Is freshman S.C. Representative Heather Crawford “reacting irresponsibly?” And if so, will she follow her own advice to “adequately rectify this situation?”
To quote the young lawmaker, “facts are stubborn things.” So what are the facts?
Earlier this month the Greenville Tea Party released a 2012 Veto Scorecard to members of the S.C. General Assembly. Rep. Crawford was erroneously included in this scorecard. When the mistake was recognized, members of the Greenville Tea Party immediately submitted a letter to Rep. Crawford apologizing for their error and explaining at length how it occurred. They also let her know of their intent to inform the S.C. General Assembly of the mistake.
Immediately thereafter, a memo was drafted and submitted to all members of the S.C. General Assembly with the following message:
Representative Heather Crawford was mistakenly included in the Greenville Tea Party VETO Scorecard 2012 that was distributed on February 6, 2013 to each member of the SC General Assembly. We regret this error and request that you mark your copy of this document.
In addition to these steps, every effort was made to contact Rep. Crawford using the contact information listed on her biography. This resulted in voicemails and automated email responses. Efforts were then made to contact Rep. Crawford utilizing information from SEI filing – and by sending a message to her personal email address.
Another flurry of telephone calls and emails were then sent to Rep. Crawford – none of which received a response. At least not immediately. After ignoring every effort to reach her, Rep. Crawford eventually responded with a blistering public condemnation of the Greenville Tea Party – one which was riddled with factual inaccuracies.
“For over a week now I have asked the leaders of this group where they received their voting information for this ‘scorecard’ and have yet to receive a single explanation,” Rep. Crawford wrote in a Facebook post which quickly went viral.
“Because the Greenville Tea Party has failed to adequately rectify this situation I am forced to believe that this is politics at its lowest – a foul attempt by a group from outside of Horry County to subvert the truth,” Rep. Crawford continued. “I could just let this flagrant attempt to distort my voting record pass, but I cannot and will not stand for the politics of distortion and deceit!”
Rep. Crawford’s claim that she did not receive an explanation for the error is not true. Not only that, in her Facebook response she erroneously associated the Greenville Tea Party with RINO Hunt – and accused both groups of coming after her in last year’s election. Again, this claim is not true. The Greenville Tea Party and RINO Hunt are separate entities.
Rep. Crawford has a choice: Will she continue to needlessly stoke the divide between the GOP establishment and South Carolina’s conservative grassroots? Or will she do the right thing and acknowledge her mistakes?
Those who erroneously listed her on this scorecard have taken responsibility and ownership of their actions – and done everything within their power to make things right. Will Rep. Crawford do the same?
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Nancy Yates is a conservative activist. Reach her on Twitter @NancyYates66.
50 comments
Greenville Tea Party doth protest too much. Get your own damn house in order before you go and blast someone who wasn’t in office. Fucking dumbasses.
Bingo!!
Greenville Tea Party doth protest too much. Get your own damn house in order before you go and blast someone who wasn’t in office. Fucking dumbasses.
Bingo!!
who cares about any of this
Well, I do. But then, I’m kind of politically obsessed, and I live down here. I disagree substantially with Nancy on this issue, as she well knows. That’s OK. I like her, and am happy to be an admin on the FB group she started, South Carolina The People. Much of the debate over the scorecard thing has played out in posts and comments there. But if you don’t care about this issue, check it out the group anyway. We talk about all kinds of SC issues, and it is not required that you belong to any particular party or group or hold any particular ideological view. Just don’t be too crazy a religious nut or threaten to kill and eat others on there, and you should be OK.
Just search on Facebook for the GROUP (there is also a page, now less active) “South Carolina The People.”
who cares about any of this
If you wanted to reach The Honorable Cockroachess Heather why didn’t you pick up a damn phone, call the Info Desk of the House and leave her a message to call you since you had two tickets for her at the All You Can Eat Buffet at Maurice’s BBQ.
By the looks of her jowls she probably would have driven to your office to pick up the fucking tickets and you two could have settled your differences mano-a- mano.
If you wanted to reach The Honorable Cockroachess Heather why didn’t you pick up a damn phone, call the Info Desk of the House and leave her a message to call you since you had two tickets for her at the All You Can Eat Buffet at Maurice’s BBQ.
By the looks of her jowls she probably would have driven to your office to pick up the fucking tickets and you two could have settled your differences mano-a- mano.
The Greenville Tea Party and Nancy Yates are both primary examples of exactly why Intelligent Design can be dis-proven.
At least I don’t hide behind an alias.
This was intended for @cd21e8f6a95bd1b7d034519c047f3517:disqus my apologies WT.
Does that mean that White Trash is his real name? I think I know his half-brother, Trailer.
ROTFL – I am sure you must be related Boz :)
I remember back in the early eighties that John Holmes’ brothers Mobile and Double “Wide” were very popular in our trailer park.
The Greenville Tea Party and Nancy Yates are both primary examples of exactly why Intelligent Design can be dis-proven.
At least I don’t hide behind an alias.
This was intended for @cd21e8f6a95bd1b7d034519c047f3517:disqus my apologies WT.
Heather was correct in exposing this kind of erroneous behavior. She was clearly misrepresented, and I believe anyone in her position would have acted accordingly, especially if they were misrepresented by anyone involved with the “tea party”. We all know how credible they are!
Heather was correct in exposing this kind of erroneous behavior. She was clearly misrepresented, and I believe anyone in her position would have acted accordingly, especially if they were misrepresented by anyone involved with the “tea party”. We all know how credible they are!
In an age where anything printed or spoken on the internet is there for eternity, an organization that holds people to the highest of standards deserves the same. In reality, these scorecards are produced and viewed not only by members of the general assembly, but also politicos and the general public. Politicians tout these scorecards at election time, and use them to compare themselves to others in elected office. Crawford was completely justified in her response.
Let’s turn the tables…if someone sent a memo to the members of the General Assembly, lambasting the Greenville Tea Party, would they be satisfied with a partial retraction, only to the members of the General Assembly? Or would they want a public retraction, clearing their name?
Tyler, this is a public retraction. GTP has admitted they made a mistake, how much more public can you get?
In an age where anything printed or spoken on the internet is there for eternity, an organization that holds people to the highest of standards deserves the same. In reality, these scorecards are produced and viewed not only by members of the general assembly, but also politicos and the general public. Politicians tout these scorecards at election time, and use them to compare themselves to others in elected office. Crawford was completely justified in her response.
Let’s turn the tables…if someone sent a memo to the members of the General Assembly, lambasting the Greenville Tea Party, would they be satisfied with a partial retraction, only to the members of the General Assembly? Or would they want a public retraction, clearing their name?
Tyler, this is a public retraction. GTP has admitted they made a mistake, how much more public can you get?
That Crawford gives a dam what the TEa Party thinks lowers her to their level.
That Crawford gives a dam what the TEa Party thinks lowers her to their level.
Nancy the ” Young lawmaker” is kind of condescending as I am sure was the intent. However Mrs. Crawford is one of a few young people who has stood up to run for office. I am not sure what this article is supposed to do other than frame her as a “young lawmaker” being lambasted by yourself for responding to a “score card”. I hope other “young” people are not discouraged to run for office due to this type of attack once they are sucessful. The old guard is tried and true and need to get the fuck out of the way.
I have and continue to support young candidates seeking office. I believe we need fresh faces, and fresh ideas.
Nancy the ” Young lawmaker” is kind of condescending as I am sure was the intent. However Mrs. Crawford is one of a few young people who has stood up to run for office. I am not sure what this article is supposed to do other than frame her as a “young lawmaker” being lambasted by yourself for responding to a “score card”. I hope other “young” people are not discouraged to run for office due to this type of attack once they are sucessful. The old guard is tried and true and need to get the fuck out of the way.
I have and continue to support young candidates seeking office. I believe we need fresh faces, and fresh ideas.
Drivel – gossip on tiffs between servants. Piece reports legislator lying as if this is something unusual. Relevant as the gossip of a bunch of old geezers sitting around the front stoop. Best predictor of future performance, past history. Legislator vetos?? MEANINGLESS since they don’t reliably follow any
laws (larry legislator – let’s ask the AG who’s gonna make us follow the open budget hearing
law already on the books). Irrefutable, legislators serve self interest first, follow law only if convenient. Who cares what servants squawk about veto record????…oh yeah, people who think voting is our only control over politicians (how’s it work in Venezuela, Egypt, Cuba, Russia…?); people who believe politicians are so powerful even their gossip is to be revered; people who think it’s noteworthy when one lies.
Drivel – gossip on tiffs between servants. Piece reports legislator lying as if this is something unusual. Relevant as the gossip of a bunch of old geezers sitting around the front stoop. Best predictor of future performance, past history. Legislator vetos?? MEANINGLESS since they don’t reliably follow any
laws (larry legislator – let’s ask the AG who’s gonna make us follow the open budget hearing
law already on the books). Irrefutable, legislators serve self interest first, follow law only if convenient. Who cares what servants squawk about veto record????…oh yeah, people who think voting is our only control over politicians (how’s it work in Venezuela, Egypt, Cuba, Russia…?); people who believe politicians are so powerful even their gossip is to be revered; people who think it’s noteworthy when one lies.
Funny, The GTP can’t even keep score. Wonder if they can balance their checking accounts?
Funny, The GTP can’t even keep score. Wonder if they can balance their checking accounts?
Who?
Who?
Those who fill their comments with profanities and do little more than name calling have no credibility whatsoever! That is one of the things I hate most about going to “party meetings”. After one filters out the profane language and petty name calling, there’s not much substance left. When those same people then blast others for doing the right thing by extending apologies for making a mistake, I can only give it the credit it’s due – NONE!
Those who fill their comments with profanities and do little more than name calling have no credibility whatsoever! That is one of the things I hate most about going to “party meetings”. After one filters out the profane language and petty name calling, there’s not much substance left. When those same people then blast others for doing the right thing by extending apologies for making a mistake, I can only give it the credit it’s due – NONE!
The point here is that, while Rep. Crawford received a private e-mail from the Greenville Tea Party president McShea correcting the error and apologizing for it, the false impression in the minds of the other members of the House and Senate created by the Tea Party’s erroneous “score card” remains. Ditto, of course, with any voters or members of the Greenville Tea Party who may have received the “stuffer.”
To be effective, errors of this magnitude need to be corrected via a corrective communication which gives equal emphasis to the correction as that which was given to the charge. It has to go to the same addressees and, ideally, via the same medium. That had NOT occurred, despite the chronology my friend Nancy recites in her piece.
And, therefore, Rep. Crawford’s “going public” with her own correction was the only alternative. Otherwise, the falsehood – erroneous as it was – lingers in the minds of the recipients.
Mr. Wiles, The scorecard went out on Feb. 6th. GTP sent a letter to Rep. Crawford on Feb. 8th addressing mistake. They also sent notice to the legislature on Feb. 11th. Responded again to Rep. Crawford on the 11th, the 16th and the 18th. That was not the only alternative, it was the route she chose to take. Not only did she “go public” with it, but she included erroneous statements in her public articles. Mistakes were made on both sides. GTP has apologized profusely. Therefore, again I ask will Rep. Crawford do the same?
The point here is that, while Rep. Crawford received a private e-mail from the Greenville Tea Party president McShea correcting the error and apologizing for it, the false impression in the minds of the other members of the House and Senate created by the Tea Party’s erroneous “score card” remains. Ditto, of course, with any voters or members of the Greenville Tea Party who may have received the “stuffer.”
To be effective, errors of this magnitude need to be corrected via a corrective communication which gives equal emphasis to the correction as that which was given to the charge. It has to go to the same addressees and, ideally, via the same medium. That had NOT occurred, despite the chronology my friend Nancy recites in her piece.
And, therefore, Rep. Crawford’s “going public” with her own correction was the only alternative. Otherwise, the falsehood – erroneous as it was – lingers in the minds of the recipients.
Mr. Wiles, The scorecard went out on Feb. 6th. GTP sent a letter to Rep. Crawford on Feb. 8th addressing mistake. They also sent notice to the legislature on Feb. 11th. Responded again to Rep. Crawford on the 11th, the 16th and the 18th. That was not the only alternative, it was the route she chose to take. Not only did she “go public” with it, but she included erroneous statements in her public articles. Mistakes were made on both sides. GTP has apologized profusely. Therefore, again I ask will Rep. Crawford do the same?
There is no difference between the “Tea Party” folks in the GOP and the GOP establishment. It was the Tea Party crowd in Myrtle Beach that booed Ron Paul when he invoked the Golden Rule in trying to explain the concept of blowback to the mindless idiots who object to spending billions on social programs but think there is no problem spending trillions on unconstitutional wars and unneeded militarism. As long as the Tea Party embraces the Republican Establishment’s neoconservative foreign policy, there will be nothing conservative at all about the Tea Party.
There is no difference between the “Tea Party” folks in the GOP and the GOP establishment. It was the Tea Party crowd in Myrtle Beach that booed Ron Paul when he invoked the Golden Rule in trying to explain the concept of blowback to the mindless idiots who object to spending billions on social programs but think there is no problem spending trillions on unconstitutional wars and unneeded militarism. As long as the Tea Party embraces the Republican Establishment’s neoconservative foreign policy, there will be nothing conservative at all about the Tea Party.
Lord, Trikki has enormous teeth.
Lord, Trikki has enormous teeth.
I remember when the GOP claimed to stand for personal responsibility. Now they try to blame the victim when they entirely make-up a voting record to slander one of their own, Rep. Crawford.
I remember when the GOP claimed to stand for personal responsibility. Now they try to blame the victim when they entirely make-up a voting record to slander one of their own, Rep. Crawford.