For years, I told friends who were born in North Carolina that this state’s political scandals, villains and idiots were nothing compared to South Carolina’s gothic parade of blatant crooks, backward ignoramuses, vicious backstabbers, and rabid crackers. It may sound odd, but I’m glad the rest of America has finally caught on to the weird, retro ways of my home state’s politics, courtesy of Gov. Mark “Appalachian Trail” Sanford; Lt. Gov. Andre “I’m not gay, dammit!” Bauer; Rep. Joe “You Lie” Wilson; state GOP officials who compare the U.S. First Lady to an escaped gorilla; anonymous flyers linking Sanford “romantically” to the ugly-as-sin former education honcho; and, of course, U.S. Sen. Jim Demint, a rightwing ideologue who can’t decide which color to dye his hair. They’re an entertaining, albeit dangerous, bunch, and, believe me, there are plenty more where those came from. For instance, two S.C. GOP county chairmen – Edwin Merwin of Bamberg County and James Ulmer of Orangeburg County -- co-wrote a Sunday newspaper editorial in which they said Demint’s tight-fisted ways mean he’s watching over the nation’s funds -- like a Jew would.
"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies, and the dollars taking care of themselves," wrote Merwin and Ulmer.
Even the Palmetto Scoop, a conservative news Web site, was stunned: “Umm … who in mainstream America thinks it’s a good idea to write something like that in a guest editorial? ... It’s people like Ulmer and Merwin that make many folks fear for the future of the once Grand Ole Party."
[caption id="attachment_15015" align="alignnone" width="260" caption="Sen. Jim Demint on a black hair day"]