S.C. Lt. Gov. Calls for Constitutional Convention

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Background: Lesson Plan: A New Constitutional Convention?

TMI: The Courtship of Conservative Politicians

Incumbent S.C. Comptroller Richard Eckstrom is running unopposed in the Republican primary; Social studies teacher Kelly Payne is facing two primary opponents in the race for state superintendent of education.

Comptroller Eckstrom was sued in 1997 for making unwelcome sexual advances and though he admitted only to standing "awkwardly close", the state settled the complaint.

Now, apparently he's in love with Ms. Payne and though he's been separated for two years and she's divorced, his one-sided emails to her, which were anonymously leaked make it appear that they may have broken-up at her behest. Perhaps she had chosen "Facebook over him" and though he seems accepting of her choice, he'd really like to get her back, so that they can continue exchanging bible verses.

Ms. Payne says the emails were leaked to harm her candidacy, but her opponents say they didn't have access to the emails and because it's all from Mr. Eckstrom's side, I really only see a couple of lines that could produce questions for her. I'm equally perplexed, as to why some people are crowing so loudly about the hypocrisy of "family values".

I really don't know what to make of this story.
Though, I may revisit it later.

In the meantime, The State has the gist and they've posted the letters.

Why Can't We Just Have Some Sticky Pudding?

For anyone hoping that 2010 would be better than 2009, if you scroll back through the past few hours, you'll find where I filed notice of an "Obama" effigy hung in Georgia; an embed of a Tea Party protester saying that "up until about a year ago", people "basically trusted our government" and now we have word that racist, threatening grafitti has been painted onto the Columbia (SC) City Hall.

Thankfully the current Mayor and City Council condemned it at a joint appearance, as have the two white candidates in what appears to be a four-way race. While retired Army Lt. Col. Gary Myers, one of the two black candidates vying to make history has said;

When you're dealing with hatred, it's not really directed at Steve or I, it's directed at defiling the image of Columbia and the state.

Unfortunately as The State reports, it's not the first racist statement in the modern history of what Mayor Bob Coble described as "a city of the new south", but it may make it that much more understandable, when the head of the South Carolina NAACP says;

What's the big much ado about nothing? We don't make an issue of all the other racist activities that take place every day in the city of Columbia.

And, it illustrates the dream, when the head of the Martin Luther King neighborhood association replied;

All my life, 80 years in Columbia, I've seen things like that written, the word and what not, but this century? I didn't expect it. I thought we were beyond such garbage.

Add all this to the questions being raised about the candidacy of Artur Davis for Governor of Alabama and the Tennessee County Commission which failed to affirm compliance with the Civil Rights Act, or any number of recent events, all signs point toward us having a wild ride.