South Carolina embarrassed by politicians behaving badly

[liberal N proud]

Reporting from Columbia, S.C. - It's tough these days being from South Carolina. Ask Dick Harpootlian.

He was in Peru, on a train from Cusco to Machu Picchu, when he and his wife began chatting with another couple. Where, Harpootlian asked, are you from? Rio, came the response, and you? South Carolina, Harpootlian replied. Mark Sanford! the couple exclaimed. Argentina!

Later that night Harpootlian returned to his hotel room, flipped on the TV and picked out two words in a stream of Spanish: Joe Wilson. (As in, "You lie!")

"Thousands of miles from home," Harpootlian said with a sigh. "In the middle of nowhere."

Harpootlian is a prominent lawyer, former head of the state Democratic Party and a fierce partisan. Sanford and Wilson are Republicans.

But Harpootlian is hardly alone in his civic embarrassment.

"This is a small state that doesn't get on the national stage very often," said David Woodard, a GOP consultant who teaches political science at South Carolina's Clemson University. "To get on the stage because your congressman shouted at the president, or your governor is running around with an Argentine mistress, isn't what you want your state to be about."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-southcarolina22-2009oct22,0,2541176.story

DUH!

Gee maybe if they did a better job of choosing their elected officials they wouldn't need to be embarrassed. This is what happens when you vote blindly.

[RKP5637]

1. SC can bask in the well deserved glory of it all! Next time engage brain before voting! n/t

[raccoon]

11. Unfortunately, we progressives in SC are way outnumbered by freepers and Republicans. nt

[RKP5637]

12. I know, it's difficult, I have the same problem here, banging my head against a brick wall. n/t

[AndyA]

2. Note to people in South Carolina: STOP ELECTING REPUBLICANS!

Because this is what you get. They are hypocrites who support an unrealistic and untenable political platform.

The smart Democrats in South Carolina shouldn't have to suffer because of the stupid Republicans.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. I'll go to the Outer Banks next time...

[Mudoria]

7. Please do.. the Outer Banks are so much nicer...

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION:

http://buyingsc.blogspot.com/

SC has always had a fair of Rethugs. However, the Dems have managed to elect some decent officials in past years.
In the past few years there has been a concerted effort by a very wealthy man to make SC his own little lab experiment. His name is Howard Rich.

He has funneled money even to STATE legislators in an effort to affect policy. Howie has set up many entities to hide his machinations. This an operation that is just now getting some exposure.

It has been difficult enough to battle the Rethugs, but now there is a hidden hand making even more of a mess. It's hard to keep up with who is really who, and what are they up to. Read the article at the above link. You also better be careful because he is spreading his filth into other states. You may not even know he is there.

In addition, the national Dems don't help at all. Apparently because it is an easy solution, the DNC and others are intent on marginalizing the GOP into a group of Southern states. It's like herding them all into one place.

I'm not real thrilled, but I can go along IF the DNC intends to go after them here and wipe them out instead of leaving them to muck up everything as they please. There are a lot of Dems down here who deserve support, and don't deserve to be cut off with the rest of the loons.

It sounds like everybody will be just fine with letting us fend for ourselves. Then people can continue to sneer at us while they have made the problem much worse. If you thought we were insular before, how hard do you think it will be to break us back out if we are shut off?

In addition there are other places that aren't in the South. Some of the most militant groups are in the West.

[liberal N proud]

5. I am sure those huge billboards of Rush Limbaugh on I 26 don't help

[Are_grits_groceries]

6. *sigh*

nevermind

i'll be leaving now. goodbye. it's been fun. it's been real. at times it's been real fun.

take care

[CurtEastPoint]

10. Don't leave! We ALL have our fair share of embarrassments.

Hell, I live in GA and we have asshole 1 and 2 for senators, assholes 1 - nn for congresspeople and asshole 1 for governor.

Don't pick on one state, OK?

[Zoeisright]

8. Well, if they'd quit electing repukes, things would get better.

But we cain't be havin' no abortions or them gays a'marryin'!!

[junkiebrewster]

9. David Woodard

was my political theory professor in college. A huge partisan and kind of a douche at times, but a fair professor when it came to grading and respecting other's beliefs.

Anyway, I love SC as the place I grew up in, but I will never live there again. Hell, I'm not even comfortable visiting there anymore. The politicians, starting on the local level and going all the way up to the federal level, are all pretty much morons.

[WI_DEM]

13. Yeah, and who are they? REPUBLICANS.

[surrealAmerican]

14. It's unfortunate that the people who vote for these ...

... embarrassments will not be embarrassed by their antics. It's only their long-suffering opposition who are having trouble showing their faces abroad.