Wednesday, December 19, 2012

South Carolina! You Slay Me! Well, There's A Very Good Chance You'll Slay Me With Tim Scott In Office!

Tim Scott, NRA politician
First, the good news: South Carolina Senator, Jim DeMint recently announced that he would quit the Senate two years into his second term to run the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. 

Now the high-arious news: Jim DeMint. Think tank.

Now, the bad news: Representative Tim Scott of South Carolina, who rode the Teabaggin' Train into Congress two years ago, was appointed by Teabaggin' Darlin', Gub-nah Nikki Haley, to succeed  Jim DeMint in the United States Senate, an elevation that makes him the first black senator from the South since the late 19th century.

That could seem like good news. I mean, the first black Senator from the South in a hundred years is huge. But, Scott is a radically conservative Teabagger who will quite nicely fill the shoes of Demented when he leaves office.

Scott is one of those rising stars in the GOP, which is still stinging from the last election, and looking for a way to change its image in the wake of the nation’s rapidly changing demographics. But he really isn't anything new for the GOP and he's really nothing new for South Carolina.

In announcing her selection of Scott, Gub-nah Nikki called it an "historic day in South Carolina” and added that she chose Scott for his business vision and commitment to conservative principles. She emphasized her choice by saying, four times [!] that he "earned this seat.”

He's been in Congress less than two years. Oh Nikki, you are so transparent. But, this isn't about Nikki--she deserves her own special place in political hell for all sorts of other reasons, but this is about Tim Scott and who he is and what he says.

He served on the Charleston County Council for 13 years and in the South Carolina House for two years before he was elected to Congress; he says he has a different background than many of his future Senate colleagues in that he was raised by a single mother and called his a lost child who struggled with school and life until a Chick-fil-A franchise owner embraced him as a protégé and taught him conservative principles.

Uh-oh. Chick-fil-Anti-gay. I guess we all know how he stands on the rights of LGBT South Carolinians because when all that anti-gay stuff from Chick-fil-A-hole began making news, Tim Scott stayed silent. But, in light of what happened last week in Newtown, Connecticut, this is a far more frightening choice.

See, in his one term in Congress, and throughout his short time in South Carolina, Scott has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s strongest opponents of gun restrictions. On his campaign website, he proudly proclaims himself a “card-carrying NRA member” boasts of his strong support of the right to bear arms and promises to fight attempts to weaken gun rights “in any way.” In both words and deeds, Tim Scott has worked to advance an absolutist interpretation of the Second Amendment:
  • He wants to prevent law enforcement from tracking purchases of multiple large guns: Scott co-sponsored legislation this year—HR 3814—to specifically prevent gun dealers from informing law enforcement at the Department of Justice when an individual purchases multiple rifles or shotguns.
  • He wants concealed-carry nearly nationwide: Scott co-sponsored a bill that would allow Americans to carry concealed firearms in nearly every state. Last year, Scott pushed the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, which would force nearly every state to follow other states’ concealed-carry laws. This would result in allowing nearly anyone to shop around for the one state that is willing to issue them a license to carry a concealed firearm, and then force other states to honor that license.
  • He wants gun dealers to be able to sell across state lines: Scott co-sponsored legislation to allow gun dealers to sell weapons across state lines. Currently there are restrictions on the sale and trafficking of firearms across state lines, but Scott pushed a bill last year—the Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act—to gut those protections.
  • He believes guns should be exempted from bankruptcy: Scott co-sponsored legislation last year that would allow people who declare bankruptcy to exempt up to $3,000 in weapons from their list of assessable property. In Scott’s opinion, firearms are so sacrosanct that they shouldn’t be treated like regularly property.
  • He called guns the “cornerstone of our democracy”: On his congressional website, Scott says that the right to own guns is a “cornerstone of our democracy.” He continues: “the federal government should never interfere with this right.”
  • He wants to overrule local law and legalize weapons in DC: Scott co-sponsored a bill to take away the District of Columbia’s ability to determine for itself what its gun laws should be. This measure proposed to overrule DC’s laws, despite the city’s long history of sky-high murder and violent crime rates.
  • He believes gun control is a joke. Interviewed by NRA News during the 2012 campaign, he defended South Carolina’s strong tradition of supporting the Second Amendment and endorsed Rick Perry’s “use both hands” approach to gun control. This referred back to a 2011 town hall event he hosted with Texas Governor Perry, where he laughed while asking the presidential hopeful if he supported gun control. Perry jokingly responded, “I’m for gun control, use both hands.”

That’s Tim Scott.

Conservatism is fine. Fiscal responsibility is fine. Anti-gay? Yeah, for me, not so fine. But it’s his stance on guns, gun purchasing, the right to carry concealed weapons, and his “jokes” about guns that make Tim Scott stupid and dangerous.

I sincerely hope that the people of South Carolina, who I know love their guns, will see Tim Scott for what he is: an employee of the NRA who will do whatever they want him to do, and ignore the will of the people.

16 comments:

  1. I've been waiting for your post on this. :-)

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  2. WHERE do these idiots come from? in the light of what just happened, this cretin is damn outta step with this nation's mood.

    "think tank" for "jim demented" - bwhahahahahahaha!

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  3. Anonymous11:24 AM

    He's got my vote!

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  4. Anonymous11:47 AM

    OMG thanks for posting this! I <3 Chick-fil-A so much it's not even funny. I'm having lunch there today for sure. I heard they don't like the gays because 2 roosters can't reproduce. See when a male and female chicken have dirty chicken sex, little chicklets are produced, at which point they're made into delicious chicken sammies with tasty pickles for toppings. It's just the way things are naturally meant to be; cyclical. Don't forget the waffle fries. They're fire!

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  5. Anonymous11:53 AM

    As an African American, I don't appreciate you using Gub-nah. You're racist. Please give up on life.

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  6. Anonymous12:14 PM

    Based on previous comments, there must be an IQ test you have to pass to post comments under a user name.

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  7. Let's call this move for what it is, selecting an Uncle Tom to defuse criticism of Republicans as racists.

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Yes, I'm awaiting comments from the "courageous" Anonymous. The truth hurts. Flail away.

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  10. To the Anon who called me racist for using Gub-nah, I live in the South and that's how Southerners say it, whether they're Black or White or whatever ethnicity.
    Grow up.

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  11. oh christ, the troll with no dick is back. he really needs a hobby.

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  12. Anonymous5:39 PM

    Don't be dense. You tossed in Gub-nah because you're trying to be clever by incorporating AAVE into your column, which may have been appropriate... if you're African American. But you're not. You're an angry middle aged white male. The status quo. Your side kick Ron, is equally as bigoted with his using terms like uncle tom. The whole lot of you are disgusting racist pigs. If I had wanted these points of view, I would have gone to SBPDL. As an African American from the south, this is repulsive. What next, the N word? Bob Logic: I hear Southerners say it so it must be okay.

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  13. I can't with this man

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  14. I threw in Gub-nah because I hear all kinds of people say it here where i live.
    You don't like it, don't come back.
    And, for the record, you'd never hear, read, or see, the n-word on this blog.
    Sorry you're so angry, but not everything is racism.

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  15. Wouldn't a proper interpretation of the 2nd amendment be that it applies only to muskets and cannons? Those were the weapons of the day when Madison drafted the amendment.

    That's what is so hypocritical about the 2nd amendment nuts. They tend to be textualists when it comes to some things, and intentionalists when it comes to others. When it comes to the 2nd amendment suddenly they switch to intentionalist mode and claim Madison *intended* for the 2nd amendment to apply to all future weapons and technologies, which is of course strictly bullshit. A decade or two from now they'll be claiming the 2nd amendment guarantees their right to keep and bear the laser blasters and other energy weapons that will be developed in the near future. Dog help us when that happens.

    An aside: I write on several social media sites that I work for the gub'ment. Does that make me a racist too? In my life I've heard a total of zero black persons use that word and *one* white person (President George Bush Jr. to be exact). Does this mean I can no longer mock that idiot for fear of some anonymous person on the internet sticking me with a false label?

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  16. OK, first of all Anonymous is a turd and he probably comes here only to fuel his racist and homophobic agenda. Secondly, anyone who possesses the type of "business vision and commitment to conservative principles" as Nikki Haley scares me. These people are living in the wrong century. They should have been born in 18th or 19th century America when everyone carried muskets and killing indians and black people was a national past time.

    It's the TWENTY FIRST CENTURY PEOPLE. Get with it.

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