Yukon Cornelius: 'Fog here's as thick as Peanut Butter'Hermie: 'You mean Pea Soup'
Yukon: 'YOU EAT WHAT YOU LIKE, I'LL EAT WHAT I LIKE !!!!!!'
RINO'S, RINO'S, RINO'S -it's one of our favorite topics, mostly because the argument is laughable. It's all relative to where you live, and even just one person with a laptop's opinion. You may have noticed, we have NEVER called anyone a RINO. We've called them crooks, liars and even ugly, but in our book, if you call yourself a Republican, then you are one. 'RINO' and 'Real Republican' are judgement terms, and in our opinion, flawed and rude terms......
That brings us to our post today. We got a couple Facebook messages this week about the Solicitor race between Republican RoseMary Parham and incumbent Democrat Ed Clements. A brouhaha developed when Clements allegedly made comments about Parham's GOP credibility. We don't normally print hearsay, but we have to in order to make the point. Clements supposedly said that Parham was really a Democrat, that she held a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2008 at her home, and that he was more of a Republican than she was. That's the gist of what I got. This set off a firestorm within the Florence County GOP, especially among the Florence Republican Women, who see Parham as their top priority.
Yeah, the e-mails and comments were fast and furious for a little bit there. Proof of her voting record were produced, and her not being listed for any campaign contributions as well. Of course, the terms 'RINO' and 'Real Republican' got thrown all over, which finally caused us to stop ignoring this kinda silly fight, and try to give some sage advice from a guy who's seen a battle or two...
We'll make this short and sweet..... Is Clements actually a Republican? It's entirely possible, but we don't know. Is Parham a RINO? Who knows. Maybe she had the fundraiser, but didn't file, although we doubt it. There is one undeniable fact here: trying to figure out whether a candidate is a Republican or a Democrat in Florence County - or anywhere in the Pee Dee and most of the 6th District - is an exercise in futility. Picking a party for the path of least resistance is par for the course here. When the winds change, candidates will flip-flop on a dime. That's the way it is here - almost everyone is a RINO, or a DINO, or a Bam-Bam - but there are only a few Betty's....
For those of you working on the Clements-Parham teams, I have some bad news for you. This is going to be the tightest, most hard-fought race locally this year. Fighting over who's a Real Republican or RINO is a waste of your time. No one cares, nor should they. Personally, I think that poltical affiliation in law enforcement of any kind is a disservice to our citizens. I could care less if my Solicitor or Sheriff is a Republican or Democrat, just as long as she/he does a good job - and most feel the same as me. There are Republicans with Clements stickers on their cars, and Democrats with Parham stickers on their as well. You will have to do it the old-fashioned way...... You'll have to win on the merits of your candidate, and knocking on doors. You can't slander your way to a win - you'll have to earn it, and that's a beautiful thing. Just like it used to be......
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6 comments:
Good piece
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. How are things on The Slough today?
(cont)...98% conviction rate. Congratulations. But anyone who is overly impressed with that number doesn't realize that's like comparing my scoring average in the NBA to your scoring average in the NHL. They're two completely different worlds. And that's not a knock on Rose Mary as a prosecutor. It's simply the fact that for a host of reasons prosecuting cases in Federal versus State court is like night and day. Federal prosecutors have the benefit of tougher laws, better and longer investigations, lighter caseloads, a damn near invincible hammer in the sentencing guidlines that almost demands Defendants plea and cooperate to knock their time down. It's like comparing a doctor's performance at a specialized clinic to a doctor's performance in a MASH unit. One's got the benefit of time, resources, and select clients, while the other's doing triage on battlefield casualties.
These folks who complain about some of these cases in the paper around here don't know dick about what actually goes on. For all those diehard Republicans that want to keep whining about the cases that were not convicted in State court but were in Federal court, you're just showing you don't understand that it is (and should be) harder to convict someone of something like murder than it is to convict them of something like mail fraud. Hey...what about your boy Henry McMaster? Does the fact he lost what was supposed to be a slam dunk sex-dungeon case while Rose Mary won a weapons charge mean she should be attorney general? (Wait...maybe you shouldn't answer that. I'd take just about anyone over McMaster).
The point is, they should just admit the truth, they want her elected because they like her and she's willing to roll with their brand. I laughed when one of the GOP mamasans commented in the paper after someone had questioned Rose Mary's GOP bonafides. It was something like: Clements was a Democrat, had been for years and would "show his true colors" or something. Aww, to live in that magical world where Republican = Good and Democrat = Bad must be something. I wonder if there's unicorns and rivers of chocolate there. Are the walls made of candy?
These are the same people attacking Ed for speaking at a pardon and expungment workshop that Rep. Alexander hosted, as if that's a bad thing. As if the Solicitor's office isn't charged by law with handling expungements. As if they actually knew what expungments were. But since reality doesn't fit with their narrative, they try to spin it in a way that does: "Clements wants to help felons wipe their records clean so they can prey on you." Hey, Dershowitz...maybe you ought to take the next few plays off, ok.
I could keep going, but despite the fact that I'm a defense attorney, meaning I allegedly have the Solicitor's office in my pocket, I've got to get back to my 24th hour in two days of preparing a criminal case for trial here in Florence.
I think your answer about the "firestorm" is right there in your post: the GOP women. You're either drinking the last drop of kool-aid or you're apparently dead to them.
They can deny that all they'd like, but it's true. Their zealousness over trying to get people to support Rose Mary just because she's got that R by her name has already rubbed enough people wrong that I hear about it, and it's not like I'm hanging out at the Country Club or Baptist temple, you know. I think that's where Ed's comments came from. He's hearing the same things and pointing out to people how stupid it is to vote on an office like Solicitor based on party.
There's no secret as to who I support in this race. But my support of Clements has nothing to do with whether or not he's a Democrat. Truth be told, Ed is easily more conservative than I and in reality probably has more in common with most people who would consider themselves Republicans than with folks I personally would consider Democrats.
But there's one thing I do know and that's the criminal justice system. And I'm sorry, but we have the best Solicitor's office in the state hands down. I work in our circuit everyday and hear about every other circuit whenever I attend SCACDL board meetings. Ed's office is hands down the most straight-forward and honest office in the state. And if you don't think that's something that a Solicitor's office should be, then you don't really believe in justice. Despite what the commentors on SCNOW and other places may think, justice isn't about leading a lynch mob.
Good Gravy, P-Luv's ON FIRE !!!! FYI, my scoring average in the NHL was SICK, so comparisons might be okay on that.. and I never once got a piece of candy or chocolate at a GOP function - and you never paid for drugs, Dewey - NOT ONCE !!!
I did like your near-endorsement of her for AG, but let's see if she wins Solicitor first...
damn P-luv cut this thing down to long
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