The political website SC Hotline has published the entire 2004 membership directory of the Forest Lake Country Club on its website, confirming our previous reports that S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster and Columbia lobbyist Carroll A. “Tumpy” Campbell III are both members at the “whites only” establishment.
Or at least they were members back in 2004, along with State Sen. John Courson, Richland County Councilwoman Kit Smith, Federal Judge Bristow Marchant, La Socialista cartoonist Robert Ariail, Sanford Commerce Secretary Joe Taylor and entrepreneur Larry Wilson, who is currently serving as House Speaker Bobby Harrell’s big government “Svengali.”
But what about now? Are any of these people still members? Particularly now that the club’s policy of refusing to admit black members has become public knowledge?
After all, only the 2004 membership directory has been published.
Of course, we do know that SC Hotline has a valid copy of that directory because convicted murderer Dewain H. Herring is listed as a member of the club on page 81, which corresponds with our copy of the club’s 2004 directory.
Herring, of course, is the wealthy attorney who shot and killed a Columbia strip club owner three years ago after he was angry at having been kicked out of the club.
Um, the strip club, that is. He wasn’t kicked out of the blue blood club until after he was arrested.
Anyway, according to the 2008 Forest Lake Country Club directory – obtained exclusively by FITS – both McMaster and Campbell are still members. So is Sen. Courson and Secretary Taylor.
Stay tuned … we’ll be updating and confirmed more names from the 2008 directory throughout the day.
WEB EXTRAS
By Grandmoma January 2, 2009 at 5:19 pm
“Lord, have mercy,” as my grandsire used to say. “What has this world come to?”
Everybody around these parts is pretty upset with what our good Republican, family-values boys are doing. We sent ‘em off to the Capital City to straighten things out and the next thing you know they’re cozying up to them discriminating type a peoples.
I say the whole passel of them needs a good whippin’ come November 2010. Let’s bring ‘em home where we can get some religion back into ‘em. Then we can send somebody to Columbia thats so busy working for the people, they won’t have time for mischief makin’.
By G.L. January 2, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I don’t think much of McMaster, Campbell, or Dawson but I used to play a lot of golf in the Upstate and I think most country clubs are de facto all white.
By Tim January 2, 2009 at 7:17 pm
FLC was due for a hit like this. FLC members: It is possible to do respectable business without caving in on responsible fiscal principles. That’s the lesson you need to learn from this. Forget political correctness. You’re losing a PR battle because you let the kind of GOP’ers who gave us McCain into your frat house. Time to kick them out!
By Tim January 2, 2009 at 7:40 pm
…oh yeah… and they gave us Grahamnesty, too.
Another interesting question: I wonder who the dupe was who told Katon, “Yeah, you should go ahead and resign from FLC, but you’ll still be one of us”? That person is a wuss. Believe this FLC, Katon will never do you any favors without a struggle from now on.
Come on, FLC: If you have any guts, you’ll kick out the entire Friends of RQ&A contingency. Look at it this way… If they hadn’t given (‘sold’?, Bill Amick?) the SC Presidential Primary to McCain, Obama would not be the President-Elect.
By Cooter Brown January 2, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I reckon Ol’ Cooter dont see no storie here.
Folks is free to ‘sociate or not ‘sociate with other folks fer whatever reason. Dat’s the perils of freedom, folks.
If’n you thinks dat dese folks ought not be in orifice ’cause dey’s a member of this club, dat’s one thing– if’n you thinks day folks ought not be free to ‘sociate wit whom dey pleeze, den who is a bein’ intolerant?
They’ll neber have ol’ Cooter swim in deir pool or play der golfin’ course, but Cooter don’t care. I got my own places to go dat suits me jest fine.
This whole thin’ is plum sillie! Let folks do what day want and let da consequences follow– bee they what day may!
By Colonel Moultrie Says January 3, 2009 at 12:59 am
There is no evidence that this is a “whites only” private club… Having said that if it were it would be no different than Acorn, NAACP, et cetera and so forth. There is nothing inherently wrong with private clubs and we are certain that many minorities including now so called whites would agree…
By James the Foot Soldier January 3, 2009 at 11:40 am
Is there anything wrong with a pastor sheparding only white sheep?
By Todd January 3, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Isn’t this club about the same thing as the South Carolina Women’s Law Association? See http://www.scwla.org. There’s Jean Toal’s picture – front and center – supporting a group that has as one of its primary tabs how more women can become judges. At least the FLC group just plays golf and such other innocuous things.
By superbrain1 January 3, 2009 at 11:31 pm
As I said on SCHOTLINE. Leave the poor Forest Lake folks alone. We all have bigger fish to fry. Let’s worry about Columbia spending $20,000 on new street signs or State and union folks making bunches of money and maybe seeing a large port customer leave.