The Opinion Blog

Toward a More Refined Society



Thursday’s editorial addresses the state’s controversial new immigration law, which was in court this week, and will be again later this month.

Presented with the task of forging a viable law, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel has fired up his furnace.

Gergel, who plans to rule by Dec. 31 on South Carolina’s illegal immigration law, is now tasked with refining that law, taking out bits here, perhaps polishing something else there, tweaking it so that it not only fulfills its function but fits in with the rest of our state and our nation’s many rules.

Don't Censor Our Prayer



Sunday’s editorial weighs in on the topic of whether or not to further sanitize prayer at government meetings:

Stop by any meeting of elected officials in our area and one of the first things you’ll hear – usually right before the Pledge of Allegiance – is an invocation. These prayers, sometimes offered by local ministers and sometimes by officials themselves, have a long history in our Bible Belt communities.

Some of our municipalities – Surfside Beach and Myrtle Beach, for instance – have gone so far as to recognize the invocation in their municipal code. The S.C. House and Senate also explicitly call for an invocation as part of their official rules of business. In other words, we’re a praying people.

Partisans united

Saturday’s editorial:

“The First Amendment protects political speech; and disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.” - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.”

It’s a shame that the U.S. Senate was unable to pass a law this week ensuring that voters know who is behind the flurry of corporate spending on political ads that this fall is sure to bring. But it’s also unclear whether the legislation they were considering was the right law for the task. If members of both parties have to suffer through anonymous attack ads this fall as a result, perhaps they are getting what they deserved.

Graham’s Third Way

Thursday’s editorial commends U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for his continued to commitment to independent thinking.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham cast two newsmaking votes that both drew heated criticism – from opposite camps.

Shalom Aleichem

Friday’s editorial describes the delicate balance between church and state guarded by the U.S. Constitution.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

– The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“The place of religion in our society is an exalted one, achieved through a long tradition of reliance on the home, the church and the inviolable citadel of the individual heart and mind. We have come to recognize through bitter experience that it is not within the power of government to invade that citadel, whether its purpose or effect be to aid or oppose, to advance or retard. In the relationship between man and religion, the State is firmly committed to a position of neutrality.”

– U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark, 1963

Neither to promote nor prohibit the free expression of religion, to protect it while preventing its establishment: The Constitution mandates the government follow a very fine line with respect to religion. After a moment’s hesitation, it appears the Georgetown County School District has found the right balance.

Here comes the ad dump

Friday’s editorial suggests that increased disclosure requirements are the key to keeping elections clean in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of more corporate political ads.

Indulge us, for a moment, in a bout of hyperbolic political fiction and pretend the evil Carolina OmegaDump Inc. wants to build a giant landfill for used diapers and fish carcasses a block off the beach.

Pork and Preens

Thursday's editorial criticizes both the deal that led to the passage of the Senate health care bill and our attorney general's high-profile investigation of it.

Republican critics derisively call the deal that passed health care through the Senate the "Cornhusker kickback," and to be completely honest, it does kind of stink of politics as usual.

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. 

Raising the bar

Saturday's editorial examines the national discourse on race through the lens of Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearings.

The Senate hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court have been roundly decried as more about senators' beliefs than about the judge's. Given that those same senators are playing to hometown crowds, however, it might be more accurate to call the hearings a rough gauge of the national political mood.