10 percent of all arrests during a two-year period — including 40 arrests for assault or aggravated assault, 18 for burglary, eight for robbery, 54 for shoplifting, 18 for sale or possession of narcotics, and one for rape.
In Los Angeles, a police sweep of the homeless in December resulted in 214 arrests, including the capture of more than 100 parole violators. . . .

You can read the whole thing, which is still as valid as it was in 2003, when a homeless man named Brian David Mitchell was arrested for the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.

Category: Crime

LIVE AT FIVE: 04.02.13

Posted on | April 2, 2013 | 13 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Supreme Court Declares Appeals Court All Wet In Whirlpool Case

No class certification for YOU!

No class certification for YOU!

6th Circuit directed to reconsider endorsement of group lawsuit in light of recent Comcast decision


Capriles Gathers Momentum In Venezuela
Is Chavista candidate Maduro headed for a loss?


Death Penalty Sought For Aurora Killer
D.A. rejects defense guilty plea that would have given mass murderer life without parole



POLITICS
Connecticut Legislators Agree On Broad New Gun Control Measures

Useful fools

Useful fools

Gun grabbers still disappointed

Lawsuit Over Health Care Tax Could Kill ObamaCare

Clerical Error Led To Early Release Of Suspect In Colorado Prison Chief’s Murder

Texas DA’s Murder Has Prosecutors On Alert

Federal Judge Approves Stockton’s Filing For Bankruptcy

Attacks On Magnificent Mile, CTA Dim Glow From Drop In Chicago’s Murder Rate

Gov. Christie Signs Law Enacting Tight Restrictions On Teen Tanning



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Brent Steadies Under $111, US Demand Drags: NYMEX $96.88, Brent $110.86
Stocks Fail To Follow Through On Record Close
Japan Stocks Slide As Yen Rises
Good News For Cable Cord-Cutters In Aereo Win
Feds Delay Implementation Of Small-Business Insurance Market
Icahn Buys 9.3% Stake In Nuance Communications
American Airlines, Orbitz Settle Lawsuits
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Airlines’ Appeal Of Ad Rule
American Greetings To Be Taken Private
Apple CEO Apologizes For Warranty Policy In PRC
Google’s Privacy Czar Resigns
Why Facebook Home Is Potentially Brilliant
WinPhone Gains At BlackBerry’s Expense
Nuance Launches Mobile Voice Ads: Annoyance Or Gold Mine?
Latest OS Share Data Shows Windows Still Dominating PCs
Feedly Updates Mobile App, Reports 3 Million Google Reader Refugees
Russian Government Selectively Blocks Site Access
Raspberry Pi Sells Out At $25 Price



SPORTS
Football Legend Jack Pardee Dies, 76

Pardee, the coaching the Oilers, is drenched after a victory over the Steelers in 1991

Pardee, then coaching the Oilers, is drenched after a victory over the Steelers in 1991

One of Bear Bryant’s “Junction Boys” at Texas A&M, he went on to coach the Oilers, Bears, and Redskins as well as WFL, CFL and USFL teams

Celtics Lose To Timbermutts

Blackhawks Beat Predators 3-2 In Shootout

UConn Ladies Crush Kentucky 83-53, Advance To Final Four

Rangers Stop Jets 4-2

Red Sox Pound Shaky Sabathia For 8-2 Opening Day Win Over Yanks

Price Saves 18 As Habs Beat Hurricanes 4-1

Hawks Thrash Cavaliers 102-94

Harper, Strasburg Give Nats Opening Day Win Against Fish



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Britain’s First Black Marchioness: How I Beat The Snobs

Emma McQuiston

Emma McQuiston

Former actress and celebrity chef marrying into one of Britain’s most eccentric aristocratic families

Ryan Gosling Will Beat Down Any Trick Who Calls Eva Mendes “Baby”

No, Lindsay Did Not Demand Adderall In Plea Deal, Lawyer Says

“Buckwild” Star Shain Gandee Found Dead, Probably From Carbon Monoxide

Heidi Klum Saves Son Henry From Drowning

“Glee” Star Cory Monteith Checks Into Rehab For Drug Abuse

Beverly Mitchell Welcomes Daughter Kenzie Lynne

Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Selena Gomez, Laurence Fishburne Join “Rudderless”

New Book Claims Freddie Mercury Snuck Princess Di (Disguised As A Man) Into A Gay Bar



FOREIGNERS
Islamic School Fire Kills 13 Children In Yangon, Burma
Caroline Kennedy Eyed As Possible Ambassador To Japan
Hamas Re-Elects Meshaal As Leader
Female Tourist Shun India After Fatal Delhi Rape; 35% Decline
Privately Owned Daily Newspapers Return To Burma After 50 Years
Sudan’s Bashir Orders Political Prisoners Released
Feminists Get Hot And Bothered Over Signs Pope Francis May Be Liberal
Norks Appoint “Reformer” To Top Leadership Post
6000 Syrians Killed In March, Deadliest Month Yet
Tribal Women To Challenge Men At Pakistani Polls



BLOGS & STUFF
American Power: Oops! Small Businesses Limited To Single Health Plan Under ObamaCare
First Street Journal: Curtis Bostic For Congress!
Michelle Malkin: The Bloody Company Hollywood Keeps
Allahpundit: Democratic Gay Marriage Pool Update – Bob Casey Now In Favor Of SSM
Pat Dollard: Pro-Palestinian Nonprofit Apologizes For Accusing Jews Of Using Christian Blood During Passover
The Blaze: Lady Gaga Turned Down $1 Million Offer From RNC
Gateway Pundit: US Moves Destroyer Off Korea, PRC Mobilizes Forces In Border Region
NRO Corner: GOP Rep Matt Salmon Says His Gay Son Hasn’t Changed His Opinion On Gay Marriage
Protein Wisdom: As The Country Slides Into Liberal Fascism, Conservatives Are Being Set Up As The Scapegoat
The Virginian: NPR’s First Person Shooter Fantasy
Ed Driscoll: Gray Lady = Great Timing
Via Meadia: NYT Pushing “California Comeback” Over Heads Of Poor, Jobless
Weasel Zippers: Palestinian Islamists Stone Jews Trying To Pray At Temple Mount On Passover
NewsBusters: The New York Times’ Mortifying Easter Error
Watts Up With That?: James Hansen To Leave NASA For Full Time Activism
The Truth About Guns: Universal Background Checks Will Increase Spree Killing
Jawa Report: Heartbreak! Fatwa Issued Against Jabba’s Palace Lego Set
Lonely Conservative: White House Sends Furlough Notices To OMB Workers


Apologies for the lack of linkagery yesterday; I was still recovering from the flu. Also, I’m terrible at April Fools jokes.


Category: Live at Five

The Final Push in South Carolina: Candidate Showdown at Aunt Chilada’s

Posted on | April 1, 2013 | 10 Comments

CHARLESTON, S.C.
It’s about 100 miles to Hilton Head and took me more than two hours today, but I wanted to be there for this event:

Republicans crowded into a Hilton Head restaurant Monday afternoon to hear Republican congressional candidates Curtis Bostic and Mark Sanford discuss issues in their final meeting before Tuesday’s runoff in the 1st District special election.
The two candidates took questions for more than an hour during the “First Monday” forum at Aunt Chilada’s, a day before voters in the Lowcountry district choose the GOP nominee who will face Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Bush in the May 7 special election to fill the House seat vacated by the appointment of Tim Scott to the Senate. . . .

You can read the whole thing. The big national news from SC-1 today was that Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch scrubbed her Twitter account, perhaps in an effort to hide messages that would estrange Republican voters. What does this mean? If Sanford wins Tuesday, Democrat think Colbert Busch can peel off some GOP voters disgusted with Sanford.

The potential for a backlash against Republicans if they nominate Sanford is a factor his supporters refuse to acknowledge. Dana Pico at First Street Journal sees it:

Mr. Sanford’s affair is not the disqualifying issue for me. Rather, the problem is that he showed terrible, terrible judgment in thinking he could get away with his actions, and he abandoned his post!
He abandoned his post. That is disqualifying. . . .
The way he did it, just taking off, virtually guaranteed that the whole smarmy thing would become known; sitting Governors don’t just take off like that. If he had somehow thought that he would get away with it, he’s an idiot. That stupidity alone makes him a lousy candidate; abandoning his post makes him a completely unacceptable one.

 Democrats have a poll showing Colbert Busch leading in this district. Do voters really want to make these cute kids cry?

CURTIS BOSTIC for U.S. CONGRESS

 


 

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Category: Election, South Carolina

Sometimes, It Really Matters

Posted on | April 1, 2013 | 18 Comments

Social media a key part of the campaign
for Mark Sanford, Curtis Bostic
— Charleston Post and Courier

CHARLESTON, S.C.
The campaign action today is down on the south side of the district with events in Beaufort and Hilton Head and, with the Republican runoff Tuesday, we’re down to the point of the race where it’s all about turnout: Get out the vote.

What “social media” has accomplished for Curtis Bostic here is to raise awareness of who he is — a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Desert Storm and married father of five — and to inform the public that this runoff offers an important choice. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why Rick Santorum, Ann Coulter, Dr. James Dobson, Concerned Women for America, the 60 Plus Seniors Association, One Nation PAC and former Congressman Henry Brown have endorsed Bostic. Not just the fate of the 1st District, but the reputation of the Republican Party is at stake on Tuesday. The Hilton Head Island Packet:

Sanford disappeared for five days while he was governor in 2009, telling his staff he was out hiking the Appalachian Trial. Later, he tearfully revealed at a Statehouse news conference he was in Argentina seeing a woman he later called his soul mate and to whom is now engaged.
Sanford, mentioned then as a possible presidential candidate, ended up divorcing his wife, Jenny.
Bostic says that behavior has left Sanford a compromised candidate who would give the Democrats a shot at taking back a district they have not held in more than three decades.

Given a credible alternative to Sanford, an alternative to handing Democrats and the media — but I repeat myself — a chance to use the Appalachian Trail hiker as a club to beat up Republicans and revive the “war on women” meme, what conservative wouldn’t choose Curtis Bostic instead?

That was what was on my mind the morning of March 20 when I wrote, “S.C. Primary: Will Tea Party Rally Behind Curtis Bostic Against Mark Sanford?” It seemed obvious to me then, and still seems equally obvious to me now, that this was the opportunity to make a difference. Others disagree, and we don’t need to name names of people who made the calculation that the “name-ID” factor was so overwhelmingly in Sanford’s favor that there was no way Bostic could close the gap.

Maybe they’re right. And maybe Will Folks is right, too.

The other day, I used the term “narcissistic sociopath” to describe Folks, who became nationally notorious in 2010 when he claimed to have had an affair with Nikki Haley. Today, Folks responded — you knew he would, right? — to that description, and his response amounted to an apologia for utter cynicism about the political process in America:

Here’s the thing, though: America is almost $17 trillion in debt, has over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities and has decided the one thing it wants to “create” above everything else is more dependency. So, whether Mark Sanford beats Curtis Bostic (or Curtis Bostic beats Mark Sanford) – all we’re talking about at the end of the day is which gnat won a wrestling match on Topsy the elephant’s ass just prior to Thomas Edison switching on 6,600 volt current that killed the poor beast . . .
It just doesn’t matter that much anymore.
Like that guy from Deadspin says, “it’s all professional wrestling.”
More to the point, South Carolina is on the verge of not mattering that much to me anyone because it is clearly never, ever, ever going to change.

The thing about cynicism is, it’s too easy nowadays.

Believing that elections really matter? That’s hard.

Nevertheless, I choose to believe. As bad as it is — and South Carolina GOP politics is about as ugly as it gets — surrendering to cynicism would be a coward’s choice, because you can’t make a difference if you don’t think it makes a difference.

CURTIS BOSTIC for U.S. CONGRESS

 


 

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Category: South Carolina
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