I think it would be safe to say that while there are many outnumbered liberals in S.C. they are dijointed, un-unified in any substantive way and NOT in charge of the state paper. It was just a stupid story.

Nelson Mullins/Collins/Leatherman/Cooper/Various&Sundry &%@’s

FITS WHAT IN THE HOLY HIZZELL are you writing about?!?

The Democratic party is in absolute disarry in this state, completely disjointed and scattered with no power center – Democrats just fileded a Republican to run against Lindsey Graham for Senate…

Who pray tell is the liberal establishment in this state? They must be so influential powerful that nobody knows who the hell they are.

I realize the constant need of Republicans to burn straw men and create ghosts that don’t exist to fight against, but this one is a real stretch – and overall a poor piece

If you look up wus in the dictionary I suspect you would find this guys name. I mean, I am all for helping out mom and pops…but dude, stick up for your wife BEFORE you defend yourself.

Not a good week for Sic. He also didn’t ever deliver on the education scandal story. And you thought we’d forget?

You previously used my wife to attack my integrity as a print journalist. I let it pass. But now, you have again smeared my name – affecting my family – and since I no longer work for The State – I felt compelled to set the record straight.

I was among 11 journalists who applied for and were granted a “buyout” package the newspaper asked some 90 of my colleagues to consider in late June.

I voluntarily applied for one of the “competitive” spots among those awarded. I did so for deeply personal reasons.

My elderly mother, who lives in another state 500 miles away, has had a series of health crises over the past year. When the phone rings early in the morning or late at night, it is no longer a surprise when it is my brother calling to report: “Mom is back in the hospital.”

My mother-in-law, who lives in a nursing home in the same town where my mother resides, has her own health challenges. My father-in-law, a World War II veteran, has also had several serious health scares recently.

Anyone who has parents living far away knows the emotional strain these kinds of events engender.

My wife and I decided earlier this year we would try to find a way to move back to our hometown to be with our elderly parents, all of whom are in their 80s and in declining health.

She was fortunate to receive a job offer in the late spring. When the management of The State presented voluntary buyout incentives as a way to streamline newsroom costs a few weeks ago, I immediately put in my application.

“Axe” is a synonym for “fire.” I was not fired. I left of my own free will so that I will now have the freedom to find other employment in my hometown.

Your erroneous characterization of my departure, which unless you remove or update it on your blog, will remain in cyberspace in perpetuity. Should a prospective employer “Google” my name, it will make my efforts to find gainful employment (in a field other than journalism) more difficult.

If you had bothered to pick up the phone and call me, I would have gladly explained these reasons to you. Instead, you choose to go with gossip, innuendo and literary license.

I can withstand (and welcome) criticism of my work professionally, but when you use my family to launch attacks on my integrity, I find it reprehensible.

I trust your readers will as well.

Bill Robinson
The Columbia Record (1985-88)
The State (1988-2008)

I am very glad he is going!