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COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A Republican state senator from South Carolina is being criticized for a post on his blog that shows photos of Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden wearing similar clothing, along with a line that states the difference between the two is "a little B.S." The image was posted on Sen. Kevin Bryant's blog on Friday without an explanation from the politician. It appears to be a photo of a T-shirt, with images of bin Laden and Obama wearing turbans and the words "OBAMA" AND "OSAMA," with the "B" and "S" each highlighted in red. The American-Arab...

Expect to see this one on the cable shows this week:South Carolina State Senator Kevin Bryant (R-3rd District) is drawing fire for posting this image on his blog kevinbryant.comThe AP published an article about the photo of the t-shirt on Bryant's blog. However, it can't be posted to FR.So far, Bryant's not apologizing.

ABC News' Jan Simmonds reports: Republican vice presidential prospect Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., told reporters today that removing the Confederate flag from the grounds of South Carolina's Statehouse would not be a priority during his final years in office.

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“The Appalachian voting bloc will be critical in the … 2008 presidential election,” former Democratic National Committee executive director Mark Siegel says. Yet his broad statement comes with its own geopolitical caveat: location. “It all depends on what part of Appalachia you are talking about,” says Siegel. “If they live in Pennsylvania and Ohio, then, yes, without a doubt they are the key voters. If they live in West Virginia, then no, because for the Democrats that is not a state that is in play.” Appalachia is not a single state but a region that has its own unique frame...

Americans should pick a president they think they can trust. John McCain should pick a running mate he knows he can trust. McCain knows he can trust Lindsey Graham.

BULLETIN TROPICAL DEPRESSION THREE INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 1A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL032008 200 AM EDT SAT JUL 19 2008 ...TROPICAL DEPRESSION MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION... A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM SOUTH SANTEE RIVER SOUTH CAROLINA TO CURRITUCK BEACH LIGHT NORTH CAROLINA...INCLUDING PAMLICO SOUND. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM NORTH OF EDISTO BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA TO SOUTH SANTEE RIVER. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL...

Violence broke out Sunday in Anderson when an 18-year-old man returned home from a gay pride parade and was assaulted by his father. According to the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, the battering took place about 1 p.m. Sunday on P Street. During the assault, the teen's 49-year-old father yelled, cursed, swung a baseball bat, prayed and tried to “cast the demon of homosexuality out of him,” according to the teen's version of events to Deputy S.C. Weymouth, the incident report states. About 2 p.m. Wednesday, the teen said his father punched him when he returned to the house for clothes...

A clerk at a local convenience store on North Kings Highway shot at a man who tried to rob the store last night, according to Myrtle Beach police officials. The incident happened around 6 p.m. Tuesday when a man walked into the store and demanded money. The clerk pulled out a handgun from under the counter, shot at the man, and missed, said Capt. David Knipes, Myrtle Beach Police's public information officer. The bullet hit a wall, Knipes said. He said the man fled out the door. The case is under investigation.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The flap over an ad promoting South Carolina as “So Gay� will cost the state tourism dollars, according to an industry expert. Gay and lesbian travelers will likely be turned off by the political posturing surrounding the ads, which were pulled by the state tourism agency and led one employee to resign. “We experience discrimination every day, so we certainly don't want to when we travel,� said Wesley Combs of the Washington-based communication firm Witeck-Combs, which specializes in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender travel. Combs noted that national media attention about the ad, including jokes on Conan...

he national NAACP has again said it will step up a campaign against South Carolina for flying the Confederate flag at the State House. The organization declared it would exert continued pressure to discourage NCAA sporting events and film production in South Carolina.“This is unfinished business,” said Lonnie Randolph, state NAACP president, echoing the message delivered Monday by NAACP interim president and CEO Dennis Hayes, at the organization’s 99th national convention in Cincinnati. Hayes told the Associated Press the organization is still working on its plan to discourage tourism and film production in the state. The National Association for the...

A state employee has resigned and officials have disavowed an international advertising campaign that led to calls for an investigation of tourism posters proclaiming “South Carolina is so gay.” The campaign, which plastered the London subway with posters advertising the charms of South Carolina and five major U.S. cities to gay European tourists, landed with a resounding thud in South Carolina, where the issue of gay rights has long been a political flashpoint. The advertisements were timed for London’s Gay Pride Week, which ended Saturday. The posters touted the attractions of the state to gay tourists, including its “gay beaches”...

Every suspected illegal immigrant booked in the Beaufort County jail since the beginning of the month -- regardless of the severity of the crime -- is being turned over to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. It's called Operation Surge, and local law enforcement officials say it's the start of a major new crackdown on illegal immigrants in the county, home to one of the largest Hispanic communities in the state. So far this month, 55 inmates are being held for ICE, compared with 16 in June. ICE is a branch of the Department of Homeland Security formerly known as...

South Carolina’s top tourism agency has canceled an overseas advertising campaign targeting gay tourists. The campaign, tied to gay pride week celebrations in London, included ads that proclaimed “South Carolina is so gay.” A handful of other U.S. destinations joined the campaign, including Atlanta, Boston and New Orleans. After learning last week the state had agreed to spend tax money on the campaign — and spurred by a post on The Palmetto Scoop blog — the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism said Thursday it would not pay the tour operator. Parks, Recreation and Tourism director Chad Prosser said an...

Drastic times may call for drastic actions according to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). DeMint told participants in a “national Tele Town Hall meeting” on July 9 there was a movement among senators to shut down the Senate floor if an up-or-down vote was not held on the offshore exploration for oil and natural gas. The senator maintained the added energy was an issue of national security to prevent the nation from being held “hostage” by OPEC. “One of the things that we’re looking at here – a few of us have been meeting about ways that we might just close...

He quit rather than lower flag Ryan Teague Beckwith, Staff Writer Eason, head of a state lab, retired at 51. RALEIGH - L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley. When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason...

WASHINGTON — If Andrew Jackson created the notion of a president’s “Kitchen Cabinet,” Sen. John McCain is reinventing it months before his possible election to the White House. And Sen. Lindsey Graham seems to be McCain’s one-man Kitchen Cabinet. Graham’s visibility as the Arizona senator’s closest political confidant has risen in recent weeks as the two men crisscross the country and travel abroad on McCain’s presidential quest.

A Greenwood man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after allegedly giving a postal employee a Bible with a pornographic picture in it, along with a letter inviting the worker to come to his house and watch pornographic movies. Greenwood Police arrested Prince Woodrow Quarles, 44, of 102-C Pinetree Apartments, and charged him with lewd conduct. According to police reports, officer Daniel Watt responded to the U.S. Post Office on Northcreek Boulevard just after 1 p.m. Wednesday. He made contact with the victim, a 29-year-old woman. The woman said Quarles had been coming into the post office regularly for some time. She...

THE interim between the primaries and the parties’ nominating conventions is, according to ancient writ, a fertile period for presidential campaigns to talk about how they plan to expand the political map in the fall. This year is no different. Barack Obama’s strategists are suggesting that the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party can parlay increased turnout among black voters into a string of victories in the South. Given that roughly half of all African-Americans live in the 11 former Confederate states, the idea seems intuitive enough. It’s also wrong. Prying Southern electoral votes away from the...

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Army will extend boot camp from nine to 10 weeks for all recruits beginning Oct. 1, an official at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command confirmed Monday. Last October, TRADOC leaders said that they would add an extra week to boot camp in the fall of 2008, following a pilot program involving five of the Army’s basic training facilities, TRADOC spokesman Harvey Perritt said Monday. Army officials started the 10-week Basic Combat Training pilot course on Nov. 2, marking the first time boot camp had been lengthened since the program went from eight weeks to...

In an occasional series, The Post and Courier has been exploring the potential consequences of illegal immigration on people in business, law enforcement, health and education. Ana-Cecilia de Marquez, 43, rubs her belly when she talks. The illegal immigrant has bothersome and sometimes painful symptoms that require her to stay close to her Goose Creek mobile home. "It's ... like I'm going to deliver a baby," de Marquez said. "It feels like a wound inside." De Marquez, who moved from El Salvador to the United States three years ago, is uninsured. She said she has been bounced around the health...

Denise GallagherJune 30, 1956 - June 29, 2008

This is Carolina Day, the 232nd anniversary of the Battle of Fort Sullivan. If you are not a native of South Carolinian (and possibly even if you are), you likely have never heard of Fort Sullivan and the significance of this day. Most American school children have heard stirring stories of the battles of Concord Bridge and Lexington Green, relatively minor skirmishes fought by the Minutemen of Revolutionary lore. These were fought in April 1775, and at Concord Bridge was fired the "shot heard 'round the world." But it was at an unfinished, palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island where the...

June 26, 2008 Mark Sanford: A Different Kind of Republican If you want to see why Mark Sanford is different from a lot of the other Republican names being bandied about for VP, take a look at what just happened in South Carolina's local elections. While other governors are shy with the veto pen or refuse to fight for conservative policies, Sanford is not the type to sit silently and let the Legislature steamroll him. It is important to note that although South Carolina's Legislature is controlled by Republicans, these are anti-reform Republicans who like to keep government big, spending...

CLARENDON COUNTY, SC (WIS) - A school district employee faces lynching charges, and authorities say the victims were a group of teenagers. It was another quiet day in downtown manning until a mob scene broke out in the Dollar General parking lot. "I heard the woman say they're fighting, they're fighting," says Tonya, an employee at the Dollar General. "I seen a little girl getting beat up, her weave being pulled out by a grown woman." A young girl was losing the fight to a woman nearly 30 years older. And Dana Hawkins wasn't holding back. Authorities say she even...

Prez at Furman by: Deborah Lambert, June 25, 2008 While ignoring faculty protesters during his commencement address at Furman University (SC), President Bush nevertheless decided to meet the issue head-on. Thanking the profs for their devotion to improving the lives of young people, he said that he too, was a believer in free speech, “and to prove it, I’m about to give you one.” The President noted that Governor Mark Sanford, also present at the ceremony, graduated 25 years ago when his father, George H.W. Bush, was the speaker. Commenting on that coincidence, he said this means that “some at...

MOSCOW, June 23 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow City Court ruled on Monday to release a U.S. pastor from prison changing his earlier sentence of more than three years for illegally bringing ammunition in Russia to a 10-month suspended sentence. Moscow's lower district court sentenced Phillip Miles, 58, to three years and two months in prison in April for smuggling rifle rounds, declarable under Russian customs law, into the country for his Russian hunting partner. Miles's defense attorney appealed the ruling as "severe and inadequate" and sought his acquittal, citing an absence of criminal intent. "Documents for his release will...

South Carolina on Friday electrocuted a man for murdering his ex-girlfriend's parents in 1994, the second execution in the state since a Supreme Court ruling lifted a de facto national moratorium, a state official said. James Earl Reed, 49, was convicted in 1996 of shooting Joseph and Barbara Lafayette multiple times, including execution-style shots in the heads, after they refused to tell him where their daughter was. He had dismissed his attorney during his trial and tried to defend himself in court. "The execution of James Earl Reed was carried out at 11:27 p.m.," state prison spokesman Josh Gelinas said....

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - The Corrections Department announced that James Earl Reed was executed at 11:27pm Friday. The execution comes after the South Carolina 4th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Corrections Department permission to proceed with the execution. Just minutes before his previously scheduled 6pm execution, Reed was granted a stay of execution by US District Court Judge Henry Floyd. According to the order from the US District Court, Attorney Diana Holt wrote that the execution violated Reed's right to have an attorney at trial, his right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment and his right to...

On Monday, June 16, Governor Mark Sanford (R) signed H 3212, the Right-to-Carry reciprocity bill. In spite of an extremely crowded legislative schedule, the South Carolina House and Senate came to terms on a bill that will extend gun rights, not only for citizens of the Palmetto State, but for visitors to South Carolina as well.

We thought Jessie James rode a horse. But apparently he now sits in a House office building. And instead of robbing banks, he bankrolls robbers. Enter Representative James Clyburn (D-SC), the Majority Whip. He has come under fire in the past week for revelations by The Sun News, based out of Myrtle Beach, that some of his earmarks have directly benefited friends, business associates, political allies, family members—and anybody else he apparently has taken a special liking to. The November 2007 Citizens Against Government Waste “Porker of the Month” winner is at it again. And for this year, he has...

OKAY,GANG,CALLING ALL FREEPERS IN SC TO COME COUNTER THE COMMIES. THESE NUTS WORSHIP COMMUNIST CUBA,SWAMP FOX AND I PAID THEM A VISIT BEFORE. FREEP MAIL ME IF YOU PLAN TO SHOW UP. June 24: Pastor's For Peace Written by Gerald L. Rudolph Thursday, 12 June 2008 WONDER WHY GEORGE W. DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CUBAN PEOPLE? Find out on June 24 when the Pastor's For Peace Cuban Caravan comes to Columbia. Participants in the Caravan will find: A healthy people, with free health care, who live on average to age 77 – the same as...

A month after US army reservist Matthis Chiroux publicly refused to deploy to Iraq, the former sergeant on Sunday set himself up for possible prosecution by failing to report for active duty with his unit in South Carolina. "Tonight at midnight, I may face further action from the army for refusing to reactivate to participate in the Iraq occupation," Chiroux told reporters in Washington. "I stand here today in defense of those who have been stripped of their voices in this occupation, the warriors of this nation...", Chiroux read from a statement as his father Rob, who had travelled to...

Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Date: June 12, 2008 Time: 7:00pm Building: Old Depot Station Building Fair Tax Presenter: Thad Viers

South Carolina to Become First State to Issue 'I Believe' (in Jesus) License Plates Friday, June 13, 2008 COLUMBIA, S.C — South Carolina's lieutenant governor announced Thursday that he is willing to put up $4,000 of his own money so his state can become the first in the nation to issue "I Believe" license plates with the image of a cross and a stained glass window. The legislation allowing the plates was one of several religious-themed bills to became laws in the closing days of the state's legislative session. The bills mean South Carolinians attending local government meetings could soon...

Unintentional adventures in airport security Carry On By Chris Haire I'm a risk-taking man. I like to take chances. I like to put all of my chips on the No. 13, spin the roulette wheel, and pray that my hopes and dreams aren't splattered all over the casino walls like Christopher Walken's brains in The Deer Hunter. Charlie likes to gamble. Which is why I was very much aware of what I was doing when I handed over my driver's license to a security official at the Philadelphia International Airport. I knew that the license was split in half —...

Hot Air commenters have made clear their intent to avoid contributing to Republican PACs in favor of individual contributions to conservative candidates. Senator Jim DeMint has another solution: The Senate Conservatives Fund. He will launch this new PAC today, which will focus on candidates that support conservative policies, especially on spending and federalism. DeMint wants to promote candidates that will represent all three legs of the conservative platform — strong defense, limited spending, and traditional values:When he calls donors to raise money for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint hears the same basic message that...

Cops in Rock Hill, SC, busted seven people for the crime of cheering at high-school graduation ceremonies.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham faced a long shot primary challenge Tuesday from a fellow Republican who has hammered his ties to Arizona Sen. John McCain. In Virginia, Democrats wrapped up a bitter contest to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Davis. And in Maine, Democrats chose between Rep. Tom Allen and political newcomer Tom Ledue in a U.S. Senate primary while both parties settled hard-fought races in the 1st Congressional District in the southern part of the state. Graham challenger Buddy Witherspoon, a retired orthodontist and former Republican National...

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a South Carolina state trooper with striking an African-American man with his patrol car, while videotaping the incident with the cruiser's dashboard camera, NBC News reported.

Polls are closing in South Carolina.

OK, South Carolinians, we have waited eight long years for this day. It is now the time to 'term limit' Sen. Graham. Let's let him know we have seen his true colors and he can't fool us again. VOTE for the future of South Carolina AND the country. We can't wait for another eight years.

IRMO -- Lagging in fund raising and carting decade-old political baggage, the Republican who wants to unseat U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham points to the Old Testament when searching for an analogy for his primary challenge. “This is David and Goliath, no doubt,� Buddy Witherspoon, a retired orthodontist and former Republican National Committee member, said during a recent interview. It’s fittingly used by Witherspoon, who characterizes himself as farther to the political right of either of South Carolina’s GOP senators. He proudly proclaims he’s a devout Christian who opposes abortion and gay marriage, and says he regrets the nation has moved...

Columbia (WLTX) -- The City of Columbia Police Department says a four-year-old girl had shot herself at a Sam's Club in Columbia, and they say the child is now in critical condition. Investigators say the shooting happened inside the Sam's Club on Harbison Boulevard at approximately 10:50 a.m. According to police, the girl was being taken around the store in a shopping cart by her grandmother. Police say the grandmother had a gun in her purse. While the grandmother was pushing the girl near the pharmacy area, officers say the little girl took the gun out of the purse and...

Victories by both Barack Obama and John McCain in South Carolina’s Presidential Primaries set the stage and put them both on the path to their party’s Presidential Nominations. Now, Obama and McCain will compete directly for the Palmetto State’s Eight Electoral College votes. The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of that race finds McCain leading Obama 48% to 39%. Six percent (6%) say they’d vote for a third party candidate while 7% remain undecided. The survey was conducted two nights after Obama clinched the Democratic Presidential Nomination. National polling shows Obama enjoying a bounce in the afterglow of that historic...

Will work at Allendale County archaeological dig rewrite human history? By LIZ MITCHELL Published Sunday, June 8, 2008 Photo: Cynthia Curry of Charlotte holds up a piece of quartz she discovered at Topper on Wednesday. Jay Karr/The Island Packet More than 13,000 years ago, South Carolina was a wild kingdom alive with all sorts of beasts: saber-tooth tigers, beavers the size of Great Danes, camels, elephants and mastodons. Until recently, these animals were believed to have vanished before the first Americans -- called the Clovis people -- arrived about 13,000 years ago from Asia via the Bering Sea land bridge....

Charleston, SC (AHN) - A 10-year-old South Carolina boy died of "drowning" several hours after he was on dry ground, a coroner's report has found. Johnny Jackson died of "dry drowning," a form of asphyxiation that happens when a small amount of water gets into the lungs and damages tissue, causing the lungs to swell and fill up with water. The boy's mother, Cassandra Jackson, said Johnny went swimming in a local pool at Goose Greek on Sunday. Though the child didn't show any signs of respiratory distress, he "soiled himself," NBC News reported. He walked home with his mother...

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s campaign today released new television and radio advertisements in advance of the June 10 Republican Primary. Both ads include supporting statements from presumptive Republican nominee for President John McCain. In the TV ad McCain calls Graham, “a reformer who is willing to take a stand and tackle the tough issues. He’s guided by conservative principles – like appointing conservative judges and keeping taxes low.” In the radio ad, McCain notes that unlike some political leaders who refuse to tackle the tough problems facing our nation, Graham “won’t run from a political fight.”...

There's no mistaking Lindsey Graham's loyalties or liabilities as he seeks a second term in the U.S. Senate. The 52-year-old Republican makes it clear that his future and that of Republican presidential candidate John McCain are tightly interwoven. "My re-election, I think, will benefit South Carolina because if he gets to be president, South Carolina's interests will have a receptive audience due to our relationship," Graham said in a recent interview. "I want to help him do the hard things." McCain recently made his first stop in the state since winning South Carolina's January primary, and Graham pumped his fists...

Gov. Mark Sanford signed legislation Wednesday that threatens to temporarily shut down businesses and fine them up to $1,000 per worker if they employ illegal immigrants.Sanford, surrounded by about 20 legislators, said the measure reasserts the rule of law in South Carolina - cracking down on the "wink-and-nod" employment of illegal immigrants. He and legislators said they hope the ideas spread and force Congress to act."The message is loud and clear: Stop the silent invasion of this state," said Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston.Legislators boasted the measure is the most strict and effective anti-illegal-immigrant bill in the country....