"The State of South Carolina: The State of the Union?"

It's time to Break It Down!

President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address tonight. That’s a pretty big deal. But you know about that, and you will get a chance to see it unfold in real time.

Until tonight, here is the CliffsNotes' version:

• Stimulus Bill: Over funded, under spent
• Health Care Reform: Over hyped; DOA w/o the Senate Super Majority
• Big Banks: Record Profits:John Q. Public: Record Unemployment
• Climate control: Left out in the cold
• War on Terror: Merry Christmas America
• Spending Freeze: Republicans hate it; Democrats…they hate it too

A recent Gallup Poll showed President Obama with an approval rating among Democrats of 88 percent. That rating dipped precipitously for Republicans; 23 percent. The difference, 65 points, is the largest gap ever recorded in the first year of a presidency.

In an interview Monday of this week with ABC News Anchor, Diane Sawyer, the President stated forthrightly, “I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.”

That is the approach that the increasingly embattled leader may need to brandish as he heads into year two. Forget about efforts to win friends and influence people, especially if those people happen to be Congressional Republicans; a majority of whom have made it clear they will oppose the President at every opportunity. And if an opportunity does not present itself, they have shown a relentless commitment to create one.

It is time to use his bully pulpit, and whatever residual capital he has accrued to foster change that the American people believe in, not the political Parties. Between the loyal opposition and a fractured Democratic Party, that will still be no small feat, and yet, it is his lot to “make it happen.

Of course, as you may have inferred from the Title, Mr. Obama, and his State of the Union Address is not the point of this post. I have caught a considerable amount of flak from a friend of mine because I have highlighted a number of South Carolinians who have, during the past year, attracted notoriety for themselves and their home State.

While most of these “media moments” have been less than positive, they have captured for the Palmetto residents involved what Andy Warhol referred to as, their “15 minutes of fame.”

Meet the latest addition, Andre Bauer, South Carolina’s Lieutenant Governor since 2003. Prior to his terms in South Carolina’s second highest elected office, Mr. Bauer spent two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives, and two terms in the State Senate. Translation; he is a veteran of South Carolina elective politics.

Last Friday, Mr. Bauer became the latest South Carolina elected leader to take up the mantel of controversial and inflammatory speech, when he used a metaphor to compare kids on free and reduced lunch to stray animals. He indicated that his grandmother, whom he said was not highly educated, taught him that the problem with feeding stray animals is…they breed. He then endeavored to make the case that providing children free and reduced lunch fuels the same kind of culture of dependency that feeding stray animals does.

This recent indulgence by the Lieutenant Governor poses an interesting quandary for the citizens of South Carolina. Occasionally, I hear folks ponder out loud, how does Mark Sanford remain Governor of the Palmetto State? How is that possible?

Well, after this up close and personal look, at the policy-making inclinations of the Man who would be Governor, we may have a clue about Mr. Sanford’s perceived viability.

In an interview, Mr. Bauer defended his position by noting that he had received numerous responses on his MySpace page from people who agreed with him. In a separate interview, he denied comparing kids to animals. He then proceeded to point out how the culture of dependency that resulted from providing kids free and reduced lunch was similar to the dependency that resulted from feeding stray animals. Huh?

I am not going back to recount the other stellar denizens and their “special comments.” If you’ve been following the Blog, you likely saw them. If you didn’t, you can sift back through the former issues. I am not making an effort to connect Mr. Bauer comments to those of others. Rather, I am offering one more not so subtle reminder that pernicious notions permeate our culture and society. They are held by people in some of the loftiest positions of power and influence. We have entrusted many of them to act in our best interest.

It is imperative that each of us vets those would lead us. Failure to do so may result in a compelling question, "The State of South Carolina: The State of the Union?"

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_State_of_the_Union_Address

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1246202/Obama-Id-good-term-president-mediocre-term-president-new-poll-shows-hes-divisive-president-yet.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Sawyer

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/state-of-the-union-addres_n_437181.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/25/barack-obama-usa

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/fort_hood_heroes_will_be_guest.html

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2010/01/26/natpkg.ireport.sotu.ireport.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/state-of-the-union-addres_n_437181.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/25/barack-obama-usa

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/fort_hood_heroes_will_be_guest.html

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2010/01/26/natpkg.ireport.sotu.ireport.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/us/politics/25obama.html

http://sc.gov/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sanford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Bauer

http://www.sphere.com/politics/article/south-carolina-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-to-stray-animals/19330996

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/01/lt_gov_andre_bauer_r-sc_breeds.html

http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/01/24/the-andre-bauer-solution-starve-the-poor-theyll-stop-breeding/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14272501

http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11879637

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lt_gov_don_t_help_the_poor

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/01/26/2010-01-26_sanfords_lieutenant_governor_andre_bauer_likens_government_assistance_to_feeding.html

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=andre+bauer+they+breed&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=mb1fS-KQKs6UtgfB4dzvCw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CBoQqwQwBA#

http://dunningrb.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/s-c-lt-governor-andre-bauer-stop-feeding-poor-people-they-breed/

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/25/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6139186.shtml

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11869649

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol