The sun came up this morning.
They’re playing games at the Statehouse again.
In a previous column, I sort of compared myself to a character known as “Diogenes the Cynic” who walked the streets of ancient Greece carrying a lantern and looking for an honest man. Since then, I found a few honest men and women, but not as many as I would have liked. Now, I feel more like…
Let’s face it: the Republicans’ tenure as majority party leading the U.S. House of Representatives has been a hot mess. Calling it unimpressive would be too kind.
A direct relationship exists between high immigration levels and the phone research of pro-expansionists, which insists immigrants are making a significant fiscal contribution to the economy.
I haven’t paid a lot of attention to S.C. legislators’ effort to protect kids from online pornography. It's not that I sympathize with the pornographers' arguments. Of course we ought to make it harder for kids to access porn, and I have no problem with making adults verify their age to acce…
I believe a priority for every South Carolina legislator is to elect judges who will adhere to the rule of law, be impartial and be fair and reasonable. In my view, nearly all our state's judges serve us well and are mindful of those judicial tenants.
Amidst the election-year craziness here in the U.S. and rapidly deteriorating conditions worldwide, who’s up for a politics-free OpEd column? If so, read on.
If you don’t hang out at the Statehouse, you probably weren’t surprised that an overwhelmingly Republican Legislature refused to elect a former Democratic gubernatorial candidate to an open seat on the S.C. Circuit Court on Wednesday.
A popular time for school children has just ended: the 2024 Summer Recess from school. Children, parents, educators and relevant others anticipate this annual respite. However, students can reengage in the teaching-and-learning process almost immediately from the routine school recess. The t…
Sometimes in life, when we’re stuck in a truly messy situation (even a self-created one), we have to go back to square one and rethink the whole problem.
AUGUSTA — Another Masters Week has come and almost gone.
I was all ready to denounce the Senate Judiciary Committee for rushing the House’s 43-section S.C. utility regulation overhaul — ending its lone public hearing after only supporters had been allowed to testify and advancing it to the floor a mere week after senators got their first look at i…
Recent and expected Supreme Court rulings regarding the authority of federal regulators have put the regulatory bureaucracy in the spotlight.
Today is a special day.
With the November presidential election just seven months away, it seems unlikely that the House Impeachment Inquiry will produce articles for impeachment of President Joe Biden. In an interview last week, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer hinted about the possibility of referral …
Masters Week is upon us, and our fair city is ready for the big event as the flowers and trees are in full bloom.
I started devouring Shakespeare as a hobby in the sixth grade (yes, I was that child), but somehow I read right over his use of “hoist with his own petard” to describe an episode of poetic justice.
The Keep America Beautiful conference theme for 2024 was “The Power of Beauty.” Most of us probably spend more time focusing on the problems we see in our communities such as littered streets and dilapidated buildings than on planting flowers and trees. However, let's explore the notion that…
During the spring 1969, spirits were high in the nation’s capital. The cherry trees along the Potomac River were in bloom. Cautious optimism prevailed that newly inaugurated President Richard Nixon would fulfill his campaign promise to end the Southeast Asian war.
The clock is ticking for this legislative session. After this week, only five weeks remain in the regular session. The General Assembly is tackling major legislation that needs to cross the finish line.
We’re now well past the point that any cogent U.S. voter could believe that the barrage of legal actions against former president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump is actually about justice. The blitz targeting Trump includes six separate civil and criminal cases, charges of 86 fe…
I've been driving a lot lately.
At the risk of unleashing a tsunami of irresponsible, misleading and even fabricated claims from less-than-responsible elected officials, I need to tell you about absolute legislative immunity.
The date: Sept. 7, 1892. The place: New Orleans. The event: the World Heavy Weight title battle, featuring challenger John J. Corbett taking on champ John L. Sullivan.
Today marks the end of Sunshine Week.
Nestled along I-20 between the Palmetto State’s Capital City in Columbia and Augusta, Georgia, where the Masters will be played in April, is South Carolina’s Thoroughbred Country.
If little Debbie’s parents prefer for her to dine on wagyu beef instead of mystery meat, should the taxpayers have to pay for her to have lunch delivered daily from Circa 1886 instead of standing in line in the school cafeteria?
Editor’s Note: Sunshine Week is set for March 10-16, 2024. Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government.
Among the most absurd election pitches ever is the Democrats’ bleak warning — pushed ceaselessly by President Joe Biden himself — that Trump and his “MAGA Republicans” pose an existential threat to American democracy.
Welcome to the best time of the year.
There was a lively debate at the Statehouse Wednesday about House leaders’ plan to strip all the limits from South Carolina’s pilot voucher program before the first “education scholarship” check is even cut.
The earworm “1-8-7-7 Kars 4 Kids” always struck me as a stellar example of how insufferable advertising can be when its creators really put their minds to it. The organization behind the long-running ad boasts that the jingle “has quickly become one of the most memorable and catchy radio ads…
It’s a new day for business in Aiken.
The S.C. Senate was about to vote on a muscular update to South Carolina’s Read to Succeed law, with a heavy emphasis on what’s being called “the science of reading,” and Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree was explaining the bill and the background.
South Carolina is a top destination for those moving from other states. The state's business and taxpayer-friendly policies make the Palmetto State a great place to live and do business. As a result, our economy is thriving, and state services must increase to match growth.
Agriculture and aviation are key drivers of South Carolina’s economy. With the right strategy, South Carolina’s agriculture sector can power American aviation, too.
Here’s an idea. Instead of hanging on every word from young whippersnapper political pundits about whether or not Joe Biden’s age-related deterioration is a disqualifier for another presidential term, why not ask some real octogenarians — folks who have actually been there?
Well, today’s the big day. South Carolina is holding its Republican presidential primary, and all eyes are on the Palmetto State.
My guess is that right now whoever came up with the idea of sending 30 armed FBI agents to conduct an unannounced raid on a former president’s home would probably welcome a do-over.
There's a special class of political opportunists who believe they can sell people any sort of nonsense just by adorning a "conservative" label or invoking the name of the defeated former president, and the other day they put on an exhibition leading up to a House subcommittee meeting.
The monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics report should be called the original “fake news.”
There’s a thin line between love and hate.
Whether you consider South Carolina’s abortion law too restrictive or too liberal, it’s tempting to roll your eyes over yet another lawsuit challenging it.
U.S. elections have become flashpoints of controversy, particularly at the presidential level involving the Electoral College. An AP poll in December revealed two-thirds of Americans believe our democracy is in peril.
Washington D.C.’s conventional wisdom holdsInfluential Democrats and deep-pocketed party supporters could lean hard on Biden to withdraw gracefully with their promise that on his way out, they would hail him as a modern-day FDR. If Biden resists, Democrats could play hardball, a technique th…
Well, it’s official. We will have an early spring.
The deafening silence that greeted Wednesday’s "draft recommendations" by the S.C. House’s special committee on reforming the judicial selection process speaks volumes.
Unity is in our blood. We are the United States of America. Our traditional motto is e pluribus unum, Latin for “out of many, one.” Our pledge of allegiance declares us to be “one nation, indivisible.”
My report on state legislative news begins with Texas and South Carolina's response to the tug-of-war between the Lone Star State and Washington over the massive invasion of our southern border.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley lost the New Hampshire primary to Donald Trump by double digits Tuesday. It's hard to foresee Haley competing more aggressively, or with better results, in any state in the near future. She hasn't yet quit the field, but it appears to have quit her.
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”
Today's Top Headlines
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Rolls-Royce adding capacity at Graniteville plant to meet data center backup power demands
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Shakes and shouts: Greenville, Dorman's Ruth win titles on tense final day at Southern Cross
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Aiken's roses: Six horses trained here have captured the Kentucky Derby
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Business roundup: New Japanese restaurant opens, La Parisienne has new co-owner
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Third person arrested in Jamilla Smith missing person case in Aiken County
