Today's Quote: Firm Heart...And Other Things

'I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he who's heart is firm, and who's conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles until death.'

-Thomas Paine, 1776.

There are some things that we love about Krystle Luther too (another Canadian!).... I'm starting to think that Hot Babes may be Canada's finest export since Molson....

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Because We Couldn't Wait Til Sunday....

'All I Asked For Was a Frickin' Supreme Court Justice With Frickin' Lasers Attached To Her Head !!!!!'

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I Don't Think We'll Get 62 Comments On This One.

Are We the Only Ones Who See a Similarity Here ??

Yeah maybe us picking on Elena Kagan's turkey neck is a bit of the Pot calling the Kettle black, but at least ours is going in the right direction. Perhaps if every picture we ever saw of Kagan wasn't this one, we wouldn't have been so surprised......

When the hell was this from, 1986 ????

Anyway, for those of you who have been reading SC6 for a little while, last year we started a whole little shitstorm in Flotown, when we advised that the Senate not waste too much time in grilling Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. Not that she didn't have questions to answer, but because she was a Latina, and giving her trouble would disenfranchise an entire voting block. You would have thought that I said it was OK to put Fidel Castro on SCOTUS - but the Senate decided I was right, and Sotomayor cruised .....

This time, Barack Obama has decided to pick one of his buddies in Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Why? A few reasons.....First, I think with the possibility of Ruth Bader-Ginsburg's health still being an issue, Obama made up his mind on the next one being a woman. Ginsburg seems intent on dying as a Justice, but having three women on the court for the first time isn't a bad thing. Maybe we're a little surprised he didn't find an African-American, but that brings us to reason two: No Trail. These days, we don't look for the most experienced judge - we look for that ambiguous, nebulous judge who'll be tough to peg down. Call it a Metrosexual Old Navy kinda Judge..... With that, Obama may think he's hit gold, but like many things, he might have gone to the extreme again....

Remember Harriett Meiers? C'mon, it wasn't THAT long ago... She was W's first choice to join the Court a few years back. There wasn't much to her resume to indicate that she was the right choice, and she got dropped like a hot potato. Word is, Meiers is doing paralegal work at a local Binder & Binder office now.... While Kagan is not as bad a pick as Meiers, there is one fundamental requirement that we here ask of our picks for SCOTUS..... Could you at least have been a Judge?

Granted, Kagan is the Solicitor General, so she has plenty of experience in dealing with the Supreme Court. She essentially is the representative of the United States in all it's SCOTUS cases. But all her experience is from the wrong side of the bench. To us, an attorney's job is much different - their job is to basically do everything in their power to get a ruling in favor of their client. Is their job to find absolute truth? Not necessarily, and to some, hell no. Of course, many attorneys go from the court to the bench - it's a natural progression, but not straight to the Supreme Court. To us, this applies to anyone. If he picked Hillary Clinton, we'd be having an equal (if not worse) complaint. That brings us to a perfect example - right from the Palmetto State.....

South Carolina's own James F. Byrnes spent decades in Washington. He never went to law school, but passed the bar with help from a local firm in Charleston,before he became a Congressman and Senator. In 1940, his good friend, Franklin Roosevelt, tapped him to be on the Supreme Court, despite never having been a Judge. Byrnes was approved - and then spent less than 18 months on the court. According to Wikipedia, Byrnes quickly became bored with SCOTUS, and gladly quit to assist Roosevelt in the much more interesting Economic Stabilization Office. Had Byrnes been a judge for any time, our guess is that he would have bypassed any offers, and thus avoided the only thing close to a blemish on an otherwise stellar career....

Yeah, we're waiting for P-Luv to tell me I'm a retard who doesn't know his legal ass from his elbow - and maybe he's right. But we see the Kagan nomination as too much buddy-buddy politics, and not enough searching for the 'most qualified'. We're sure she's brilliant, but to us, only two guys deserve to be on SCOTUS without any experience behind the bench - P-Luv and THIS GUY ......

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-NsYBrTp9U

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SC6's Musical Fix For The Week...

To close out our programming for the weekend, we give you Weezer's 'Hash Pipe'. You have to love a band named after a Little Rascals character. This is by far my favorite song of theirs. I learned it at least eight years ago, and waited for any band I was in to ask if I new any other songs. It finally happened last Summer with Ambedexrus. I got them all into it, we kicked ass - and then I left for New York....



As good as this song is, the video kinda sucks - and for good reason. Weezer was in a contract dispute with Warner Bros., they had to record one more album, and this was it. The band just wanted out, and Warners didn't promote it... Weezer sat out the rest of their contract, and came back as the band you hear all over the radio now. Hope you enjoy it...



We'll be off on Wednesday this week, so check in for any new stuff we have to talk about.... See you then!



www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9BGLtqqkVI


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SC6 Goes the Outlaw Blog Route ??

Well, They DID Call Me 'El Guapo' In College ....

I did consider saying 'SC6 Goes the Rouge Blog Route', but we try to avoid any tie-ins with Sarah Palin at this point.... So, what exactly am I talking about here? Well, we've noticed a few things in recent months. Some of it goes back a year or two, and some of it is relatively new, but it appears that the SCGOP and some of it's flunkies at the local level have decided that I am tainted goods - Pariah Carey, you might say.

No, we were never the darling of the party, but my recent dustup over not being contacted by anyone over a '6th District Event' seems to have started an unofficial boycott of yours truly... I pull no punches.. Yes, I wrote on P-Luv's blog that I was pissed off and considered writing a post called 'F**k the SCGOP' - uhh, but I didn't. Well, someone pulled that comment, and had the kindness to forward it to everyone they knew in the party, including all the county chairs in the 6th District. None of them have had the cajones to ask me about it, or beg me to resign - they've just asked everyone else to ask me. Courage comes is many forms, and this isn't one of them...

What most have done instead is to just monitor my blog for dirt, but ingore me in all other cases. Whatever good I usually do for the party,which is a lot actually, isn't asked for anymore. And all events that I probably would or should be asked to help in get blown off too - even if I offer to help. Yeah, they're using other blogs to try and get their stuff out, but everyone knows that I'm the one who started Pee Dee political blogging, I'm the one who actually cares about it, and I have the numbers to back it all up....

Granted, i'm not speaking of all people in the party. Those who read SC6 and ask for my asisstance know who you are - keep it coming. But, when Wes Donahue quits doing PNN, and suddenly, my blog posts stop getting linked, you know someone has decided that I'm damaged goods - The Bad Boy Blogger From Florence, as Katherine Jenerette so correctly put it....

No big poop here, folks. Do I need the SCGOP? Hell no. Do they need me? Not at all - they can always find someone to be their cheerleader, even if they call them RINO's 24/7..... In fact, this could be the best thing. Not that I ever stopped from criticizing anyone, but people can wrongly think that I'm a stooge for the Party. Nothing is further from the truth, and that's why people read this stupid blog of mine..... SC6 is still a top blog in South Carolina, despite all the obstacles that should have made it disappear almost a year ago. We try to be fun, intelligent, and fun all at the same time, but honesty is what got us here, and that's what it will always be - your independent REPUBLICAN Voice of Reason....

In the meantime, we muse about the meaning of the word Plethora, turning 40, and getting women to 'open their flower'.....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6E682C7Jj4

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Happy Birthday, Snake !!

See, we ARE an educational blog sometimes too.... Today, we commemorate the anniversary of one of America's most famous and important symbols in it's history. On this day in 1754, the 'Join or Die' snake drawing first appeared in Ben Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette. It simply represented the colonies, split into eight sections of a snake. But, it was one of the first unifying pictures of what became the United States - a full 21 years before Lexington and Concord... Later on, it was watered down by P. Diddy's lame 'Vote or Die' 2004 campaign for John Kerry, but we digress......

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The Mother Of All Fuzzy Thoughts .....

Happy Sunday to everyone! I hope your week was better than mine. Work was definitely no picnic, as we lost 4 technicians - and haven't replaced any of them. You might not know this, but the cars don't magically fix themselves, we do need live people to work on them. With the slowdown, there are some unhappy Mercedes people - with emphasis on Mercedes. Needless to say, I'm earning my money this week....

But, I am off today, so we're going to make the best of it, since it is Mother's Day. This year is a bit odd, because I haven't celebrated Mother's Day at my home since 1991, when my mom passed away. However, I've got Carol this year, and she definitely needs some relief today. I at least did get her a card and a blingy Mercedes t-shirt. My big gift will be watching the kids as she and Joe go out for a nice dinner with friends. I hope yours is nice as well, so let's get to the fuzziness....

First, the weather. Today, it' Sunny, but kinda cold, and windy as all hell.... It might hit 60, but the winds have been around 30 MPH since yesterday, so the neighborhood looks like a tornado hit it. Everyone will be calling the landscapers in the morning - what, you think people up here RAKE ???!!!!!

My buddy Ben is up in Yankeeville too - but he's all the way in Central New Jersey on traveling work, inspecting cars. He's frustrated because he didn't know that you can make left turns in Jersey. Wait til he finds out that you can't pump your own gas either.....

Around the house, the big news is that Joe has kinda pinned down that he has Celiac Disease, which is an allery to Gluten - which is in just about every food you eat. His biggest losses are Beer, Bread and anything with wheat in it. The good news is he's lost about 15 pounds since finding out about it. The bad news is he's been eating total crap every day. He did at least find Gluten-free Beer, because man can drink only so many Tanqueray & Tonics.....

Out of the Closet: I'll admit, I heard a new term for the first time this week - Rent Boy. Nope, it was a completely foreign term to me, and one I hope I never hear of again...... Especially in politics............ There has been a mixed bag of good news/ bad news for the Tea Party this week, as Utah Senator Bennett will not have the party nomination for the GOP, after getting his ass kicked at the State Convention. Yeah, many states don't have open primaries. This at least gives the Tea Party something to hang it's hat on, after none of their endorsed candidates won in Ohio and Indiana last week.... I wonder if Senator Graham's people took notice of this. Just wondering WHO will be the one who takes him on.

Funny political stories of the week: I laughed when P-Luv told me that he's been accused of being the 'Photo-Stalker' of 12th Solicitor candidate Rose Mary Parham. P-Luv and Will Folks have so much in common politically, that it makes total sense that he would pass the pics onto FITS. I do like how last month, Ms. Parham's supporters vehemently denied her 'Democrat' status, but now it's OK if she does try to get Democrat support. Not that it isn't OK - of course it is, but we do like a little consistency in the message.... I have no dog in this race, except to say that it will be a close one - but it is fun to watch the ladies go ape shit over every detail. It's a long way til November, just keep knocking on them doors!

BTW, don't be surprised to P-Luv's blog, Behind the Pine Curtain, on BlogNetNews soon..... You have been warned!

BTW II...... After whipping the Red Sox the last 2 nights by a combined 24-6, my Yankees are now 21-8, although still a half-game behind Tampa Bay. Boston is 7 games out, and we look forward to them being 8 back after tonight....

Lastly, it looks like you guys are adapting to the new, mostly weekend-only format. SC6, despite posting only 2 days a week, cracked the Top Ten at Number 8 (Sunlit Uplands is on there twice, so we deduct a spot).... Thanks for sticking with us, despite the obstacles we face, both in and out of politics... Speaking of blogs, what happened to The Palmetto Scoop? Did Henry McMaster run out of cash?? Just kidding - I had enough grief after picking on Palmetto State Politics last week !! Hope all is well.

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Today's Quote: America(ns) First

We LOVE America !!!!

'The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exult the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.'

-George Washington.

What is GW talking about? Although it's just to take pride in being a South Carolinian, or an Irish-American, or Italian-American...... The most important thing to keep in ming is we are ALL Americans, and we should remember that first. It seems we only look at it that way in times of crisis. Everyone should be proud - unless you're from Michigan, right Bobbo? BTW, we don't know who this hottie is....... but we'll find out.

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Cartoons of the Week: BP (Big Problem)

Like we said, we figured this week would feature the Louisiana Oil Spill - and we were right. There were three, so we decided to just post all of them. The first here is pretty obvious: if you live by 'Drill, Baby, Drill' , you die by it too....

This was a witty little one, pointing out that we each have a small part of the blame too. You don't need oil, we don't drill for oil....

The problem here is they forgot Gary. You think Squidworth is gonna help ????

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Who Suddenly Gave the NBA Their Balls Back?

The big news in sports-politics this week is the decision of the Phoenix Suns to put 'Los Suns' on their jerseys for last night's playoff game, in protest of Arizona's new immigration bill. Hey, at least it's smarter than boycotting Arizona Iced Tea, which is made in Brooklyn.



Right or wrong, we're just surprised a bit that the NBA hasn't gone ape shit over the whole thing. Sports leagues have gotten so Nazi-like about dress codes (sneakers, wearing suits, tucking in shirts, etc.) that renaming a team for a night seems like something they'd go nuts over. then again, Arizona is heavily populated with Mexicans - some of whom have to be fans - that they'd let it slide. Is anyone surprised? Guess I shouldn't be....



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Turning to Terrorism From a Bad Economy?

He Looked Happy On His Facebook Page ......

Being here in New York while the latest terror attempt went on has been pretty interesting. It's the top story by far, and everyone here is relieved that Faisal Shahzad was picked up by police before he was able to get out of the US. For those of you who don't know how he was caught, he scratched off the VIN number on the Pathfinder he bought - but didn't know the VIN is also on the engine block as well. That got authorities in touch with the seller of the car, who gave them Shahzad's info. Case closed....

The question that everyone asks is 'Why?'. Most of the time, the culprit has some long-term agenda of hatred against the United States, but from all accounts, Shahzad doesn't fit that profile. The guy had a family, friends, and worked in the US three years before September 11th, with no signs of this type of behavior. In short, he's like most of the Muslim-Americans that I know. The amount of info they had on him in 24 hours was sick - his education, job history, marriage info, home purchase - even where he shopped all the time. It's no different than you or I. So, what happened?

This is the scary part. Shahzad had pretty steady employment for a while, but never distinguished himself, and his string was starting to run out. He lost his home, he ran out of money. Basically, he was running into the same thing that millions of people are fighting now - the battle to survive in America. Somehow, Shahzad just viewed his troubles not as his own fault, but as America's. Most of us just piss and moan, then keep battling. Shahzad decided to volunteer to be a pawn for terrorists.

It's crazy that people's viewpoints get so twisted, but it happens I guess. You and I continue on, but Shahzad and losers like him (Oswald, Sirhan, Ray, etc.) decide that someone has to pay. Fortunately, Shahzad's was as good a bomber as he was a financial analyst, so his plan literally went up in smoke. Still, it's classic - Bad Times turn many Good People into bad ones....

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At Least the Car Insurance Is Still Cheap ...

I Hope The Corolla's Wearing Protection .... Uh, I Mean HAS Insurance

Never let it be said that we don't try to look at things on the bright side for you, my fellow South Carolinians... Yes, the schools are quite sub-par, the unemployment rate is 13%, the stock market dropped 1000 points in a few hours, 95 degree weather and humidity are around the corner, and you're suffering under the leadership of a spendthrift Federal and State government. So, where's the good news? Uhhh, we don't have any......

Wait, wait, we almost forgot...... South Carolina is still a pretty decent place to have car insurance. You wnat totally f**ked? Try Louisiana. They have all the bad news of SC, plus an oil spill that threatens all the wildlife in the area - and they have the WORST car insurance rates in America. South Carolina came in at 41st . Consider yourselves blessed.....

Yes, despite all the uninsured motorists driving around the Palmetto State, the average policy is only $1182, about $250 per year less than the National average. Down on the Bayou, it costs over $2500, $400 more than the second crappiest place to have a car (and live) - wait for it.................... MICHIGAN! Surprised? Neither were we. Why? Legislation, of course. Louisiana only allows jury trials for cases over $50,000 , so any fender bender ends up being settled for - you guessed it - $49,000. Michigan's is a bit more complicated - and dumber.

Michigan is the only state in the US to offer UNLIMITED medical benefits for car insurance claim victims. The insurance company pays the first $460,000, then a pool called the Michigan cCtatstrophic Claims Association (MCCA) pays the rest - through premiums of insured drivers. It has gotten so out of proportion there that the MCCA is the LARGEST insurer of people for their HEALTH insurance in Michigan. Does this light a fire under your ass about nationalized health insurance? It should....

If you still are not happy being the 10th cheapest, might we suggest you move to Maine... it's rates were only $902 per year - but it's friggin' cold there, and boring as all hell. Besides, you CAHN'T GET THEYER FROM HEYYER !!!!

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The Latest Evil - Genius Marketing Kid's Toy

Silly Bandz: If You Haven't Heard Of Them Yet, You Will .....

From the hip-cool blog that told you first about Vampire Weekend and Stealing Rims on Nissan Maximas, we give you the latest craze sweeping across America's elementary and intermediate school classrooms - Silly Bandz !!!

What are they? It's genius, we tell ya - GENIUS !!!! It's rubber bands that when unstretched, have different shapes. Anything from animals to shapes to even cowboys and states. It's yet another example of American Ingenuity... Why? Because kids are buying these things up faster than they can make them - at a retail price of $2.99 a bag of 20. After my limited manufacturing experience, I'd guess they cost about 6 cents a bag to produce and package. Genius - pure F**king genius.....

like any other fad for kids, Silly Bandz are causing problems, and are quickly becoming the biggest classroom pariah since Fahrenheit 451 and Dalton Trumbo books.... What problems do they cause. Gee, what ADD-addled tike is going to pay attention when he/she has rubber bands to screw with? Also, there is the classic problem: have rubber band, will shoot people with them. Yeah, they're a bit distracting. But even better, you have the 'Advanced Moron' who takes them and twists it 27 around his/her hand, or pulls it all the way up his/her arm, until they have no circulation - like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for Kids.... Yes, your kid IS the smartest in his/her class.

With all of these 'problems', what's a teacher to do? Be inventive and somehow incorporate Silly Bands into a lesson plan? HAHAHAHA !!!!!! Maybe when they started 22 years ago, but not so close to pension time. Nope, you be a good Nazi, and you BAN THEM, which of course gives them an early lesson on taboos.... Porn and Marijuana can't be far behind now, can it? Of course, I don't have kids, so WTF do I know? Nope, amke Silly Bandz like Pokemon, and create an outlaw toy that kids now just HAVE TO OWN..... At least they won't go broke getting them, right? Genius my friend.....

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Had She Gotten In Six Months Ago .....

Kitzman's Resume Is Great, But What Took So Long?

Like the old saying goes, in life, timing is everything. Politics is no different. I've been having sideline conversations about the Lt. Governor's race this week, and so far, I've completely written off candidate Eleanor Kitzman. I'd say putting her odds at 30-1 of winning is pretty much disregarding someone. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know all of the candidates in every race, and sometimes, we'll miss one here and there. Kitzman is one of those in hindsight, and it leaves us wondering what happened here.

In our book, experience and conservatism are primary characteristics of an ideal candidate. Out of the box people are nice, but if other things are equal, we'll take the person with private business experience, but still having that knowledge of the system that they will be working in. Honestly, Eleanor Kitzman has that in spades over Ken Ard, Bill Connor and Larry Richter. Her resume? How about founder of Driver's Choice Auto Insurance, and then State Insurance Director? While only Ard has both legislative and private business experience, having experience in a statewide agency trumps County Council. Being the only female in the race doesn't hurt either. Her only possible negative. She wasn't born here, which matters little to us, as long as she didn't move here last week. Short of some skeletons, it's about as good as you'll get......

So, with all those positives, will we be voting for her next month? We don't know... For all the positives there, we have a huge question sticking in our minds.. What took so long to decide to run? On the surface, it doesn't sound like much, but another key to us is the candidate's DESIRE to want that job. We don't always go for the best resume, we want someone who we KNOW is interested in being in that gig. When someone comes out of the blue and jumps in on the last day of filing, only 75 days before the Primary, we have questions....

To be honest, if Eleanor Kitzman got in this race six month ago, it'd have been a slam dunk for her in our opinion. But when you have two other candidates going on the road five days a week for nearly a year, it's obvious which ones really want to be in the job. Timing is everything, and Kitzman should have given herself more of it....

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We'll Have Our Revenge When 'Obama: The Musical' Comes Out in 2013 .....

Green Day's Musical Hits Broadway ......

I'll preface this by saying that I do like Green Day... I must have, because I somehow ended up with two copies of 'Dookie' after my divorce. In an Alt-Rock couple, that's how you know you 'won' in the breakup.... Anyway, after 15 years of arguing whether or not Green Day was punk, I think we got our answer - Uhhh.... No. Why? Green Day has a Broadway Show.

Without a doubt, 'American Idiot' was their best album ever, despite any political qualms some people have with it. No, it wouldn't surprise us for Green Day to have lost fans after quoting 'I'm not part of a Redneck agenda'......But musically and lyrically, it was their most complicated and relevant work ever. Now that George Bush is on his ranch in Texas, Broadway has adapted (translation: totally fruited up) American Idiot for the stage....... and we wished they passed.

No, I haven't paid the $110 o whatever a Braodway show goes for now to see it, but the commercials are on heavy radio rotation, and it's milquetoast to say the least. I can tell whoever got the lead earned it from his version of 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', because it was the only halfway decent track done. The title track of American Idiot, and the other track in the commercial are bland, ball-less, and frankly, sound like a Broadway musical. 'Hair' and 'Jesus Christ Superstar' were done 30 years ago, and they were tougher. American idiot could have been a real groundbreaker for Broadway, but it's more like 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' - but that insults Donny Osmond.

Green Day, punk? No. Not even close.... American Idiot on Broadway, punk? Please...... Green Day has a habit of being a Good CD/ Bad CD band. The good news is they've already done a crappy followup to American Idiot, which tanked. BTW, '21 Guns' - which might be their worst song ever - made this show as well. We'll pass on this mess, and look forward to their next effort. Until then, we'll give you their best track ever, 'Holiday'.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh7mLgP7YH4

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Today's Quote: Perfection ?

To Us, Tammy Plante Is Close to Perfect - What Would GW Say?

"Perfection falls not to the share of Mortals"

-George Washington.

We seem to have discovered a new trend here...... Hot Chicks and Patriots! Yes, we think it's quite the brilliant crossmarketing idea as well. Thanks to the Patriot Post and Chickipedia..

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Sumter GOP Meets Tonight ...

Since it is the first Thursday of the month, it can mean only one thing: the sumter County GOP Meeting, aka The Braden Bunch Show, will be tonight. It starts 7PM , at it's new location, the Elks Lodge large hall at 1100 W. Liberty St in Sumter Proper.... We decided to give Braden a break, and not post his photo this time. After all, one can only show pictures of a guy with his eyes closed so many times before it gets dull.....


For those of you interested in the 6th District, it will be a good opportunity to learn about the candidates, as both Jim Pratt and Nancy Harrelson will be attending. No word if Colleen Payne will be there as well, but hopefully she can make it too. It's always a good time in Sumter, so come on out and support the local GOP....


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Today's Quote: The Pipedream

And While You're At It, How About Canadian Supermodel Jessica Stam ?

"The aim of every political constitutional is, or should be, first to obtain for rulers, Men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society. And in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous, whilst they continue to hold the public trust."

-James Madison, Federalist #57.

Thanks to the Patriot Post, and good luck with that one nowadays.....

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SC Isn't the Only Place That Digs Secession...

Long Guyland - America's 51st State ???? Don't Laugh ...

You see, if you look hard enough, you can find things in common with anyone - even obnoxious Yankees.... As much as South Carolina, which has always been know as 'Too Small to Be a Country, Yet Too Big for an Insane Asylum' is proud of their proclivity to seceed, they really haven't doen anything about in the past 145 years. Here on Long Island, some people have had it with New York State - and they're doing something about it.....

Yep, actual political steps are being taken to seceed from New York, and make Long Island the 51st state in the Union. No, this isn't anything new. I can remember calls for Long Island statehood for thirty years now, but when Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano called for a feasibility study in order for an official County Position on statehood, the tremor turned into a rumble... Suffolk County, the other Long Island county, had it's legislature pass a resolution to OK statehood years ago, but now Nassau is joining in too...

So, what precipitated the move? Taxes, what else? For decades, Nassau and Suffolk counties have been net payers into New York State's taxation system. Estimates are that Long Island loses a whopping $3 BILLION annually to the City and Upstate. For an area where people pay $10,000 a year in property taxes, that would be some serious relief. Add to that, the Metropolitan Tranportation Authority's (MTA) tax on ALL Long Island businesses to pay for NYC's trains and subways - whether or not their employees actually use them or not - and you have the recipe for Secession.

Why am I telling you guys about this? Well, we're kind of new to this whole rebellion thing, so i thought I'd ask you guys for some tips.... Yeah, it's been a while, even for you guys, but maybe some of you heard stories from Great Grandpa about it... Is Long Island statehood a likely event? Hell no. It requires approval from the State Legislature and the Governor - neither of which are likely. Even current Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has said that it's not feasible, but when has that stopped anyone from leaving? The good point is that even in the land of Unions and Taxes, people can reach their breaking point.....

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Rick Beltram Has Cooties ????

Though some candidates might not find this funny at all, word out today is that former Spartanburg GOP Chair and State GOP Chair candidate Rick Beltram is tainted goods ..... or at least his Facebook account is temporarily.. Judging by the 'message' I got from him, I'm pretty sure he got a Facebook Bug this weekend. Unless he's started using :P :P :P in his repertoire, it appears that you might avoid 'chatting' with him - unless you're sure it's from him. It's not the first time I've seen SCGOP Facebook Cooties. I caught the FB Clap from Phillip Lowe once - on my computer at work. Had a hard time explaining that one.... Good Luck to Rick and his laptop Penicllin shots today!

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