GAMECOCKS KICK OFF 2008 SEASON TONIGHT AT 8

It’s been 278 days since the last time the University of South Carolina took the field at Williams-Brice Stadium. Tonight, that long wait finally comes to an end as the Gamecocks take on NC State in Columbia.

USC enters the game a two-touchdown favorite, and a win would do a lot to get past the disappointing five-game losing streak that ended the 2007 season.

Granted, the scene probably won’t be as energetic as the video above when USC took the field against Florida ranked 15th, having one of the best seasons in school history. But it will still be a sight to see.

If you can’t make the game, you can tune in on ESPN tonight at 8 p.m. So here’s hoping to a great 2008 season in Columbia. Thank God football is back!

POWERFUL RESPONSE TO OBAMA’S ‘HOUSE’ ATTACK

“This is the story of a John McCain home you might not know about.”

That’s the opening line of a new 30-second advertisement released today by the South Carolina Republican Party promoting the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

The ad is a response to a spot released last week by Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign attacking McCain for a comment he made about not knowing how many houses his wife owned.

The SCGOP ad highlights McCain’s “other home” — the infamous Hanoi Hilton POW camp where the Arizona senator was locked up and tortured during the Vietnam war.

“During a combat mission over Vietnam, John McCain was shot down and severely injured,” the ad says. “John McCain’s new home for the next five-and-a-half-years would be an enemy prison cell.

“This is where John McCain was starved, beaten, tortured, and maimed for life.”

The spot closes with a very strong and direct shot at Obama. “So the next time Barack Obama talks about one of John McCain’s homes, remember this one.”

This ad is a great reminder of how trivial elections can get. But the sacrifice of men like McCain is beyond heroic. And if you watch that ad a few times, I think it will be difficult to forget.

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UPDATE: I’m told the ad will air in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. television market next week during the Republican National Convention.

SAT SCORES NOT AS ROSY AS THEY WANT YOU TO THINK

The South Carolina big government education establishment has been working hard all week trying to spin the dreadful results of South Carolina’s SAT scores, released earlier this week.

While those numbers showed public schools in lower-income areas were expectedly low — Lee (806), Williamsburg (802), Allendale (799) and McCormick (793) counties were in the bottom ranks — the predominately white, upper-middle class districts were comparatively higher. The elites breathed a sigh of relief and the PR machine of state schools superintendent Jim Rex began touting York 4 - Fort Mill, Anderson 2 and Anderson 4, whose scores were above 1050.

Except, those districts only look good when compared to the crappy schools IN THIS STATE.

In this light, when only compared to the Corridor of Shame Districts, white middle class parents in the South Carolina suburbs can selfishly gloat about their “excellent” government schools.

But the sad fact is that kids in York and Anderson won’t be competing with students from Allendale and Hampton for entrance into prestigious colleges or high tech jobs. The real competition comes from children with similar backgrounds in other states (not to mention other countries). [Voice for School Choice blog]

All we have to do is look to neighboring North Carolina and Georgia, where VFC notes the average difference between Fort Mill (our highest achiever) and the top districts in those states is in the hundreds. That’s hundreds LESS for Fort Mill.

Of course, we could always just raise property taxes and continue to spend more per pupil than almost any other state, right Mr. Rex? It’s gotten us this far, why turn back now?

STRAIGHT INTO THE TOILET

Congressional candidate Linda Ketner may be at the Democratic National Convention in Denver hitting up all the LGBT receptions, but back in South Carolina, her daddy’s money already has her on television. Today, she launched not one, but two new ads.

Granted, it’s a bit early to go on television — with 69 days left before Ketner hopes to score a nearly-impossible upset over fourth term Congressman Henry Brown. But when your best qualification for running for Congress is that your daddy owns Food Lion and you are very rich, there’s a whole lot of ground to make up.

The first spot features Ketner and her father Ralph telling us that they have a lot of money, that she’s proud to have been born in another state, and that she’s very forgetful. And since Ketner is running in a solidly Republican district, she makes sure to throw a few references to God in there.

Ad numero dos lays out Ketner’s economic qualifications. I’m not sure what they are, exactly, but did I mention her dad owns Food Lion? That’s a prerequisite for Congress, right?

Regardless, qualifications are meaningless. What’s important is what Ketner will do for the Lowcountry in Congress. Thankfully, her Website fully answers that question:

What Linda Will Do

“I have an arcade of Live Oaks on some land I own in the country and to me those oaks are living art. Their roots have been in that soil for 250 years, their newest shoots came out last spring; roots of tradition, shoots of growth, both in balance. It seems to me, that health for an individual, or a community, or a nation is found in achieving that delicate balance between continuity and change.”

Umm… what? Does that mean she’s going to plant trees around the Capitol? Perhaps create a universal health care system out of a fig branch (both Biblical and practical)?

I definitely can’t wait for that ad. It will star a singing squirrel who can paint people’s dreams, set in a magical forest.

LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE WILL SPEAK TO CHAS ROTARY

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr and his super-emo, box-frame glasses are coming to Charleston next month.

According to the Associated Press, the former Georgia congressman will speak to members of the Rotary Club of Charleston on Sept. 30. FITSNews adds that they don’t really care because Barr isn’t actually a libertarian.

I agree with FITS about not caring, but it has more to do with the fact that he’s one of the few presidential “candidates” less qualified to be commander in chief than Democrat Barack Obama.

That is reinforced by the fact that he’s doing campaign stops at Rotary Clubs. As a presidential “nominee.”

Of course, that isn’t stopping the buzz on Barr’s Meetup page. One person has already RSVPed “yes,” and reports are that another may follow suit tomorrow morning or whenever they recover from drinking the bong water.

WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO GET RID OF THEM BOTH?

The American Civil Liberties Union is like a plague that sucks the life out of everything it touches. South Carolina’s Department of Corrections chief Jon Ozmint is about the same, only on a much smaller scale.

But I never figured the two would end up joining forces.

Especially not on demands for an audit of the DOC. And especially not after Ozmint did everything in his power to taint a previous survey by the by the Legislative Audit Council.

The ACLU’s letter requesting the federal review went to Sanford because the Corrections Department is one of his Cabinet agencies. Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said the governor is considering the request, but no decision has been made.

Corrections Department spokesman Josh Gelinas said the ACLU’s request isn’t out of line with what the prison agency has wanted for months. [Emphasis added] When the council began working on the audit, Gelinas said the department encouraged it to get independent experts familiar with prison operations and specifically encouraged the council to work with the National Institute of Corrections, a Department of Justice agency that gives state prisons technical assistance. [JIM DAVENPORT - AP]

I don’t really understand the rationale behind this. Ozmint fights tooth and nail when the state legislature tries to survey his department, but he jumps on board when the ACLU calls for an audit. Huh?

And this guy is part of a Republican cabinet. What the hell is going on in this state?

AND THIS TIME IT ISN’T ME

Most of the liberal bloggers in this state are anonymous, obnoxious trolls who do little more than toss around childish, vitriolic personal attacks every time someone they don’t like so much as sneezes.

One of the few exceptions to this remarkably pitiful gaggle is Tim Kelly, who was chosen by the Democratic Party to represent South Carolina’s minority left-of-center chunk of the blogosphere in Denver during the national convention. Tim’s state blogger credential was incredibly hard to come by — only 55 were given out.

And only a few days after arriving, Tim and his blog “Crack the Bell” were given a cameo on CNN with Wolf Blitzer during a segment on state bloggers at the convention. That’s big time.

So, while Tim occasionally endeavors into the childishness of his fellow SC Demo-bloggers, he’s generally above such things, and I congratulate him on his accomplishments and wish him the best out there in Colorado.

(h/t Not Very Bright)

SENATOR TO SPEAK JUST PRIOR TO MCCAIN’S ACCEPTANCE

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s close friendship with GOP presidential nominee John McCain has just landed him a prime speaking gig at this year’s Republican National Convention.

The RNC today added a number of speakers for the four night event taking place next Monday through Thursday in St. Paul, Minn., and Graham was among those named. The U.S. Senator from Seneca will speak on the final night of the convention, just prior to the event’s culmination when McCain gives his highly-anticipated acceptance speech.

Graham joins a strong field of Thursday night speakers including Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist and Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty — both rumored to be potential vice presidential choices — U.S. Sens. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mel Martinez of Florida, and Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.

Although times have not yet been announced, I’m told it is possible Graham could be scheduled during primetime, between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. — especially if McCain selects Pawlenty or Crist as his running mate, which would bump them to Wednesday night’s featured spot.

Although Graham is the only South Carolinian with a speaking spot at the convention, Attorney General Henry McMaster will serve as the Chief Sergent at Arms for the week.

View the complete schedule of speakers after the jump: (continues…)