"When your community no longer reflects morals and values, it might be time to move."

 Says the website Conservative Move, quoted in "Sick of Your Blue State? These Real Estate Agents Have Just the Place for You. Agents in South Carolina, the fastest growing state in the country last year, say that many newcomers are Republicans eager to leave the Northeast and West Coast" (NYT).

Yana Ghannam, a recent client of [a Conservative Move real estate agent], said that she had moved to Greenville from Livermore, Calif., because she wanted to make friends who wouldn’t criticize her for voting Republican or for being anti-union. “It was very much, ‘Oh you have to do this to fit in, you have to do that,’” Ms. Ghannam said of her life in Livermore.

There's a big difference between: 1. Wanting to live where everyone thinks like you, and 2. Wanting to be free of rejection for failing to think like everyone else.

Reason #1 is anti-diversity. Reason #2 is pro-diversity. Don't mix up the 2 mindsets! A conservative might want to leave a blue state because Democrats are treating them with hostility. That is, Democrats are in mindset #1, seeking uniformity. 

What are you supposed to do if you want good social interaction among people who enjoy a diverse marketplace of ideas? I'm afraid the only option — even if your motivation is to flee hostility (Reason #2) — is to go to the place where people agree with you (which would be Reason #1 if it were your motivation).

"Disentangling race and politics in a situation like this is very, very difficult.... [It would be] breaking new ground in our voting rights jurisprudence."

Said Chief Justice John Roberts.

Quoted in "Justices Poised to Restore Voting Map Ruled a Racial Gerrymander/The case concerned a constitutional puzzle: how to distinguish the roles of race and partisanship in drawing voting maps when Black voters overwhelmingly favor Democrats" (NYT)("The difference matters because the Supreme Court has said that only racial gerrymandering may be challenged in federal court under the Constitution").

"It’s like asking New York to move the Statue of Liberty from New York to Florida. I mean, that’s not going to happen. And it’s not going to happen that we’re going to change state law."

Said  John Lynch, the former governor of New Hampshire, quoted in "Democrats Overhaul Party’s Primary Calendar, Upending a Political Tradition/The proposal radically reshapes the way the party picks its presidential nominees, putting more racially diverse states at the front of the line" (NYT).

The headline says the Democrats have already done the upending, overhauling, and radical reshaping, but isn't it merely an offer that the states may accept or decline? Is it an offer-they-can't-refuse type of offer? 

I'm seeing shaming of New Hampshire. One D.N.C. member scoffed at that idea that New Hampshire has a "divine right of privilege" to go first.  What matters is "what the party says it wants in its process." Yes, but they want the state to run a primary. Do they think they have a "divine right of privilege" to tell the states when to schedule votes?

The new first state would be South Carolina — a state that hasn't gone blue in a presidential election since 1976 — chosen because it's Joe Biden's preference. It was the state that saved his candidacy in 2020. Its legislature is solidly dominated by Republicans. 

"Frustrated by the lack of drugs available to carry out lethal injections in their state, South Carolina lawmakers are on the cusp of a controversial solution..."

"... forcing death row inmates to face the electric chair or firing squad when lethal injection is not possible. A bill proposing that change, approved by the State House this week, appears almost certain to become law in the next few days, and is being lauded by Republicans, including Gov. Henry McMaster, who have been vexed by pharmaceutical companies’ refusal to sell states the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections. The lack of drugs, they say, is a key reason South Carolina has not executed anyone in 10 years. Opponents are appalled by the bill, which would make South Carolina the fourth state — along with Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah — in which death by firing squad is an option for the condemned.... The firing squad measure was proposed by State Senator Richard A. Harpootlian, a Democrat and former prosecutor, who argued that it was more humane than the electric chair.... 'an extraordinarily gruesome, horrendous process... where they essentially catch on fire and don’t die immediately.'"

The NYT reports.

"South Carolinians Mock Redesigned Palmetto Tree on Proposed State Flag."

 The NYT reports.

Scott Malyerck, a political consultant who helped create the design as a member of the South Carolina State Flag Study Committee... "It’s hard to come up with a quintessential palmetto tree that everyone will be in favor of.”... 

Ronnie W. Cromer, a state senator who helped create the flag study committee, said... "It would be nice to have a little nicer-looking tree.”... 

[T]he state has not had one official design for the flag since 1940, when the flag code was repealed.... “The idea is just to make it historically accurate and uniform,” Mr. Malyerck said. “Flag manufacturers should not decide what it should look like.” 

Here's the proposed flag, which relied on a 1910 pencil drawing:

And here's the pencil drawing, which was done by a woman:

The new flag designers seem to have gotten caught up in the idea of honoring the woman, and they went quite literal. A flag image needs a stark, shapely outline. A pencil drawing — like this one — can be sketchy, impressionistic, indicating light and shade. That's not going to work for a flag.

To make a good palmetto tree flag, look for some actual flags that use an image of a tree and select the most successful ones, for example this flag of a county in Norway (Vest-Agder) that depicts an oak tree:

Biden wins South Carolina by a lot.

I'm reading the results at FiveThirty Eight, here.

ADDED: Finally, somebody got a majority somewhere.

UPDATE: In the end, Biden didn't cross the 50% line. He got 48.4%. The Real Clear Politics average of the polls had him at 39.7%, so he was way ahead of expectations.

"They say the clowns live deep in the woods, near a house by a pond."

"At the edge of dark, dark woods in South Carolina, children have been telling adults that a group of clowns have been trying to lure them into the cluster of trees...."

Should Donald Trump pledge to support the GOP nominee?

He's going to have to decide, because it's required to enter the South Carolina GOP primary.

“I don’t make commitments and break them,” Mr. Trump said after speaking at an event here hosted by local chambers of commerce. If he violates the contract, he said, “they should sue. I would go before the court and say, ‘I’m guilty.’ ”

Disputing a Huffington Post report that suggested he was assuring local party leaders that he would sign the pledge, he insisted, “I haven’t told anybody that.”

"The flag was to come down amid heavy security during a Friday morning event that followed days of emotional debate in the Legislature..."

"... and, on Thursday, the final approval of Gov. Nikki R. Haley, who pledged that the flag would be lowered 'with dignity.'..."

The flag will be housed at the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, a state-supported museum near the Capitol, and its pole will be removed from the grounds of the State House.

"Over the course of centuries, black churches served as 'hush harbors' where slaves could worship in safety..."

"... praise houses where their free descendants could gather and shout hallelujah... rest stops for the weary along the Underground Railroad; bunkers for the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement," said President Obama in his eulogy for Clementa Pinckney.

... We do not know whether the killer of Reverend Pinckney and eight others knew all of this history. But he surely sensed the meaning of his violent act. It was an act that drew on a long history of bombs and arson and shots fired at churches, not random, but as a means of control, a way to terrorize and oppress. An act that he imagined would incite fear and recrimination; violence and suspicion. An act that he presumed would deepen divisions that trace back to our nation’s original sin.

Oh, but God works in mysterious ways. God has different ideas.  He didn’t know he was being used by God. Blinded by hatred, the alleged killer could not see the grace....

The alleged killer could not imagine how the city of Charleston, under the good and wise leadership of Mayor Riley... how the state of South Carolina, how the United States of America would respond — not merely with revulsion at his evil act, but with big-hearted generosity and, more importantly, with a thoughtful introspection and self-examination that we so rarely see in public life.

Blinded by hatred, he failed to comprehend what Reverend Pinckney so well understood -- the power of God’s grace.... As a nation, out of this terrible tragedy, God has visited grace upon us, for he has allowed us to see where we’ve been blind. He has given us the chance, where we’ve been lost, to find our best selves. We may not have earned it, this grace, with our rancor and complacency, and short-sightedness and fear of each other — but we got it all the same. He gave it to us anyway. He’s once more given us grace. But it is up to us now to make the most of it, to receive it with gratitude, and to prove ourselves worthy of this gift....

I've highlighted the most religious part, including the brief exploration of the notion that God used Dylann Storm Roof pursuant to his famously "mysterious" ways. I've left out the material that was more specific to the individual man, Clementa Pinckney, and the various policy proposals — take down the Confederate battle flag, improve the schools, deal with possible racial bias in prison systems and in policing and job hiring, restrict guns. You can read all that at the full transcript at the link.

"No, I agree, I think the flag is inescapably a symbol of human bondage and slavery..."

"... and particularly when people use it obviously for murder and to justify hatred so vicious that you would kill somebody I think that that symbolism needs to end, and I think South Carolina is doing the right thing.... There have been people who have used it for southern pride and heritage and all of that but really to I think to every African-American in the country it’s a symbolism of slavery to them and now it’s a symbol of murder for this young man and so I think it’s time to put it in a museum."

Said Rand Paul.

Nikki Haley is calling for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds.

Watch live now, here.

Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott are also taking this position.

UPDATE: Haley is giving recognition to the different "viewpoints" of the meaning of the flag, but at the state house, "It's time to move the flag from the capitol grounds." Huge applause. "Some people will see this as a sad moment... but this flag, while an integral part of our past, does not belong in our future.... By removing a symbol that divides us, we can move forward in harmony." She speaks of honoring the "9 souls... who are in Heaven." She stresses that it's South Carolina's decision, and that many people outside of the state have misunderstood what the flag means. It doesn't mean hate, she assures us, but it does cause "pain to so many," and that is the reason for banishing it from the state house grounds — though of course, as she mentions, individuals remain free to display the flag themselves.

"This is also not to say that we should make this horrific event all about white women, or all about white womanhood. It’s not."

It's not to say it... except to the extent that you just did. It's not about you... but it's not not about you.

(The link goes to a New Republic article titled "I Don’t Want to Be an Excuse for Racist Violence Anymore/White women’s passive role in racist attacks like Charleston," by Chloe Angyal.)

"Here’s an idea: Why don’t you leave the grieving alone right now? Why don’t you not impose your agenda items on them?"

"Why don’t you not force them to debate while they have tears in their throats? Don’t politicize their pain. Don’t turn this into a debate on a flag or guns. Don’t use it to make your points and wave your finger from your high horse. These people are doing it right without you."

Says Peggy Noonan.

ADDED: I was saying something similar earlier this morning, specifically criticizing the way Chuck Todd interviewed the family of Daniel Simmons Sr. on "Meet the Press," and this makes me want to extract one more thing from the transcript. The question is addressed to the dead man's granddaughter:

CHUCK TODD: Alana, a lot of people want to use this incident to have a bigger conversation to try to do something. Racial reconciliation, guns. There's a lot of issues that people want to grab onto. What do you want the country to take away from this? And what do you want the country to be having and our political leaders to be having a conversation about?

ALANA SIMMONS: Well, we elect not to talk about politics, or policies, or race issues at this time. At this time, we just want to focus on our grandfather and the other victims and making sure that the communities and the families heal and move on from this tragedy.

"First of all, I would like to thank the city of Charleston, how they have come together and shown unity and love."

"He would be so overwhelmed with how everyone has been unified to act on one accord," said Daniel Simmons Jr., the son of Daniel Simmons Sr., one of the victims in the massacre, when he was asked on "Meet the Press," by Chuck Todd:

"What would [your father] say how the community should respond to this horrific attack? What would he be telling you? What do you think he would say to you if he were here to sort of bring the community together?"

That is, Simmons resisted the question. He didn't criticize the city or implore it to change. He thanked the city. He praised the city for what it instinctively did.

The granddaughter, Alana Simmons, broke in without waiting for a question to be directed at her, and she continued with this love for Charleston:

My grandfather really loved Charleston. And one of our best memories of him was coming down two summers ago. And he took us on this grand tour of Charleston. And he just kept talking about how great the people of Charleston were. And we saw that. We saw that this week.

So it wasn't just that Charleston behaved well after the massacre. The family, including the dead patriarch, already loved Charleston. Chuck Todd — the outsider from the domain of media — seems to have planned to set this family up as a contrast to bad old Charleston. They were supposed to be the the woeful victims whose profound moral weight would force this ignominious city to confront its terrible racism. But the family had a different idea.

Todd tried to end the interview with stress on the grandeur of the Simmons family: "Well, your family is quite an example for all of us in this country. Reconciliation, forgiveness, love, faith. Unbelievable. My condolences..." But Alana Simmons felt moved to share the praise with the whole city of Charleston:

And Charleston has been a great example to the rest of the country as well. We just really, really appreciate how everyone has come together. And, like, people of all races, all religions, genders, orientations. At the prayer vigil we went to Friday night, everyone was there. And it was just so overwhelming and just so wonderful to see everyone coming together not to bash or to talk about the suspect but to celebrate the lives and to heal together.

Apparently, that wasn't the story line Todd wanted to end with. He just had to say:

Well, it's too bad that it took a tragedy like this to make that happen. But perhaps if this is what comes out of it, maybe we're a better society for it. Thank you, Simmons family.

What? Did he forget what Daniel and Alana said in the beginning? Charleston was already great. Daniel Simmons Sr. "just kept talking about how great the people of Charleston were," and he had no experience of what happened after the tragedy.

Todd — and mainstream media in general — seem to want to use the massacre as a device for arguing that changes must be made. But we could also do what the Simmons family seems to want us to do: Witness the goodness of truly good people. And see the power of religion at its finest:

ALANA SIMMONS: And although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of the hatred from this man, the love of the community, and the love of Christ, and just the love of all of the families for the victims was so overwhelming that it outweighed the hate that he had for them.

Scott Walker gives a classic Scott Walker response when asked about South Carolina and the Confederate battle flag.

"I think they're going to have a good healthy debate and should have that debate in South Carolina amongst officials at the state level. I just think before I or anyone else weighs in on anything to do with policy, whether it's this or any other policy decisions, we should honor the dead and the families by allowing them to bury their loved ones. And then you could perfectly ask me that question at some point in the next week or two when that's done."

That's in contrast to what Mitt Romney said (via Twitter): "Take down the #ConfederateFlag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred. Remove it now to honor #Charleston victims."

"A white gunman opened fire Wednesday night at a historic black church in this city’s downtown, killing 9 people before fleeing and setting off an overnight manhunt...."

The NYT reports, based on statements from the police.

City officials did not release information about the victims and did not say how many people were in the church during the shooting. Hospital officials declined to comment....

In the first hours after the shooting, the police blocked reporters and passers-by from approaching the church, opposite a Marriott Courtyard hotel, because of a bomb threat. Many among the news media cluster were political reporters in town to cover campaign events of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jeb Bush....

“It’s obvious that it’s race,” [said Tory Fields, a member of the Charleston County Ministers Conference]. “What else could it be? You’ve got a white guy going into an African-American church. That’s choice. He chose to go into that church and harm those people. That’s choice.”

UPDATE: The gunman is captured. New post here. 

Tim Scott "will become the only African-American currently serving in the Senate and the first black Republican to serve in the upper chamber since the 1970s."

Appointed by Nikki Haley to replace Jim DeMint.

Scott was first elected to the House in 2010, winning an open seat after defeating the son of longtime Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), the former segregationist who held the state’s other Senate seat for nearly 50 years until 2003.

He will become just the seventh African-American to serve in the Senate and the first black senator from the South since the 1880s.

Only three black senators have been voted into office by their constituents: Sen. Edward Brooke (R-Mass.), Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) and now-President Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The others were elected by their state legislatures (before direct election of U.S. senators began) or appointed.

DeMint's term runs until 2016, but there will be a special election in 2014, so it remains to be seen whether this black Republican from the South can win a state-wide election.

ADDED: The linked WaPo article identifies Thurmond — "the former segregationist" — as a Republican, but when he was a big-time segregationist, he was a Democrat:

Thurmond represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 until 2003, at first as a Democrat and, after 1964, as a Republican....

In opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, he conducted the longest filibuster ever by a lone senator, at 24 hours and 18 minutes in length, nonstop. In the 1960s, he opposed the civil rights legislation of 1964 and 1965 to end segregation and enforce the voting rights of African-American citizens. He always insisted he had never been a racist, but was opposed to excessive federal authority.

Did Gingrich win?

I'm hearing reports that he's the projected winner (in South Carolina), but it looks even with 1% reporting.

ADDED: The link above goes to CNN. Here's Wapo.

MORE SHOCKING NEWS: Heidi Klum and Seal are getting divorced! 

AND: I know, I know. Exit polls. But remember exit polls in 2004? Here's what I wrote that strange November evening:

Yes, I care a lot about the outcome of the election, and I'm sitting here waiting for the news to come in, sampling the dribbled out exit polls, and fretting. But at the same time, I feel complete assurance that as soon as the outcome is known, I'll fully accept it. Either man will make a decent enough President. I think Bush deserves to continue in office, but if it is to be Kerry, Kerry can handle the job too.... It is equanimity that flows through me. Time for a nice glass of win, a plate of pasta with Bolognese sauce, and a calm absorption of reality.

UPDATE: "A nice glass of win" -- ah, so hope does live on! Time for a nice glass of wine and toast to hope! A glass to be refilled later, perhaps, in a quenching of sorrow!

ANOTHER UPDATE: 10:53 p.m. Maybe I am going to get that nice glass of win after all. I'm really surprised. I let those exit polls affect me. Then I called up my sister in Florida and ended up talking with her for a long time, just watching the numbers on the TV screen with the sound off, so I wasn't getting any punditizing and wasn't drawing conclusions about much of anything. I got off the phone, and it took a while for me to absorb it, but eventually I got the message that everything was trending toward Bush.

IN THE COMMENTS: AJ Lynch said:

Seal got pissed when Heidi asked him for an open marriage with Newt?

I think Gingrich is going to win in South Carolina.

And then what will happen?

ADDED: Gingrich is doing well because of his performance in the debates. Perhaps if Gingrich is the candidate, Obama won't debate him. Why give him a chance to shine? Here's why. Obama will predict that the majority of Americans will prefer the nice man who is President over the strange and brash man who is attempting to crush him. Think how we felt back in 2000 when this happened:



All Obama will need to do is stand his ground and be the normal person, and Gingrich will look like a jackass. Do not fear the Newt. He is self-limiting. Just like ManBearPig.

Now, picture Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in a debate. Come on, wake up and picture them. Hey! Come on! Look, it will be 2 low-key stammerers lulling you into a deep slumber. But before you drift off, something emotional will happen to you. One man will have made you feel some warmth. You'll care about him. Not you, my readers, the majority of you. But you, the American voters, the majority of you. You will feel something that you won't ever need to subject to a process of rational judgment. You will float on, half-asleep and into your polling place where you will make your mark next to the name Barack Obama.