RSS FeedsLISTENING to John McCain’s acceptance speech Thursday night was like surfing. That is, it was like surfing if you’re me:- 12:15 AM
THE DEMOCRATIC convention forced me to an unpleasant realization: I’ve become one of those crotchety old guys who yell at the television in helpless frustration: “Lies! How can they say such things? How can anyone sit still for this stuff?”- 12:16 AM
“Forget about business; it’s personal.” — what Michael Corleone would have said in “The Godfather,” had he been a South Carolinian- 12:14 AM
On Wednesday, I was asked to speak at the Capital City Club’s 20th anniversary breakfast about the club’s story, and why it matters to Columbia and South Carolina. I reproduce my remarks below, slightly edited for space:- 11:28 AM
FIRST, READ this from a column by The Washington Post’s Robert Samuelson, which ran on our op-ed page last week: People prefer to be with people like themselves. For all the celebration of “diversity,” it’s sameness that dominates. Most people favor friendships with those who share similar backgrounds, interests and values. It makes for more shared experiences, easier conversations and more comfortable silences. Despite many exceptions, the urge is nearly universal...- 12:16 AM
On Wednesday, my truck was in the shop. This sort of situation may mean slightly different things to different people. Here’s what it meant to me:- 12:16 AM
A few days back, I shared unwelcome news with colleagues here at The State. You, our readers, ought to know as well. It is with the deepest regret that I hereby announce that Associate Editor Mike Fitts has left the newspaper. His last day on the job was Friday, July 18. This page was likely the last of ours that he saw through the composing room.- 12:15 AM
WHAT DID you do with your “economic stimulus” check from the government? Did you spend it in a suitably patriotic manner, doing your bit to kick-start the good ol’ U.S. economy?- 12:14 AM
JOHN McCAIN and Barack Obama are lucky there’s such a thing as Republicans and Democrats in this country, because neither would be able to get the Energy Party nomination.- 12:16 AM
TUESDAY’S primary runoffs produced encouraging results on the state level, but what happened in Richland County was downright disturbing.- 10:43 AM
MORE THAN THREE decades ago, I saw a “B” movie that was a sort of poor cousin to “In the Heat of the Night.” It was about a newly elected black sheriff in a racially divided Southern town, and the white former sheriff, played by George Kennedy, who reluctantly helps him.- 12:17 AM
LIKE A ROCK STAR who prefers to do his new stuff, Barack Obama had not played his greatest hit in several weeks. At least, Kevin Griffis hadn’t heard it for awhile, not until Sen. Obama “pulled it out” at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D., the week that he sewed up the Democratic nomination.- 12:13 AM
IN THE LAST 15 minutes of the 2008 session of the S.C. General Assembly, there were three things going on in the House chamber: The speaker and clerks and others up on the podium were fussing about finishing important paperwork of some sort. All of the other House members were wandering about on the floor, socializing, saying goodbye, slapping backs, shaking hands, sharing stories and so forth.- 12:14 AM
LAST WEEK, a friend and source whom I won’t embarrass by naming here (but who knows good and well who he is) included me in a group e-mail that began, “Hello All: Take a look at this flip flopping by the straight talker.”- 12:16 AM
OVER THE last 10 days, we’ve started running our endorsements of candidates for state and local offices in the June 10 primaries.- 12:14 AM
ONE WHO TRIED to decipher what happened in the S.C. Senate last week with regard to the PACT — that’s “Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test” to the uninitiated — can be forgiven for being confused.- 12:15 AM
WEEKS SUCH as the one just past — in which I am still mired as I write this — do not lend themselves to complete, extended thought of the sort that leads to coherent columns.- 12:13 AM
YOU’VE HEARD of the “UnParty” and the “Energy Party” — at least, you have if you’ve kept an eye on this space for any length of time.- 10:54 AM
YOU’VE HEARD of the “UnParty” and the “Energy Party” — at least, you have if you’ve kept an eye on this space for any length of time.- 10:04 AM
LATE ONE Monday morning several weeks ago in a small-town diner in central Pennsylvania, I looked up from my paper to see that I was the last customer at the counter. Just the one waitress, the coffee pot and me.- 12:16 AM
