In the wake of a senseless, extraordinarily brutal, punk kid execution of nine innocent, spiritual and consummately decent African-Americans in an iconic Charleston AME church, the Haley-engineered hypocrite express is currently roaring down the nation’s media tracks at full speed.
Yes, South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, in her second term of obsessing on legislation that would do the most harm to the poor black population of her state, is now screeching damning condemnation of the South’s last symbolic gasp of racist independence; the Confederate flag.
Visitors to this site have repeatedly read the inhumane Haley directives making it as tough on the South Carolina black population as possible. She even imported political sleazeball, Tony Keck, from the inner sanctum of Bobby Jindal’s Louisiana administration, to assume the head of the South Carolina Health and Human Services Department. This hire made absolutely certain that any health care moves were to the detriment of African-Americans before all others. That goal is now a fait accompli as Keck takes his dog and pony politics to Tennessee.
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Haley begs massive, low-paying, few benefits, tax-avoidance corporations to take up residence in her state. The compensation of what jobs are available to blacks wouldn’t feed an average-size dog.
She hates Obama’s health care plan, displaying unbridled enthusiasm for trashing the expansion of Medicaid as called for in the plan. The move impacts the economic status and health outcomes (including death) for millions of Americans. The Kaiser Family Foundation puts the South Carolina number at 178,000, a goodly percentage, black. She’s brought nothing but harm to the minority community.
She’s a big American Legislative Exchange Council member and booster, never hesitating to take ALEC marching orders and corporate-member money in her campaigns and conduct in office. ALEC model legislation is the template for some of the most anti-black legislation on the planet. The Voter ID ALEC legislation being a prime example. Haley signed the bill into law four years ago, accompanied by a celebratory music background. The governor sprinkles every new budget with cuts, some severe, an inordinate number directed at programs benefiting African-Americans. Amazing, considering she’ll help find millions, even billions in incentives for the aforementioned, “pay your employees as little as possible” corporations.
I was in a local Democratic meeting recently when a Democratic legislator informed the crowd that of the hundreds of millions Boeing gets for a 787 Dreamliner manufactured in South Carolina, the state gets $100. People dying for want of a Medicaid expansion, but multi-billion dollar Boeing gets every financial break imaginable. Granted, each new 787 loses a pile of money for Boeing, but that’s a bookkeeping ploy to balance out other huge money makers.
In another huge favor to her giant corporate base, three years ago Haley signed a bill entitled the Carolina Pollution Control Act. It postponed the creation of an isolated wetlands regulatory program and excluded private rights of action against the polluting multi-national monsters under the Act. Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. private citizen. Paraphrasing the Seinfeld Soup Nazi, “No suits for you.”
Speaking of money, nobody benefits more from unions than black workers. Here is Haley’s 2012 State of the Union take on unions. If there’s a politician in the U.S. that hates unions more than Haley, please advice.
She an unapologetic supporter of public tax money for private schools and has historically allowed poorer district schools to crumble in hopes of failure and transfer of students to for-profit charter and private schools. And let me emphasize that just because the term “public” charter schools is in the title, outside private management can be paid obscene amounts of money to run those schools.
Knowing what you now know, here is today’s local blazing Haley headline in the wake of the savage Charleston murders; HALEY: “TAKE IT DOWN.” In a highly orchestrated press conference flanked by the imperative presence of black legislators, Haley wants that darn Confederate flag removed from Statehouse grounds, pronto and stuffed into a museum somewhere. No, I didn’t say she wanted to rescind every gubernatorial move that has repressed and effectively ruined the lives of the vast majority of South Carolina African-American citizens. She just wants what is now that embarrassing piece of cloth, gone from statehouse grounds.
Apparently the fact that the 21-year-old human detritus charged with killing 9 black church members, adored the flag and made flag references and images a core part of a “manifesto” on a web site, moved the governor to action. Not to mention the national press and a possibility of being on the ticket of one of the oddball candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
The Washington Post reports that of recent times, the flags presence on the grounds of the State Capital, didn’t seem to bother Haley in the least. Possibly the most vomit-inducing quote from the Haley story went something like this: “My hope is that by removing a symbol that divides us, we can move our state forward in harmony, and we can honor the nine blessed souls who are now in Heaven.” Ms. Haley, the greatest homage you could pay these “blessed souls” (martyrs to racism) would be to reverse virtually all anti-black state legislation that clogs the statutory history of South Carolina.
All Republican state legislators quoted by the local paper were being highly conciliatory about the issue. They promised that the offending fabric would be the object of intense concentration, ASAP. If not, Haley has promised to call state senators and representatives into a special session to get the job of removal completed. According to a lawyer representative from a pollution-laden district that’s losing its constituents to cancer and other alleged pollution contributors, time’s a wastin’. To vote before reconvening next January, an amendment would be required to the state’s Sine Die Adjournment rules. A two-thirds majority vote would be required for such an amendment.
So I suspect, at the very least, the flag will be removed. It’s a hot button issue at present, but I dare say, no racist-tinged mind will be changed because of the flag issue. That will take the election of an overwhelming number of enlightened Democrats who managed to change their own history of racist behavior. The new progressive leadership must insist that blacks be treated as full-fledged citizens of the state of South Carolina.
Raised rural & small town, then lived in N.Y., Chicago & LA. Widely traveled. Returned from world wandering to pursue media life of anchorman/reporter and major, medium and small market talk radio. Highly active in politics. Once worked as orderly & security in Mens Lock Ward for the Criminally Insane at a state institution. Much more rational population than current Teapublicans. Great concern for country run by and for the extreme wealthy. The inhumane current running through this country has no precedent in modern history.
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