The Palmetto Scoop![]() The Palmetto Scoop The best political news and information from South Carolina. The Palmetto Scoop (TPS) is reinventing and redefining the Palmetto State’s political scene. We’re fun, edgy, at times crass, and admittedly conservative. And we’re just fine with that. Articles
This is why Lindsey Graham is awesome
2008-04-04 18:39:00 SC SENIOR SENATOR TARGETS NANCY PELOSI’S ABSURD LIBERALISM I will admit, it takes some real gusto to go after the United States Speaker of the House. But when someone is wrong — regardless of their powerful position — they are wrong. And in that instance, they need to be called out. Enter Sen. Lindsey Graham . When Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Extreme Liberal - Hippy Utopia) decided to recklessly criticize Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Thursday for “putting a shine on recent events” in Iraq, Graham was quick to defend them and point out that Pelosi is a moron (my word, not his). ?Speaker Pelosi?s warning to Gen. Petraeus about his testimony being ?too shiny? says more about her than it does about him,? said Graham in a statement released Thursday afternoon. ?Gen. Petraeus … is one of the most talented, respected military commanders in our nation?s history. I?m confident he will tell us about the gains that have been achieved a... More About: Congress , Awesome
Slow news day
2008-04-03 22:02:00 EVEN FOX NEWS CHANNEL IS BORED I’ve got a couple of stories I’m working on right now, but on the whole, it’s been a pretty slow news day. I thought maybe this was limited to South Carolina, but then I noticed that even Fox News Channel has nothing to fill the time with. This was made painfully clear about an hour ago when they devoted a segment of their coverage to to a pair of the most useless surveys in the history of mankind. The surveys included the “breaking news” that classic rock fans prefer John McCain and those who frequently buy shoes are born leaders. Unfortunately, they didn’t look into whether or not alpaca farmers in the Blue Ridge Mountains prefer Skittles or M&M’s. One thing that is certain is that I will be buying more shoes and watching less Fox News. And yes, I realize that rhymed. What can I say, I’m a natural born leader. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Slow news day", url: "http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2008/... More About: Multimedia
Sanford disses Tompkins
2008-04-03 17:34:00 SAYS POLITICAL OPERATIVE, LOBBYIST IS ‘PROBLEM’ FOR CONSERVATIVES I’m not sure what exactly caused this little tiff to come up now, but Gov. Mark Sanford took a pretty good pot shot at a once-powerful and much-maligned South Carolina political consultant and lobbyist in McCain Veepstakes: Old School Sanford" target="_blank">a recent interview with Human Events‘ John Gizzi, calling him a “RINO” and a “problem” for conservative Republicans . “Because the bottom line in South Carolina is we absolutely have Republican control, but we do not have a conservative working majority in our body politic,” [Sanford said …] “I guess some folks call folks like that ?rinos? [Republicans In Name Only], I don?t know what you call them, but the bottom line is a lot of folks with whom we?ve indeed had troubles have not been pushing conservative ideology.? He specifically singled out Warren Tompkins, top political operative for the... More About: Executive
We?re still No. 1
2008-04-03 01:31:00 SC RETAINS HISTORIC “FIRST IN THE SOUTH” STATUS A plan to re-work the Republican presidential primary system and strip early voting states, including South Carolina, of their significance has been thwarted… for now. South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson has just released word that our state will maintain its coveted First-in-the-South position on the nominating calendar after the Standing Committee on Rules of the Republican National Committee, meeting this week in New Mexico, approved a plan to bring order to the presidential primary calendar. ?Today, I want thank the RNC Rules Committee for recognizing South Carolina?s historically important role in the presidential primary process,? said Dawson. ?We are proud to take our place along side the most important presidential primary contests in the country.” During his tenure as State Republican Chairman, Dawson has made this issue a key part of his agenda. And in 2008, it proved to be a worthwhile accompl... More About: Republicans
Crowning SC?s King of Pork
2008-04-02 23:39:00 CLYBURN GOLF CENTER WINS NEW ‘TEED OFF’ AWARD FROM EARMARK WATCHDOG GROUP For using $3 million taxpayer dollars from the the defense budget to fund his own personal golf center, House Majority Whip James Clyburn won the first ever “Taxpayers Get Teed Off Award” from the Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group targeting earmarks in the federal budget. The award was part of the group’s 2008 Pig Book which was released Wednesday and included Clyburn’s pork project along with hundreds of others. “It is extremely disturbing to see Jim Clyburn divert national defense funds to his own golf facility while he refuses to equip our troops with the resources needed to win the War on Terror,” SCGOP Chairman Katon Dawson told The Palmetto Scoop on hearing of Clyburn’s big award. “We realize winning the War on Terror may be politically inconvenient for Clyburn, but losing the war is incomprehensible to those of us who put th... More About: Congress , Pork , King
?Huge? McCain endorsement
2008-04-02 19:56:00 FROM SOMEONE NAMED HEIDI MONTAG I’m starting to think that I’m the only person under the age of 35 that doesn’t watch MTV’s The Hills. Sure, I’ve heard of it, but I don’t think I have ever intentionally watched an episode. All I like know is like it is about a bunch of like spoiled rich girls in like California or whatever who like say “like” like every third word and like watching that is like totally on par with like bouncing a baseball off my head for like hours on end. If I had ever watched that show, I would have immediately asked the nearest person to smack me across the face for being a moron. And then I would have said, “boy, I really deserved that.” So naturally, when someone sent me news that some “celebrity” I had never heard of named Heidi Montag was endorsing GOP presidential nominee John McCain, I asked a few people around me if they had ever heard of her. They proceeded to tell me she was on The... More About: Republicans , Huge , Endorsement
Some SC troopers need anger management
2008-04-02 15:40:00 HIGHWAY PATROL RELEASES THREE NEW MISCONDUCT VIDEOS The South Carolina Department of Public Safety has released three new videos showing possible misconduct and excessive force by troopers dealing with suspects. These tapes come less than two weeks after federal investigators launched a full investigation into the State Highway Patrol for possible abuses including two previous dashboard cam clips showing officers ramming suspects with their patrol cars. The latest videos show similar scenes of troopers using excessive force on perpetrators. In the first clip, a suspect accuses a trooper of hitting him in the face with a shotgun. The second video shows a trooper hitting someone after pulling them from a car. Video number three is of a trooper is seen repeatedly kicking a suspect in the head after a high speed chase. Normally I would say that this should be a warning not to run from the cops, but even I’ll admit this is a bit excessive. Add to that the fact that these kinds... More About: Management , Anger Management , Anger
New McCain ad?
2008-04-01 23:53:00 IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY If you’ve spent more than 15 minutes on this site over the last year, it’s no secret to you that I was a big John McCain supporter from the get-go. I volunteered a great deal of time to get him the nomination, and I certainly endorsed him in the South Carolina primary. And through it all, I think he had some of the best ads. But his campaign released the above spot today and I’m going to be honest, it’s probably the worst campaign ad I’ve seen in a long time. Not to mention, it’s almost four minutes long and NOBODY is going to watch that — much less put it on TV. It will cost them like $1,000 per airing. Give me a break. Somebody needs to tell those guys to get their act together so we can win McCain the White House. (h/t to my former colleagues at Peach Pundit for picking up on this) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "New McCain ad…", url: "http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2008/04/01/ new-mccain-ad/" });
Umm?
2008-04-01 21:49:00 I’M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT TO SAY HERE Apparently I was wrong in believing that everyone between the ages of 18 and 25 in the Midlands was at the Carolina Cup because, according to The Daily Gamecock, a bunch of computer nerds put on a live Pac-Man game. And the fact that I had to write that sentence honestly makes me feel sick. Which means I’m really going to have to look away from my computer screen for this excerpt from The Daily Gamecock’s unbearably corny article. If you were anywhere around the West Quad courtyard Saturday afternoon, you’d initially notice the song “Pac-Man Fever” by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia on repeat. But then you’d ask yourself, “Why are people dressed as shiny ghosts chasing a guy wearing a Pac-Man helmet through a maze?” Because it’s fun! Hosted by the university’s chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Pac-Man Competition may have been the first that the school has ever...
SCGOP Chair New Mexico bound
2008-04-01 17:21:00 DAWSON HEADED TO LAND OF ENCHANTMENT OPPOSING CHANGES The old adage says, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And nothing could be truer of the Republican presidential primary process, which almost everybody — with the exception of a few sore losers — would agree went off without a hitch. The early states, including South Carolina, played their part in acting as a bellwether for the nominee and the process yielded a clear winner. And since the early primary states don’t play much of a role in the general election, it’s fair that these mostly smaller states get have a say in the primary process. Sure it could use a few small tweaks, but on the whole, it’s a pretty good system. Yet, unfortunately, a few of the later-voting states want to not only play a huge role in the general election, but also want to dominant the primaries. So a bunch of them will propose changing things around at a week-long conference beginning today in New... More About: Republicans , Mexico , New Mexico , Chair , Bound
Little Shealy returns for crazy April Fool?s joke
2008-04-01 04:32:00 TPS EDITOR ALMOST LAUGHS, THEN SEES CUP PICTURES I expected that pretty much every blogger out there would attempt some kind of lame April Fool ’s Day trick, so I decided that I wouldn’t do anything. I don’t know if that makes me cool, or unique, or neither, but I’m not doing anything. Sorry. Of course, I could always be telling you I’m not doing anything to bait you into thinking I’m not doing anything, only to bust out the greatest April Fool’s prank ever. But I’m not doing that. Or am I? Anyway, the first person to attempt an April Fool’s Day ploy was Ross Shealy — son of the infamous Rod Shealy — who revived his seasonal “Barbeque and Politics” blog to write about Gov. Mark Sanford starting a new non-profit advocacy group called DumpSC - “a movement about a movement.” Good one Ross, you almost got me! Seriously though, I like Ross because he had the stones to call me when I messed up a ... More About: Joke , Crazy
Sanford: No Real ID extension (UPDATED)
2008-04-01 01:07:00 GET YOUR PASSPORTS READY Gov. Mark Sanford just announced that he will not ask for an extension to implement the federally-mandated Real ID program. He had until today to file for more time and, according to the Associated Press, he chose not to do so. The decision means South Carolinians may not be allowed to board airplanes or enter some federal facilities using only their state-issued driver’s licenses. They’d have to use a passport or go through more rigorous screening. Sanford’s decision came on the deadline to ask for more time to comply with the law. The state Legislature last year passed a measure that bars South Carolina from complying. Sanford and other governors have complained the Real ID measure costs too much. The Real ID law calls for more secure identification cards in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks. Sanford says South Carolina already meets all but a couple of the standards. [AP] This issue has been used by both Sanford and the General Assemb... More About: Executive , Extension
Can?t we have fun anymore?
2008-03-31 23:39:00 GRIDIRON BASH, STRIP CLUBS TARGETED BY PARTY POOPERS I’m not sure what’s been going on lately, but it seems like there are a lot of people trying to rain on parades around. Not like the literal rain that came down at the Carolina Cup Saturday and ruined an otherwise good time, but metaphorical showers that threaten two totally different things. The first set of storm clouds came courtesy of Rep. Scott Talley, who apparently prefers playing nanny government with nonsense issues to actually solving the plethora of problems faced by our state. Talley re-introduced legislation late last week that would ban lap dances in strip clubs and require patrons to be at least six feet away from strippers at all times. The bill?s aim, Talley says, is to reduce the ?secondary effects? associated with such clubs. Illegal drugs and prostitution are common in clubs? private rooms, said Tennessee-based attorney Scott Bergthold, who drafted the legislation on behalf of the Palmetto Family ... More About: Legislature
Horn to coach USC basketball
2008-03-31 20:37:00 I WISH I MADE $750K A YEAR TO BE A BASKETBALL COACH Reports are trickling out that Western Kentucky University coach Darrin Horn will be the new men’s basketball coach at the University of South Carolina. Horn, 35, leaves Western Kentucky, his alma mater, after five seasons. […] The USC board of trustees, which has to approve Horn’s contrct, has been called for a meeting Tuesday at 11 a.m. Board chairman Herbert Adams confirmed to The State that the meeting, which will probably be via teleconference, is regarding the new basketball coach, but could not say who the new coach would be. Details of Horn’s deal with USC are unknown, but the source said the base salary is in the range of $750,000. A press conference is expected to take place Tuesday, according to another source. [The State] Horn will replace retiring coach Dave Odom, who is leaving after seven seasons. His reported $750,000 per year salary is nearly eight times more than the average taxpayer-funde... More About: Basketball , Coach
Ariail on Gamecocks in Five Points
2008-03-31 17:22:00 STATE EDITORIAL CARTOONIST LAMPOONS USC PLAYERS The recent wave of University of South Carolina football players getting arrested or in fights has been incredibly troubling for Gamecock fans. When you add in the fact that a number of these situations have involved starters — including highly touted quarterback Stephen Garcia — it’s been a particularly difficult offseason. Almost as troubling as these problems is the fact that it seems like all of them have happened in Columbia’s Five Points . That’s because a number of them have. Defensive end Jordin Lindsey was stabbed in the neck with a broken beer bottle last December. Earlier this month, freshman lineman Kevin Young was charged with fighting and resisting arrest. Two weeks later, walk-on safety Michael Newton was arrested for disorderly conduct during the St. Patrick’s Day celebration. And we still have five months to go. Now, I can personally attest that Five Points is ground zero for figh... More About: Gamecocks
Cola council race heats up
2008-03-30 21:49:00 CANDIDATE CLAIMS INCUMBENT POSSIBLY BROKE STATE LAW I’ve written a couple times about the very heated race for the at-large seat on the Columbia City Council , and on Friday the other shoe dropped. And it could spell disaster for the incumbent. Challenger Cameron Runyan held a press conference at the site of the Five Points South development — a six-story condo, retail and public parking area planned for Saluda Avenue in Columbia’s Five Points — that he claimed held “the specter of financial improprieties” for Councilman Daniel Rickenmann. Those possible improprieties stem from Rickenmann’s involvement in the project and the possibility that he used his office to pocket $500,000 in taxpayer money. “What has yet to be reported and was brought to my attention late yesterday afternoon is that before, during, and after the initial votes on this project, Councilman Daniel Rickenmann has had a direct financial relationship with the original ... More About: Race , Cola
Graham challengers drop out
2008-03-28 23:24:00 BOBBLEHEAD, CARNES END U.S. SENATE PRIMARY BIDS There’s only one quasi-opponent to Sen. Lindsey Graham ’s assured Republican re-nomination after two would-be challengers announced they will not be able to afford the state GOP’s hefty $10,158 filing fee. Former Myrtle Beach mayor and 2004 U.S. Senate ?candidate? Mark McBride — also known as “The Bobblehead” — sent out a brief press release Friday stating that he would “skip the GOP primary” and instead launch a petition campaign to be put on the November general election ballot. He would need 10,000 signatures. “The time has come to do something different in this state, different in this country,” said Mark McBride. “We have a two-party system that’s fighting back and forth, and nothing’s getting done.” His over-sized head then swiveled back and forth on top of the spring that connected it to his lifelessly-still body. McBride recently attended... More About: Congress , Drop
Don?t believe everything you read
2008-03-28 20:39:00 RCP SCHOOLS POLITICO OVER STATE PARTY CASH I wrote last month that the South Carolina Republican Party is loaded, especially when compared to state Democrats. They have a huge amount of cash in their pocket and are ready to get behind anyone who wins the party’s nomination. So I was quite surprised when The Politico ran a “story” earlier this week with the headline “GOP state parties are in dire straits.” But then I remembered that everyone not named Jonathan Martin who writes for The Politico sucks at their job, and it all made perfect sense. In some of the largest, smallest, reddest and bluest states in the nation, many state Republican organizations are still reeling in the aftermath of the devastating 2006 election cycle, raising questions about how much grassroots help the state parties will be able to deliver to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. The state party woes are especially ill-timed since McCain will face a Democratic nominee who may ... More About: Republicans , Read
A Republican dream?
2008-03-28 16:42:00 CONSERVATIVE GROUP REACHES OUT TO SC’S BLACK VOTERS I had never heard of the National Black Republican Association until I read about the above-pictured billboard which has recently gone up in Orangeburg. But apparently this controversial campaign to persuade black voters to join the Republican cause is working, because there are a lot of people talking about it. GOP Chairman Katon Dawson told The State, ?I almost broke my neck trying to look at it,? when he was driving home from the 6th Congressional District Republican convention. And I’m pretty sure that kind of “shock and awe” is the point. In an email to The Palmetto Scoop, the NBRA’s Chairman, Frances Rice, said the group’s campaign is aimed at the “failed socialism of the Democratic Party, as well as the racist past of the Democrats and why Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican.” That message may sound extreme or radical to some, but she does have a point. In an attached es... More About: Republicans , Dream
My new favorite bartender
2008-03-27 22:06:00 REAL WORLD STAR BACK IN COLUMBIA, WORKING AT LOCAL BAR I’ve caught word through a friend that one of the stars of the upcoming The Real World Hollywood — which has got to be about the 800th season of that show — is not only a native of Columbia, but also works at a local watering hole. And she’s pretty cute. My “source” told me that they were at Tsunami on Gervais Street when they struck up a conversation with the blonde behind the counter. Her name is Kimberly Alexander and she is a 25-year-old aspiring reporter. Which means she would be a perfect contributor to The Palmetto Scoop. She was apparently quite willing to offer up the fact that she was on the show and dished out the inside scoop on her Real World experience and what we can expect on the upcoming season. Of course, the only way that’s important to you is if watch The Real World; something I will never publicly admit to. But I will publicly admit that I plan on making a trip t... More About: Favorite , Bartender
The beer vote
2008-03-27 19:53:00 SUNDAY SALES REFERENDUM WILD CARD IN COLUMBIA ELECTIONS We’re less than a week away from two of the most hotly contested city council elections Columbia has held in a while. If that sentence put you to sleep, then wake up because there is quite a bit up for grabs - like drinking on Sunday. Although few people pay attention to city council, the at-large seat actually represents a larger district than any other non-federal elected post in South Carolina. In that race, incumbent Daniel Rickenmann has a fight on his hands from a trio of challengers, most notably Cameron Runyan. And sources are telling me that, because of Rickenmann’s creation of an ordinance that gives a separate set of (better) rights to gays and transgendereds as well as his nearly $6 million boondoggle, Runyan actually has a very good chance of pulling off a huge upset win. In the third district race, once-heavily-favored Brian Boyer could very well lose to opponent Belinda Gergel after he whooped up a... More About: Beer , Vote
Geography, Constitution could be problematic for candidates
2008-03-27 17:02:00 SOMEBODY PLEASE GET THESE GUYS A MAP The hectic two-week filing period for candidates seeking their party’s nomination in this year’s election is almost at a close. With less than four days to file official paperwork and pay a fee as a contender in the June 10 primary elections, rumors are still abound about who will and who won’t be running for a legislative seat. But for some of those candidates face a possible defeat not at the hands of their primary opponent, but rather by the State Constitution . Jeffrey Sewell at SC Hotline noted Wednesday that Article III, Section 7 of the South Carolina Constitution requires, “A candidate for the Senate or House of Representatives must be a legal resident of the district in which he is a candidate at the time he files for the office.” And for at least four potential legislative contenders, this could be a problem. Outgoing president and CEO of the state Chamber of Commerce Hunter Howard announced that he would ... More About: Candidates , Legislature , Geography
Graham on Sanford?s veep prospects
2008-03-27 01:54:00 HOW DO YOU POLITELY SAY ‘NOT A CHANCE IN HELL’? If I ever get a job as a South Carolina employment commissioner where I can make nearly $200k per year for doing absolutely nothing, then I think I will buy The State’s editorial page editor Brad Warthen a tripod for his camera. He gets all of these great people to come talk to him, and he asks good questions, but he never uses a tripod. It makes his interviews like watching the Blair Witch Project if the Blair Witch Project had a plot and was about Palmetto State politics. But the clip he posted today — motion sickness aside — was quite good. It featured Sen. Lindsey Graham essentially shutting the door on media-perpetuated rumors that Gov. Mark Sanford will be GOP presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate. Of course, this isn’t news to The Palmetto Scoop readers, because I wrote two months ago (and at least 598,378 times since) that Sanford missed the boat. In Warthen’s clip,... More About: Congress , Executive
Legislators REALLY aren?t helping themselves
2008-03-26 23:04:00 DO THEY EVEN READ THIS STUFF BEFORE THEY PASS IT? The Real ID dilemma is a real problem. With only five days left to either comply with a federally-mandated program that requires states to impose new, tougher standards for getting identification or ask for an extension, Gov. Mark Sanford must make a very difficult decision. If Sanford does nothing, South Carolinians would no longer use their driver?s license to board an airplane. And we have already passed the point of being able to comply. So the only option left is to ask the Department of Homeland Security for more time. But if Sanford were to do that, he would be breaking the law. That’s because the wonderful South Carolina General Assembly passed a bill last year that said the state would not in any way comply with the Real ID program. Sanford argues that asking for extra time implies that the state plans to comply with the current set of guidelines, and legally, he’s probably right. The only way the governor ca... More About: Executive , Legislature , Legislators
News from the north
2008-03-26 17:32:00 DAVID WILKINS IS ALIVE, WELL, BECOMING CANADIAN In case you had forgotten about former House Speaker David Wilkins, we have word that he’s still up in Canada fighting the good fight. And according to Theo Caldwell, who writes something for some Canadian newspaper, Wilkins’ ambassadorship to America Jr. has been extraordinarily successful. Most impressive has been his support for the Canadian military — which, contrary to popular belief, actually exists and has been a key ally in the War on Terror. Hmm… you learn something new every day. Wilkins? gratitude for Canada?s leading role in the Afghanistan campaign has been part of his public pronouncements for some time, so when he was invited to accompany Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier to Kandahar, the Ambassador jumped at the chance to thank Canadian troops in person. ?It was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen,? Wilkins says of his time with the tro... More About: News , North , Executive
Shealy up to old tricks, ese
2008-03-25 22:42:00 CEIPS CAMPAIGN SENDS OUT PHOTOS OF ‘ILLEGAL ALIEN’ ALLEGEDLY HIRED BY SENATE OPPONENT To call the District 46 South Carolina Senate primary race between incumbent Catherine Ceips and Tom Davis, the former top aide to Gov. Mark Sanford, a choice between the lesser of two evils would be an understatement. Add in the fact that infamous bad boy consultant Rod Shealy is running Ceips’ campaign, it’s not only a lose-lose for voters, but it’s sure to have some nasty bloodletting as well. And that first volley of gunfire came today, when Shealy “leaked” a photo (above) to the Associated Press and the Beaufort Gazette that he said shows an illegal immigrant hired by Davis to paint his Scott Street home. In the photo, a man identified as Josias Misale Ayala is seen standing in front of Davis’ front door. Shealy, who ran Ceips’ Senate campaign last year and said he plans on running her re-election bid, said Randy Bates, a Ceips staffer an... More About: Tricks , Legislature
André is confusing
2008-03-25 20:44:00 A TALE OF TWO GAS TANKS? I was reading a really great post on The Other Brooks Brothers about how Spartanburg GOP Chairman/Neanderthal Rick Beltram completely owns the Herald-Journal, when I noticed a very interesting picture in their Flickr sidebar. Apparently, Lt. Gov. André Bauer not only has a sweet new smart car, but he also has — or had — a Jeep Wagoneer. So which car is SC2? If it’s the smart car, then it looks like Bauer has made a “smart” investment. The Wagoneer gets about 15 miles per gallon, while the smart car gets 40 or something ridiculous like that. Unfortunately, the smart car’s gas tank is about the size of my pinky toe. Plus, the Wagoneer, can be used to drive around Junior in the 1990 hit movie “Problem Child.” Wait… maybe Bauer was the original problem child. Of course, none of this changes the fact that you’re going to look like a fool in either car. Now, I’ve heard a rumor that the Wagoneer ... More About: Executive
Sparkle City is hardcore
2008-03-25 17:10:00 MICHAEL GARDNER TO THE RESCUE I didn’t realize that you had to be a straight-up gangstah thug to survive the mean streets of Spartanburg. In fact, of the many folks I know from Sparkle City , only one of them is a thug. But he’s a completely different kind of thug. It appears that all of my preconceived notions are wrong though, if the above video is any indication (WARNING: Explicit Language). Of course, I don’t understand most of the words and even if I did, it would be in whatever code rappers use so it wouldn’t matter. But the imagery of gang signs, guys wearing skis masks and self-titled “crime bosses” definitely gets the point across to those of who are illiterate to the ways of the street. So I guess it’s a good thing that former State Trooper and Head of Gov. Carroll Campbell’s security detail Michael Gardner is running for state senate. Gardner, who has lead international security details for the state in difficult places ... More About: Hardcore
USC arrests No. 4-6
2008-03-25 00:49:00 I’M NOT EVEN GOING TO COMMENT THIS TIME This one is a biggy. Highly touted redshirt freshman quarterback/savior Stephen Garcia was one of three University of South Carolina football players arrested Saturday for underage drinking. Offensive lineman Heath Batchelor and walk-on quarterback Zac Brindise were also charged when campus police caught them drinking near a campus dormitory. “He doesn’t make any excuses and did not want to put the fans and the university through this and have more negative attention brought towards him or the school,” Garcia’s attorney Neal Lourie said Monday. Garcia’s brother was charged with giving beer to a minor. Garcia enrolled early at South Carolina to get a jump start on spring practice but was suspended from the team a year ago after two arrests. In February 2007, he was charged with drunkenness and failure to stop for a police officer. About a month later, he was charged with malicious injury to personal propert... More About: Arrests
Law & Order: SCRG
More articles from this author:2008-03-24 19:27:00 THE CASE OF ‘RANDY PAGE HEARTS RANDY PAGE’ I’m not sure if the above two-and-a-half minute “news package” from the ALGNewsNetwork (who?) is supposed to be serious or yet another dreadful attempt at mimicking the wildly successful deadpan humor of NBC’s The Office — only with a Law & Order twist. But one thing that is clear from this video is that South Carolinians for Responsible Government’s Randy Page sure does love hearing himself speak fighting for the issues. What leads me to believe this is supposed to be satirical is the over-the-top “reporter” lady with the weird eyebrows and amateurish mannerisms. Like her interviewees, everything she said appears overly-rehearsed. Also, she felt the need to make excessively dramatic statements like “David v. Goliath” and “one man against a machine” to hype up a case that nobody outside of Page and SCRG care one bit about. I think it would have been m... More About: Judicial 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |




