Monday during my lunch hour, I happened to tune into the local Columbia NPR station to hear an interview with a delegate to the Republican Convention in my home state of Minnesota.  Oh my.

Well, he did it again.  First Gresham Barrett votes against the new GI Bill and now he is one of only 58 voting against H.R. 4137: College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008.  354 Representatives, Republican and Democrat passed the Bill in the House, and in the Senate it was passed unanimously and unanimous includes both of South Carolina's senators. [...]

There are a handful of races that need watching. Obama is making is easy for some this year. But there are a couple who could use a good push and one is Tom Delay’s buddy-boy–Rep. Joe Wilson  of South Carolina’s second district. Wilson is in danger this year and it’s worth tuning in, according even to The Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/...

[Note: This is a new version of a previously published diary, updated to reflect the results of the primaries.]

Talking Points (a full description below the fold):

- Linda Ketner is a liberal Democrat running against a solidly conservative and ethically questionable Republican in a district that is itself highly conservative.

- Linda Ketner is fundraising at an unusually prodigious rate for a Democrat in this district, trouncing the incumbent Republican.

- Prospects for the Democratic party are high enough this year that Linda Ketner has a real chance of winning, but only if South Carolina Democrats put their all in.

- The DNC needs to support Ketner, so Democrats should make sure they’re doing their part.

- Visit Ketner's official website to learn more, donate, buy promotional merchandise, or volunteer.  Or contribute right now through Act Blue

I'm currently aiming for 25 contributors, so please give what you can afford.  It may only be a few dollars, but I still remember Barack Obama's reference to a woman who sent him $3.01.  Every little bit helps.

South Carolina, more than some states of the union, has a cherished tradition of strongly honoring the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend this country.  That tradition was born in the revolution and continues today in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We honor our military and we make sure they are treated when they come home with the best of care and offered educational opportunities.

So why, given that long unbroken tradition, do we find that Representative Barrett has other ideas about honoring our Vets?  StandUpForVets.org has recorded his voting record.  You can find it.  Go to their site and you will discover that this so-called Representative of the People has voted against the interest of South Carolina Vets in almost 60% of the votes he has cast on Veterans issues in Congress. [...]

There is already an excellent diary on John McCain's record on Civil Rights, but I want to point out something else since I'm from South Carolina.  You wanna know why African-Americans in South Carolina didn't rally to help John McCain after Rove went after him with "black child rumors" in 2000? More below:

John McCain is a racist, sexist bigot.

Born in 1936, the year of FDR's second re-election, the beginning of the Spanish civil war, the publication of Gone With the Wind, and the completion of the Hoover Dam, McCain is a man of the past stuck awkwardly in the present. Here are some unmistakable instances of racial prejudice.

On his campaign bus recently, Sen. John McCain told reporters, "I hated the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live." Although McCain said he was referring only to his prison guards, there are many reasons why his use of the word "gook" is offensive and alarming. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2000

Does McCain still hate Asians?

Based on Obama’s latest trip to Europe and the Middle East, it appears they are all still there. Apparently, they were just waiting for someone to actually talk with them instead of at them...

I closed out four years in office as a southern Governer throughout this period without one person being killed in demonstrations and marches.

  These are the words of man whose guiding principle as a public servant has been the Latin of my title:  the safety of the people is the supreme law.  On January 20, 1959, at age 37, he became governor of South Carolina, having already served in the South Carolina legislature beginning in 1948.  He failed in his first try for the U. S. Senate, was out of elected office from January 1963 until winning a special election to the United States Senate in November of 1966, and he served until January of 2005.  His 38 years is the 7th longest in Senate history.   And now he has written an important book, entitled Making Government Work.  His name is Ernest "Fritz" Hollings and I am delight to be able to write about him and about this book.

South Carolina

Sometime last year, I read about the murder of Sean William Kennedy. A 20 year old living in South Carolina, Sean was murdered because he was gay. At the time, I remember thinking what a senseless tragedy it was and how the perpetrator, himself just a teenager, had thrown his life away. For I trusted justice would be done. And so, just as quickly as the story entered my life, it was forgotten.

Until today. Until tonight.

The outcome of this sordid tale has now come to my attention - an outcome which makes me white hot with rage.

Kos is reporting that South Carolina is strong for John McCain. There's good reason for that. According to The Economist, South Carolina leads the nation in hate groups.  There are more organizations that hate more different people in South Carolina than anywhere.  They hate Jews, blacks, gays, Muslims – there’s more than enough hate to go around.  South Carolina has white supremacist groups, neo-nazis, you name it, including an outfit called the League of the South, whose aim is to secede from the U.S.  Those of us who thought that controversy settled for good in 1865 must have missed something. SC has plenty of other attractions too:

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 7/22-23. Likely voters. MoE 4.5% (No trend lines)

Obama is getting only 15 percent of the white vote. Kerry, for his part, got 22 percent of the white vote in 2004. This poll closely tracks black turnout with the 2004 election (31 percent versus 30 percent in 2004), and we can assume those numbers will be greatly boosted thanks to Obama's presence in the field. However, those white numbers make it extremely difficult to make a go of this state. Perhaps that's why the Obama campaign talks more about Georgia than they do about South Carolina.

Many of us in SC are ecstatic that Bush/Barrett were overridden on the Medicare Bill.  Finally, their efforts to reward insurance company’s profits at the cost of American citizens have been thwarted.

According to the Los Angeles Times (link),

   Bush issued the veto in the morning, declaring the bill "objectionable" because it would take funds from private health insurers to keep paying doctors and would be "fiscally irresponsible."

Seniors have been faced with more and more doctors not accepting Medicare patients and what do our elected officials do?  They want to cut payments to doctors by over 10%.  Do they have any idea how tough it is for Medicare patients to find a doctor as it is?

One of the most distressing parts of their attempts is that this bill also provides for mental health and other health services to veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom living in rural areas.  Our elected officials opposed this effort to take care of our veterans.

more after the jump...

when I first heard of "Oli" North I was intrigued by the expensive fence he built to keep Osama bin Laden from his home - admittedly surprised to learn that the muslim hoards had perpetrated our borders (this before our current HOmeland security - pun intended HOe) +/- 1983 (I was @ moscow, Idaho - you gotta know I'm laying low)  

Perhaps you have seen the offensive photo S.C. State Senator Kevin Bryant has posted to his web site.  You know, the one with a picture of Obama and a picture of Osama with the saying "the only difference is a little B.S."

What's even more shocking is that people can post directly to his site.  That's right, from looking at what is posted to date, comments are not being moderatored on this politcal candidates blog! Well, well!!  If I were of a mind...

Below the fold, the folks of South Carolina, and the nation, repsond

This is a hard diary to write; I try to be optimistic with all of the progress we are making for equality for the LGBT community.  I cheer as I watch gay and lesbian couples marry in California; I smile when I read polls showing acceptance growing.  I do all of this being lucky enough to be a gay man living in New York where in truth I experience little out right homophobia myself.  But we cannot become complacent and assume that the battle is over.  Every so often things occur which wake us up.

Many people in SC are beginning to wake up and realize that we are in a train wreck (or "in a spin" for you pilots) with no one at the controls.

The latest publicity for our governor would suggest that South Carolinians just aren’t very bright.

The reality is that just like the rest of America, many of us in SC are fed up with skyrocketing gas prices, the mortgage crisis, the health care crisis, and looming bank uncertainty.

more after the jump...