While we broke our addiction to the EA Sports college football franchise a couple years ago, we go way back with EA. For example, the NBA game “Lakers vs. Celtics,” and the first edition of the Madden series. Naturally, we get ads for NCAA Football 11′s Facebook page every once in a while, and it’s clear that whoever is scripting these things doesn’t exactly have it together. As in, someone who may or may not know anything about college football.
We’re particularly proud of the ad pimping the game by saying Alabama travels to Auburn this season (the Tigers will go to Tuscaloosa) and that the game is in Montgomery, of all places. That’s like saying Clemson will play at Carolina in Charleston. Good job there, EA.
What happens when a British legend of stage and screen shows up in New Orleans? Why, tornadoes, of course. Sunday morning, Stephen Fry tweeted about what a beautiful day it was in the Crescent City, and the wildness that went down in the French Quarter following the Saints’ preseason win. But by late afternoon, things took a turn.
When we’ve lived in tornado-prone areas, funnel clouds tend to show up during the changing of the seasons, though when it’s still hot. And intense afternoon thunderstorms in the South are nothing new. But down on the bayou, it got a little bit more interesting. As the funnel cloud appeared and began snaking its way toward the ground, Fry was tweeting pictures, keeping his international following apprised on the situation.
Fortunately for Fry and residents of the area, it never did touch down. However, the takeaway here is that this is another example of how social media is really changing things. When we were quite a bit younger, we watched a waterspout make its way across Pensacola Bay in Florida. At the time, as Sting would say, there were “heavy clouds, but no rain.” Of course, this was a time of cell phones the size of bricks and 28.8 kbps modems. It was a full 20 minutes later before a local television station reported the incident. To turn a hackneyed phrase, immediacy is immediate. And few things are more immediate than blasting out current happenings with pictures or video via Twitter.
There’s about zero we like about Sarah Palin. She peaked with us after a Wonkette post showed her unveiling the Alaska quarter while sporting knee-high leather boots and a rather fetching skirt. Then, we weren’t subject to two of her most irritating qualities, which are what she says and the accent she says it in. Then U.S. Sen. John McCain had to let his staff push her on him and America and all was lost, forever. Lately, her whole “mama grizzly” schtick has become simply too much.
But God forbid a liberal group leave that awful trope alone. EMILY’s List is all over this, placing liberal mothers in bear suits. Guess all we can say is kudos for them for finding people willing to put on these outfits and go on a video that is viewable worldwide. Really, we know some Democratic moms who can’t stand Palin’s song-and-dance, but we’d be hard-pressed to see them donning a furry bear getup and going on camera.
If you’d pick out one area, and let’s say it’s a Southern area, to classify as the “asshole of the United States,” many places would have to beat out the entire state of South Carolina for that honor, even in the wake of the Alvin Greene comedy of errors. Good portions of southern Georgia, southern Alabama, eastern Tennessee, northern Louisiana, most of Mississippi and close to all of Arkansas. The Natural State really is tops in the running, if you’d slag an entire state. Corporate chicken farms, Wal-Mart, weather from the ninth circle of Hell and the municipality of West Memphis. When we lived there, they allowed clear-cutting in state forests. But back to the matter at hand.
The Gawker blogs, and Gawker in particular, trade on what everyone else does these days, which is jokes about current events. It’s in the comment section of the blogs where the fun happens, and one particular Charlestonian had enough with South Carolina’s clowning out.
Last week was not exactly the best for S.C. Democrats, who had to bear witness to three different events that weren’t entirely the doing of U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene. But, oh, did Greene and his campaign come up big. This guy and his people just don’t stop providing entertainment.
Greene’s epic freakout
We got it around noon on Saturday, and it began to go viral a few hours after that. Charlotte’s WCNC television sent a crew down to Manning to talk to Greene about his recent indictment (bad incident 1A) regarding the incident when he allegedly showed porn to a Carolina student in one of the worst pitches for tail since our last appearance at Bar None. The epicness is epic, as the kids say.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The Post & Courier‘s Brian Hicks does a fine job taking on the actions of the S.C. Democratic Party‘s reaction — Chairwoman Carol Fowler reiterating that Green should drop out, and lands a Forrest Gump reference on the candidate himself.
“My lawyer is dealing with that,” Greene said before hanging up.
That’s all he had to say about that.
But Friday’s statement shouldn’t be all the Democratic Party has to say about this. The party has fouled up several important races around the state, yet still wonders why it seems to be the permanent minority in South Carolina these days.
Green’s SCDP executive committee appearance
While the SCDP has publicly come down for Greene to step aside, it still played host to him at its executive committee meeting on Thursday. Free Times was on hand for the spectacle, in which we get friendly clapping, more candidate-in-a-pod behavior (30-second speech, no questions, no comments) and more people looking to get high-end jobs on the low-end campaign.
Greene’s speech clocked in at around 23 seconds, which is consistent with what his campaign adviser Felipe Farley had predicted weeks ago, when he noted that Greene wasn’t going to be doing any long barnburners on the stump.
When Greene finished, one of his newer advisers stood up.
“I would like to say that Alvin isn’t being short with you -– my name is Georgean McConnell and I’ve been working with Alvin -– and we have a speech committee and so forth and so I didn’t want him to get into no debates tonight or anything, because it’s really not fair since he’s been very cooperative with us.”
McConnell works at the University of South Carolina School of Music in the Center for Southern African-American Music as the gospel music ambassador. She went on to describe Greene as a quick learner and a knowledgeable person.
“So I think, in a very short time, you’re going to be seeing a very different Alvin Greene,” she said.
A-ha. Nope, looks like more of the same. Not that we’re upset about that one bit.
Gunn checks out
While the Greene sideshow has been running for some time, the abrupt announcement by Rep. Anton Gunn that he was leaving the House and taking over the regional U.S. Department of Health and Human Services post was the absolute bomb. Gunn’s a competitive Democrat in a competitive district, though a district that would tend to go Republican more often than not. His departure brought a lot of speculation about other issues, like whether his close ties to President Barack Obama were seriously hindering his reelection hopes or that he would simply be a victim of high Republican turnout.
Either is possible, but we think we could make a good case that a ficus plant would make a better member of the House than GOP nominee Sheri Few. The consideration that no other Republican this side of the padded-room set decided to run and win the nomination may suggest that local Republicans felt Gunn was solidifying his position as the HD-79 representative. Maybe because it seems Few will run on a regular basis, anyway, it just wasn’t worth another tough primary battle.
Whether any of these statements were factors doesn’t change the fact that this is a major blow for replenishing the stock of good Democratic candidates and for overall sanity in the General Assembly.
Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath has been upping his Internet profile as of late, what with Facebook and Twitter and his new site, BroadwayJoe.tv. And naturally, we were only aware of this because of Wolfe père‘s Facebook activity — got to get your news about aging football greats from somewhere. One of the things Namath’s doing is posting videos with his pearls of wisdom regarding the New York Jets and Alabama. It just goes to show that when a player gets to that point in his life where he’s a fan (that is, a fan with an absurd amount of access), he’s got the same analysis we all have.
For instance, his discussion of the Tide’s chances this year comes down to:
1. The new starters on defense need to step up.
2. The players’ mindset needs to be right.
3. The offensive line needs to be solid.
You got it, Joe.
According to a story in Wednesday’s Politico, increasingly political bloggers are using their sites as springboards to higher office. Slate‘s Mickey Kaus is a bit of an outlier, since he ran for federal office. Either because this is a new trend and people tend to start low on the ballot, or that local government is more comfortable, bloggers that run seem to be seeking state legislature and municipal seats.
The blog might be the new on ramp to American politics.
At least 20 candidates are running for office this cycle who owe their public profile — at least in part — to blogging, POLITICO has found. Leading voices in Internet politics said that’s more than in any prior cycle. The clutch of candidates suggests a new chapter in the history of the blogosphere, one in which blogs, having proved themselves as potent tools for fundraising and advocacy, emerge as launching pads for the nation’s next generation of political leaders.
The list of candidates and officials include the men behind ThinkProgress and RedState. It makes sense. If you’re getting your shit together every day to read the news and field tips and write about politics, it only makes sense that you would consider stepping off the sidelines and getting into the action. It’s really no different that being a regular letter writer to newspapers or getting involved in local political meetings or just having a salon with friends at a party.
Even back in college, we had people asking us if we’d run for office. The answer was, an is, “No fucking way.” One reason is fundraising. That shit is not fun. Calling for dollars, approving fundraising letters, asking friends and family to turn over the Benjamins and hold fundraising parties — we’re not fans of that marathon of begging. The only thing that’s possibly worse is going door-to-door in the wretched heat that claims the South from the beginning of April through mid-November. And the more people you meet and shake hands with, the more people you think shouldn’t be allowed to drive a car, much less vote. And that’s the nexus of winning — asking people for money and votes. If you are not 100 percent committed to these things, you shouldn’t run for any office, anywhere.
Also, the idea of dropping f-bombs in a debate against Columbia City Councilwoman Belinda Gergel, Rep. James Smith or Sen. John Courson isn’t exactly high up on our list of unrealized life experiences.
Sen. Mick Mulvaney’s campaign to unseat long-serving Fifth District U.S. Rep. John Spratt ran into a little Internet trouble this week. We’re not saying outages like we had recently — thanks, Time Warner — but hiring an inexperienced person/firm who sent said inexperienced person to deal with its new media operation. Apparently unfamiliar with the self-policing aspects of Wikipedia and how totally anal-retentive the keepers of the kingdom are, Erin Febel stirred up a hornet’s nest.
At least, that’s per commenter “Orange Mike.”
Somebody named Erin Febel, who apparently works for Mick in some capacity, created a Wikipedia article about him (there should have been one already, since he’s a state legislator). That in and of itself verges on a conflict of interest violation.
What has gotten her big loud warnings, is that even after being warned about our strict conflict of interest rules, she keeps editing the article!!!! She just removed all the warnings about ways in which the article needs to be cleaned up, and while she was at it removed Mulvaney’s wife’s maiden name (a “secret” discovered by looking at his official website).
And there’s this:
And that:
We wonder how the Mulvaney campaign does its hiring. It’s involved in arguably one of the top-five high-profile U.S. House races this year. So they hire a new media person straight out of college? Who apparently doesn’t know how not to get caught on Wikipedia? Did she ever read one of the dozens of stories about staffers or consultants who get caught cleaning up a Wikipedia page on the candidate? Maybe Spratt has less to worry about than originally thought.
Sports Illustrated, spreading out the cover jinx, went back to the regional covers this year. Of course, last season it was a little more out-of-control, but unless we see something new, it looks like SI will settle with four covers this year, the top four teams in the poll. And being the top four, we begin with the best.
2. OHIO STATE
3. BOISE STATE
4. TEXAS
In light of what Sen. Hugh Leatherman wants to do with capping tuition increases, it’s funny to think about the sort of world that would happen if the S.C. Policy Council would get its way. After all, the SCPC has seen little of any government – public sector – spending that it likes. And it seems to have a hard-on for defunding all public education in South Carolina, whether it’s K-12 or higher ed.
Now, we’re pretty sure of our audience. We’re pretty sure y’all trade in argumentative fallacies, logical fallacies, the sort of ways about speaking of one’s position that are easily broken apart by level-headed thinking and basic common sense. But those arguments are the bread-and-butter of politics. They’re what you’ll see in handouts, mail pieces, advertisements, stump speeches and stand-up comedy routines.
So let’s have some fun with the Policy Council.
One big player this year, and probably in the GOP presidential primary race, is former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Newt’s a big fan of alternate history, along with writing partner and author William R. Forstchen. Let’s do a bit of alternate future, aye?
Beginning, the SCPC gets what it wants. Government in South Carolina, as we knew it, is gone. No statewide law enforcement, regulation, everything. The Palmetto State falls into “failed state” status as much as we all learned in early-level political science classes. The federal government, fed up with our antics and devoid of S.C. federal officials who will cooperate with the federal government, gives up on us. We devolve into a weird combination of post-1992 Somalia, 18th century Russia and plutocratic rule and a theocracy.
South Carolina does have a government, at its basic form, but it’s really strange. Ceding to people who have been involved, we have multiple capitals. Amalgamated Industry & Agriculture, the corporate group that handles everything dealing with money and commerce, buys the State House complex and handles disputes in Columbia. The rest of the United States and the world consider this the “Commerce Capital.”
A strong band of armed social conservatives claim part of the power vacuum for itself, establishing a ruling order in the Upstate to handle every vice and everything you do with your naughty, naughty genitals. Originally located in Greenville, a breakaway, fundamentalist group establishes a new religious government in Spartanburg. So now you have two groups of statewide religious police checking up on you. Be careful, brother.
The Grand Strand is ceded to North Carolina, and Hilton Head is ceded to Georgia. Too many people were having trouble figuring how to work Yankee-heavy areas into our new combination of free markets and religious fundamentalism. Yankees who feel like they belong apply, and are given permanent resident status, as long as they absolve all fealty to the Big Ten, the NBA and anything regarding to sports north of Baltimore or west of Austin. Being a hockey fan is considered a capital crime.
Congress, working slowly but worked into a frenzy because of the developments, sends Georgia and North Carolina national guard units to run border patrol. Initially, powered by Twitter and Facebook, many moderates, liberals, intellectuals, artists and other sorts took off for Charlotte and Savannah before the borders close. Rural residents and sportsmen who know the border regions and are friendly to criminals who become known as “RINOs,” “Democrats,” “educators,” “reporters,” “musicians,” “good-time Johnnys” and “those who are too big for their britches” are under special scrutiny from the Upstate moralist squads.
As the situation unfolds from the mountains to the river, Charleston figures out what’s up, organizes a government unto itself and rejoins the United States, a historical irony by itself. A city-state of a fashion, the Commonwealth of Charleston maintains its connection to America, but with an independence that befits the Holy City and its denizens. CC takes within its bounds all of Charleston County, and parts of neighboring cities and counties. The Jasper County port situation, to put it mildly, becomes a little more complicated. And by complicated, we mean issues with all-powerful corporations, multiple governmental entities and firearms. Wait – nevermind. That’s exactly how it is now.
Oh, the more things change….
