“Gonna Write You A Letter …”
U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett has sent a letter to his rival South Carolina gubernatorial campaigns which – for reasons surpassing our understanding – has the bloggers and reporters who are covering this race in a tizzy.
Sheesh … it’s Gresham Barrett, people. It’s not like there’s any real danger of this numb nut proposing anything even remotely intelligent.
Anyway, in another flagrant (and yet sadly successful) example of the substance-less political attention whoring that passes for public discourse in this state, Barrett called upon both Democratic and Republican candidates running for governor to join him in writing a letter to President Barack Obama.
The purpose of the letter? To insist that Obama refrain from transferring enemy combatants in the war on terror(ism) from their current location in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to a facility in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Barrett’s rivals wasted little time in pouncing on the opportunity.
After calling the request “little more than political grandstanding,” S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley (R-Lexington) offered Barrett some unsolicited advice.
“I would suggest writing another letter to President Obama that might do even more good,” Haley wrote. “Please ask the President to stop using taxpayer dollars for the TARP bailout. As you were a supporter of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, adding your voice to the chorus of conservative opposition to that continuing waste of tax dollars might actually prove helpful. South Carolina taxpayers are already overburdened without having to foot the bill for bailing out Wall Street’s failed corporate giants.”
Sha-zam!
Of course, Haley’s response was nothing compared to the reaction Barrett engendered from Democrat Mullins McLeod.
“With all due respect, I’d request that you take your letter and shove it,” McLeod wrote Barrett.
Damn!
“In times of war, our duty as Americans is to pull together and do our part to secure victory,” McLeod continued. “No one wants suspected terrorists on our soil while they await their richly-deserved punishment. But when the President asks us to do our part in the international war on terrorism, the only appropriate response from this or any state’s Governor is ‘Yes Sir, Mr. President.’”
McLeod also pointed out that Barrett raised no objection when former President George W. Bush, a Republican, sent dirty bomber Abdullah al-Muhajir (a.k.a. Jose Padilla) to South Carolina.
Gresham Barrett, “you can’t handle the truth!”
Comments
By Harry on November 5th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Not very classy on McCleod’s part. Kinda white trashy, in fact.
By Minto W. McGill on November 5th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Not very classy on McLEOD’s part?!? White trashy ?!? As fits says, “Sheesh, its Gresham Barrett people.” Trashy and not-classy follow Gresham Barret every where he goes.
Barrett was engaging in shallow, craven political grandstanding. While McMaster and Bauer were too scared to point out this very obvious fact, Haley and McLeod ripped him a new one. My only questions are did (1)Barrett enjoy it and (2) did he enjoy it more when Haley was doing it or McLeod?
By Tee on November 5th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Regardless, Mcleod basically just shut the door on any possibility of being taken as a serious candidate with those comments. He has lost his mind if dems, repubs or independents will elect a governor who is nothing more than the president’s little puppet. We need someone who is going to look out for SC not Washington. I was actually a little impressed with Mcleod’s performance the other night, he might as well throw in the towel now because this just cost him. Maybe it’ll work in Massachusetts, but not here…..”no sir!”
By OnNoNotAgain on November 5th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
YOU? You Lt. WeinBERG?
There are a lot of Americans, in the post-9/11 world, who, if they saw this movie with fresh eyes, wouldn’t realize that Col. Jessup was the bad guy.
By Ynot on November 5th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
No one can take Barrett seriously. He’s a loser.
Write the President or better yet, pick up that old timey telephone Barrett. Do your job… you represent SC in DC.
*duh*
Haley is right.
By old timey elephant on November 5th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Amen! to all of the above…That debate reminded me of a Miss SC Contest with all 10 runners-up smiling and looking pretty!! More substance please, less “ya’ll’s”(yes Henry, I mean you!!)
By ohara on November 5th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Perfect, FITS. No one knows SC political players better.
By Philip Branton on November 6th, 2009 at 12:57 am
PB : Congressman Barrett…did you Order the CODE “Landfill”
Fits : You don’t have to answer that question….
Congressman Barrett : I’ll answer the question…..U Want Answers?
PB : I think I’m entitled to them….
CB : You want answers….
PB : I want the TRUTH……
CB : ** YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH… **
Son, we live in a world that has LANDFILLS, and those landfills have to be scammed by CITY, COUNTY and STATE… Good ol’ Boyz. Who is going to benefit…you Philip Branton? ….you Lt. Taxpayers…!?! I, Gresham Barrett, have a greater responsibility than you can possibly FATHOM… you po-dunk SPAWAR Engineer. You weep over stupid 99 dollar SOLID WASTE County Fees and you pray to your SEACOAST GOD to be able to have a freakin’ CHOICE to close all LANDFILLS in SC with new technology. YOU have that Luxury…you have the luxury of NOT knowing what I know. That LANDFILL EXPANSION while TRAGIC most certainly is dangled to attract jobs. And Landfill expansion while grotesque and incomprehensible to YOU …PROVIDES CAMPAIGN Financing and Un-ethical hip STASH for all elected officials…!!! YOU DON’T WANT the TRUTH because deep down inside in places you don’t talk about at parties…the foreign DIESEL fuel BOYz want ME to be Governor…..the RINO Legislators NEED me to be Governor. We use words like “Honey”, “Contributions” and “Lobbyists”. We use these words as the backbone of a lifetime defending OUR voting record. You use them as a PUNCHLINE. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to taxpayers who rise and sleep under the blanket of ENERGY SLAVERY in which I provide. And then QUESTIONS the manner in which I provide no CHOICE. I would rather you just said “Thank YOU …Hugo Chavez and King Abdullah” and went on your way without Counting Body Bags coming from WHERE or the Numbers of Wind Turbines that are NOT up in OUR state…..!!! Otherwise, I suggest you SHUT UP and take your trash OUT like your dad and mom did and stop worrying about your KIDS environment or HOW much they will pay in taxes to pay for more and more SUPERFUND sites. Either way ….I don’t Give a DAMN…what you stupid taxpayers are entitled too.
PB : Did you order the code “LANDFILL”….
Congressman Barrett : I did the job Lobbyists….
PB : DID YOU ORDER THE CODE “LANDFILL”……(Fist POUNDz..!)
Congressman Barrett : Your G-D Right Democrats, Rinos, DHEC, BOB Peeler and I …DID…..!!!!!!!
By Workin' Tommy C on November 6th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Wow! Haley and McLeod really let Boo-Boo! Barrett have it.
Haley’s response was what I would have expected her to say but I can’t help being continually amazed at the guts she shows compared to the other corrupt, business-as-usual good ol’ boys in the Republican primary race. Quite a contrast!
And referring to those elitist big money players as “Wall Street’s failed corporate giants” warms this working man’s heart. She’s not afraid to nail them for what they are.
She’s unapologetic about where she stands and she’s exactly right to be that way about it. We’ve all had enough of the corruption and other nonsense that Gresham Barrett represents–in spades!
Nikki Haley, if nothing else, knows the frustration of folks like me who have had the boot of the general assembly mobsters grinding in our faces for decades now.
I can’t imagine any of the other candidates actually having the courage to stand up to the corruption there. None of them are proven in that regard as opposed to Haley who has shown she’s got courage.
By K Trane on November 6th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Haley once again shows her classiness as well as her ability to stand up to the “good ‘ole boys.” If only she were the front runner…
By Carl Epps on November 6th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I think the Congressman Barrett’s request was one not as a congressman or even a candidate, but more as a fellow South Carolinian. I for one wouldn’t want to give a reason for some would be terrorists to be a martyr and kill innocent people. Look at what just happened in Texas. Nikki Haley needs to make a name for her other than being tied to Sanford, so I guess that’s the reason for her response.
By PalmettoCPA on November 6th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Why doesn’t Gresham trust our military men and women? Surely he doesn’t think that some Taliban soldier is going to escape from a military institution and turn suicide bomber. These folks aren’t going to be re-settled here, they’re in prison (a military prison at that).
If only I were managing one of his opponents campaigns. I’d seize this opportunity to call him out for not only his political grandstanding, but his insinuations that our military men and women are incapable of keeping us safe from a few third world combatants.
By Jarrett on November 6th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
It is not political grandstanding to urge your fellow candidates to join you in standing up against a very misguided plan from Washington, DC. A plan that will put millions of people in SC at risk from terrorists from around the world, who will now see SC as a prime target because their comrades are imprisoned here. Please join me in signing the petition, http://www.keepterroristsoutofsc.com , to keep these terrorists out of SC! Also, to his detractors I would like to remind them that Congressman Barrett HAS co-sponsored three bills to keep the terrorists out of SC. And, its a bit ironic that Ms Haley attacks Congressman Barrett over TARP when she supported accepting the stimulus!
By BIN News on November 7th, 2009 at 1:01 am
Hee, hee.
The only interesting thing about this post is the phrase written by sic(k) willie: “…substance-less political attention whoring that passes for public discourse.”
That’s a perfect description of this sad little porn site.
Guess it takes a “political attention whore” to know one.
BIN News Editorial Staff
Flair and Balanced