Wednesday, November 29, 2006
The woman has lost her mind. It's pretty clear that she can no longer read and understand her own quotes and articles. I'm not sure if she's actually contracted mad cow disease but it's pretty clear that something has already eaten more than half her brain.
Don't believe me? Check out her last two opinion pieces. In her post-Election Sunday piece, she claims that Mark Sanford repudiated school choice in his victory speech, or at least forgot to mention it. But in the sections of his speech that Scoppe herself quoted, Sanford specifically said he would
continue to push for structural changes whether on the health care front or the educational front, because we believe on both counts that money is not the only answer to fixing either one of those things, that structure absolutely matters.
Okay, I don't know how Sanford could have been any more clear. If you're going to make "structural changes" to a system that is currently a government-run monopoly, then you are endorsing school choice. What else could he possibly mean?
Look, parents deserve choices. Kids deserve the schools that are best for them. Scoppe says that since Sanford didn't say "vouchers" or "tax credits," he was "speaking in code." How stupid does Scoppe think we are? "Structural change" means transforming the way an institution works. We know that Scoppe is a big fan of the current system which systematically snuffs out opportunity for poor kids and leaves them with little-to-no prospects for bettering themselves. But can she at least see what's in front of her nose when reporting what Mark Sanford is saying?
Second verse, same as the first. Scoppe claims that the victory for anti-eminent domain-abuse legislation was not a victory for property rights supporters. Or, rather, she claims that we should relax because everyone supports property rights. There was no opposition to property rights in the first place and therefore no reason for a citizens' movement against it. Tell that to the US Supreme Court. Cindi's spin: when someone fights for school choice and they lose, then they're an out-of-state interest who is testing radical ideas. But when someone supports an initiative to secure property rights and they score an overwhelming victory, then, well, that win doesn't count at all.
Cindi Scoppe hasn't lost her integrity—there's no evidence she ever had any—she's gone blind, no longer able to see what's in front of her nose. Or, alternately, she's gone crazy and can no longer cope with the reality of a South Carolina that refuses to be repeatedly shafted and bullied by special interests.
Posted by Bill Smith at 11:43 AM |
20 comments
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
I had been hoping against hope to be able to wait for a Karen Floyd victory as the linchpin to a long post that would (a) gloat about the pathetic fortunes of our Palmetto State Democrats and (b) highlight the ridiculous and partisan coverage of the 2006 General Election in the "objective" pages of The State.
Now I see—via The State's uncharacteristically good SC Politics Today site—that Karen Floyd has conceded to Jim Rex in a heartbreaking loss amounting to less than 500 votes out of 2 million cast. For those of you who are graduates of South Carolina public schools, that's less than 0.25% of the vote. Undoubtedly, The State will claim that this is an overwhelming mandate against every parent having the right to choose the best school for their child. (Honestly, these people should be taken to the public square and whipped.)When stuff like this happens, you always wish that you had spent an extra few hours making phone calls or sent in the extra $15 that you could've definitely afforded. What a heartbreaker.UPDATE: As always, for informed commentary on how SC politics from one of the sharpest minds in the game, check out Will Folks.UPDATE #2: Do expect much more frequent updates to this site as I have now finished holding my breath on account of this heartbreaking loss. Y'all come back now.
Posted by Bill Smith at 12:17 PM |
12 comments
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Have you ever in your life seen anything more incoherent, cowardly, and morally obtuse than La Socialista's endorsement of the gay marriage initiative?I challenge anyone—no matter how educated, sophisticated, or intelligent—to come up with a principled (or non-principled) defense of this endorsement. Even a Frenchman would recognize this as utterly spineless.By contrast, in response to this initiative, SC's LGBT community has given us one of the best political ads of the season.
Posted by Bill Smith at 8:15 AM |
9 comments
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Really guys, this isn't funny. Ross needs those pills to keep himself under control.Don't believe me? Check out this guest opinion piece in The State. Shealy has a strange, stalker-like obsession about someone who's a philanthropist trying to improve education, property rights, and political accountability around the country. Instead of just talking a good game, it more-or-less looks like Howie Rich is actually trying to do some good. Consider school choice: If he had started his own school—to give more choices to parents in South Carolina—how many students could he help? Maybe 6oo? Maybe 1,000?
And how many children would be helped if every single parent in the state of South Carolina were to have the ability to choose the best learnin' option for their child? Oh, about 600,000. Oh.
So Mr. Rich could have chosen the easy way out. If he gave a couple of hundred thousand dollars to USC—like the adorable Darla Moore—everyone would raise their champagne glass to him and toast to "our good friend from New York." But Rich thought about what would help the least powerful, most abused segment of our society—disadvantaged children. A good education is the surest way out of the poverty trap and towards a life of independence and dignity.
After trying to help the least among us, what does Howie Rich get for his troubles? The wrath and rancor of one crazed political lunatic whose own career will never involve trying to help get our poorest and most troubled into a better life. They say no good deed goes unpunished.
Now Shealy is trying to make this about the integrity of our political system or some such nonsense. Oh, please. Shealy is a couple of beers short of a 6-pack but even he knows the way that politics really works. He knows that the legislators are owned by the education bureaucracy, the big school contracting corporations (hello M.B. Kahn!), and the big unions. Sometimes they even forget that children exist. Now parents are finally getting their voice heard, their interests represented, their agenda pressed. Now all of a sudden Ross Shealy is the protector of the American Way.
Memo to Ross Shealy: Here in America, it's still legal to make campaign contributions. It's still legal to have an opinion. It's still legal to support candidates with your blood, sweat, and tears—and your financial wherewithal.
Remember, our Founding Fathers pledged their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" to the cause of American Independence. I dare say that they were better men than you.
Posted by Bill Smith at 7:58 AM |
10 comments
