The Opinion Blog

Still Waving The Same Flag

Thursday's editorial criticizes the Republican gubernatorial candidates for missing an opportunity to show some leadership on South Carolina's flag issue.

With all that good-neighbor agreement on stage, viewers of Tuesday's gubernatorial debate saw very little with which to differentiate between the five Republican candidates.

All five want to bring the state lower taxes and more jobs. They all want to give tax credits for students who attend private schools, and they're all plumb full of classic South Carolinian disdain for the federal government, with one even giving a nod to the pre-Civil War doctrine of "nullification" of distasteful federal laws.

Of course, playing to the farthest-right-wing voters who cast ballots in Republican primaries, all five said the debate over the Confederate flag on the Statehouse grounds is a done deal - a compromise on the flag has already been struck, they said, so there's no need to reopen the debate. And on this one issue, all five were just wrong.

Flag issue needs work by leader

In the wake of a very public display of what the NAACP boycott is costing South Carolina, Sunday's editorial suggests Gov. Mark Sanford invest part of the remainder of his lame-duck term in finding a compromise that ends the boycott.

The institution of slavery was our state and nation's most abominable practice, and the bloody civil rights battles a century after emancipation were a painful but necessary surgery to remove slavery's vestiges. It should come as no surprise, then, when we occasionally still feel pain from the operation.

Let the states settle gay marriage question

Ripped from the wires ... Froma Harrop explains why the Supreme Court should butt out of the gay-marriage drama in the states:

By FROMA HARROP

This has been a month of forward leaps in the campaign for gay-marriage -- or so it is said. The Iowa Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriage, providing a toehold in the heartland. And the Vermont Legislature legalized gay marriage, marking the first time that elected lawmakers, rather than state judges, initiated such change.

Democracy invites tyranny of the majority

Ripped from the wires ... Walter Williams argues that adherence to the will of the majority could lead to America's undoing:

BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS

Democracy and majority rule give an aura of legitimacy to acts that would otherwise be deemed tyranny. Think about it. How many decisions in our day-to-day lives would we like to be made through majority rule or the democratic process? How about the decision whether you should watch a football game on television or "Law and Order''? What about whether you drive a Chevrolet or a Ford, or whether your Easter dinner is turkey or ham? Were such decisions made in the political arena, most of us would deem it tyranny. Why isn't it also tyranny for the democratic process to mandate what type of light bulbs we use, how many gallons of water to flush toilets or whether money should be taken out of our paycheck for retirement?

'When you're the big dog, you can afford to smile'

Ripped from the wires ... Kathleen Parker takes issue with those who argue that President Obama wasn't quite manly enough during his recent overseas trip:

 By KATHLEEN PARKER

A few decades on the planet confirm a certain consistency among males in their approach to love and war.

Suffice to say, there is usually much talk of sabers, missiles and such. "Speak softly and carry a big stick'' was how Teddy Roosevelt framed his foreign policy.

Smoking decline could harm convenience stores

For Richard ...

Ripped from the wires ... Tongue firmly in cheek, Florida writer takes issue with that state's plan to raise the cigarette tax:

By Carl Hiaasen
 
It's been a tough year for smokers, and now Florida lawmakers are considering a $1-a-pack tax on top of the new federal excise hike of 62 cents.

Channel your anger toward D.C., not Wall Street

Ripped from the wires ... Cal Thomas adapts an aphorism made famous by the first Mayor Daley to the financial crisis:

By Cal Thomas

One of the more familiar sayings in politics is "don't get angry, get even.''

The anger caused by using millions in taxpayer bailout money to pay "retention'' bonuses to current and former AIG employees and to fund banks that mostly won't tell what they did with the money is an object lesson for all of us. It offers taxpayers an opportunity to "get even'' with those who have violated the U.S. Constitution, helped put our nation in peril and spent us into economic servitude to the Chinese.

States must push back against congressional tyranny

Ripped from the wires ... Walters Williams urges more states to get involved in the 10th Amendment rebellion against congressional overreach.

BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS

Our Colonial ancestors petitioned and pleaded with King George III to get his boot off their necks. He ignored their pleas, and in 1776, they rightfully declared unilateral independence and went to war. Today it's the same story except Congress is the one usurping the rights of the people and the states, making King George's actions look mild in comparison.

You claim to be a conservative? Prove it!

From the morning e-mail ... Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee challenges those who call themselves conservatives to start acting that way:

By Mike Huckabee

Enough already of the hand-wringing and night sweats about the demise of the conservative movement!

Conservatives aren't challenged because of the basic principles that define us, but by the failure of the principles being translated into policy and practice.

Racial code weakens the GOP's message

Ripped from the wires ... Froma Harrop explains how the chasm between conservative ideology and conservative practice alienates minorities from the GOP:

By FROMA HARROP

In his essay "Why the GOP Can't Win With Minorities,'' conservative scholar Shelby Steele almost nails the half-question in the title. An African-American, Steele contrasts the "moral activism'' of liberals with conservative calls for personal discipline.