The Opinion Blog

Politicians Play on Fear

Thursday’s editorial points out leaders of an Illinois town that would gladly take prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, unlike S.C. politicians.

A tiny town in Illinois seems to have pulled the rug from under some S.C. politicians grandstanding to the point of demagoguing on the possibility of terrorism suspects being transferred to a military prison at the Naval Weapons Station Charleston.

Thomson is a village of 500 people in northwestern Illinois and the site of a nearly empty state prison, the Thomson Correctional Center. The village president (mayor), Jerry Hebeler, says moving prisoners from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be terrific news for his town. Why? Because having the terrorism suspects in Thomson Correctional Center would be an economic boon for his little neck of the woods. He's thinking about new jobs for corrections officers and other staff to run the facility and their salaries and the benefit to the town and surrounding area.

That Pesky $10

Thursday’s editorial suggests lawmakers revamp the mechanism to pay for low-level dispute mediation within homeowners’ associations.

Not all the ire against the S.C. Homeowners' Association Act is warranted, but lawmakers who support it could do us all a favor by removing the component that seems to draw the most heat: a $10 fee added to every unit or lot across the state.

Long Fall From Grace

Saturday's editorial explores the trajectory of Atlantic Beach Mayor Retha Pierce's path from a well-liked community fixture to, frankly, an embarrassment to that same community, and suggests she step down so the town can move forward.

As news of Atlantic Beach Mayor Retha Pierce's fourth arrest since her 2007 election played across the Grand Strand this week, many doubtlessly wondered how she was ever elected in the first place.

The Intoxication of Youth

Friday's editorial urges state lawmakers to do whatever is necessary to keep the legal drinking age at 21.

Could any policy really be more destructive in Myrtle Beach than lowering the drinking age to 18?

Aye vote for Graham

Thursday's secondary editorial praises Sen. Lindsey Graham's independence and thought leadership in endorsing Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham cast the lone "yes" vote among the seven Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee to endorse Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Graham vote on Sotomayor

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, defied party lines today as the only Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. 

Missing Judge Williams

Chief Judge Karen Williams abruptly resigned from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals this week, informing colleagues that she has early-onset Alzheimer's and stating that she did not want to write opinions that would later be questioned on the basis of her illness.

Senators' Approach Hopeful

Saturday's lead editorial examines how President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee may fare with Republicans, through the lens of South Carolina's two U.S. senators.

Both of the state's U.S. senators are where one would expect at this early stage in the process of naming a new justice to the Supreme Court of the United States. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham are withholding judgment on President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the nation's highest court.

Freestyle Season's Under Way

Wednesday's editorial urges locals to patronize the newly opened Freestyle Music Park, based on its importance to the local economy and better value for families, and also praises a judge's recent decision in the new owners' favor:

Freestyle Music Park is open and running as a transformed attraction for residents and tourists alike - and a positive force in the regional economy.

Stimulus war drags on

Sunday's editorial bemoans the governor's continued obstinance on what we believe to be a flawed opposition to taking $350 million in federal stimulus money.

The Sun News has long commended Gov. Mark Sanford for his fealty to fiscal conservatism, while decrying his preference for principles and theory over the practicalities of real-life governance. This week, as he and the state legislature head to federal court over the use of $350 million in federal stimulus money to shore up next year's shrunken budget, we continue to shake our heads.