Civility is Alive and Well in National Politics...YOU LIE!

This just in...Joe Wilson is an asshole with no manners. But it isn't just Joe Wilson that has forgotten what his mother taught him. People are ranting and raving at townhall meetings, parents are afraid to let their children hear an innocuous speech by the President, and the punditry continues to stoke the fire.

Now, I'll cut the pundits a break here, because that's what they do-they stoke the fire, talk in histrionics, and make sweeping over-generalizations and intellectually lazy arguments that appeal to the groundling in us all. Maybe I'm giving humanity a little too much credit, but I can't bring myself to believe that the pundits truly believe the tripe they spew on the cable news networks. This is true for both the Fox News and the MSNBC crowds. It's all about the ratings, people.

But the virulent river of wasted words has begun to flood into the halls of Congress, from the mouths of our elected representatives. This is pathetic. I repeat, this is pathetic. Civility is a cornerstone of democracy. Without civility, without an ability to hear opposing points of view, we will never reach the compromises that have defined our legislative process since the Constitution was written. When the Joe Wilsons of the world interrupt a speech, they signal an inherent disrespect for the speaker that in turn signals an unwillingness to compromise and build legislation that will move our country forward.

I am of the firm belief that the legislative process should be like settling a lawsuit-the best settlements, like the best legislation, truly please no one. Everyone had to give up something in order to get something. That is a principle I think we have forgotten as a nation. You must experience some pain to bring about positive change. But instead of girding our proverbial loins, and accepting a solution that might cause a little pain in the short run, we act out like children. This is truly a pathetic state of affairs.

Joe Wilson makes a valid point, that the healthcare legislation must address how we pay for healthcare for illegal immigrants. But Joe Wilson is fooling himself if he thinks that we don't already subsidize hospital care for illegal immigrants. Our hospitals cannot turn anyone away, by law, until that person is in stable condition. If an illegal immigrant shows up in the emergency room, he must be stabilized. Assuming that person has no health insurance, it is highly unlikely that he will be able to pay the bill. The hospital, after a meaningless effort to collect the money owed it, will then in turn write off the bill on its taxes. We, the American taxpayers, have just subsidized health care for an illegal immigrant. And we have been doing it this way for years.

So why not address the problem in legislation, that will set out a proactive process for handling the issue, instead of allowing the money to seep into the system through the back door? Why not assert a little control over the situation, give the government a little more say in how it spends its money? Because Joe Wilson, and people like him, are assholes, that's why.

Quote of the Day

This comes from an article in the Post and Courier about our pro tem's new cannon:

McConnell spends much of his free time on his new toy, and his fellow re-enactors enjoy helping him polish, wax and fire it.

I can't really add to that.

Hat tip to Finx over at Indigo Journal for linking the article.

Ok, I know I said I'd be busy, but I couldn't resist...

Compare and contrast. Both of these were headlines in today's State:

Gun Bargains This Weekend: S.C. Firearm Purchases are Tax Free Today, Saturday in Recognition of the Second Amendment

Two Injured in Gunfire at SC Thanksgiving Parade

Oh, the irony.

Short Hiatus

The Blue South is going to be busy for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, enjoy these remixes courtesy of Ross over at the Indigo Journal:

Quote of the Day

Stephen Jones, president of Bob Jones University, has issued an apology for the school's past racist policies. Let's see what he had to say:

We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it. In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry.

Source.
BJU's "culture conformity" included a policy against interracial dating that was in effect until 2000. According to The State:

The school had used the Bible to justify discrimination in the past, such as in a 1998 letter to a writer who questioned the school’s ban on interracial dating. Then, school officials noted that God had created oceans to keep men apart, as well as ethnic, cultural and language barriers.

I'm not sure which culture they were conforming to, since our culture was pretty clear about a need for racial equality beginning with the Civil War and culminating in the Civil Rights Movement, some 40 years before BJU ended it's anti-interracial dating policy. I guess Stephen Jones knew the time was right to issue the apology when his WWJD bracelet began glowing.

S.C.: the "Pay Toilet of the Nation"

At least according to Sen. John Courson, our lovely state has become a pay toilet. Source. Apparently it turns out that a loophole in the way that DHEC construes the landfill "needs" of counties allows our landfills to accept millions of tons of garbage from other states.

The State began a week long series on DHEC's ineptitude today, and we here at the Blue South have to say, it has started out with a bang. We're biting our nails, wondering what's around the corner as the State's hard-hitting investigative team has set it's sights on DHEC.

Five Headlines

(1) Catholic Priest, Father Jay Scott Newman has distributed a letter to his parishioners urging them not to take communion until they have done penance for voting for Obama. Source. See, this was a tough call for me because, on the one hand, if I voted for Obama my eternal soul was in peril, whereas on the other hand, if I didn't vote for Obama, Tinkerbell would die. It was a tough call, but I think I made the right one. And Tink, you're welcome.

(2) Wallace Scarborough is protesting the results of his election loss. Source. Scarborough, who lost by a scant 211 votes, has challenged about 700 votes on the grounds that some of the people voted at the wrong precinct and did not cast fail-safe ballots, others voted in the district even though they no longer lived there, one polling place reported 27 more votes than the total number of signatures on the poll list, and because, c'mon, he's Wallace freakin' Scarborough, a REPUBLICAN, running for office in SOUTH CAROLINA, obviously there's something fishy about that.

(3) Gov. Sanford was named chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Source. That's right, Marky Mark is going to Washington, pigs in hand, to retool the Republican party. Meanwhile, while Sanford's veto pen is distracted by his new job of promoting a Republican return to it's bed-rock principles of limited government and low taxes, the General Assembly will be holding clandestine meetings to pass much-needed legislation while they have the chance.

(4) The South Financial Group, S.C.'s largest bank, is on the dole. Source. Even though they claim they're in good financial condition, a bank spokesperson stated that it was too hard to resist $347 million in free money. Word on the street is that they plan to add a little bling to the teller lines, ATMs will get a fresh coat of paint, and departing executive Mack Whittle will get a roll of diamond encrusted toilet paper, a bejeweled scepter, and a custom velvet portrait of himself standing atop the hopes and dreams of his customers, doing a mean fist pump, that plays a constant digital loop of Jay-Z's "Diamonds are Forever."

(5) Prison Fashion: Inmates in S.C.'s prisons who "commit overt sexual acts in common areas" will have to continue to wear pink jumpsuits. Source. Inmate Sherone Nealous lost a court fight to ban the use of the pink jumpsuits, sighting the fact that the pink really clashed with his eyes and that he would "rather have a nice paisley or argyle pattern." S.C. Prisons Director John Ozmint has reportedly been looking into the viability of adding some ruffles and lace to the jumpsuits and maybe switching the jumpsuit out entirely to bring in some more up-to-date fashions. "It all depends on what I see on the runways at Fashion Week," Ozmint said, "Who knows, maybe we'll introduce some patent leather, anyway you look at it, these inmates will be looking fierce."