Noted and passed

• We're glad to see that Pee Dee native Cale Yarborough has been voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Yarborough and his hard-driving style helped popularize auto racing decades ago, and back in those days, when drivers were often former moonshine runners, he was also pretty good with his fists. His brouhaha with Bobby and Donnie Allison is still the stuff of legends. Yarborough, short in statue but tall in skill, is a deserving member of the Hall of Fame.

Presidential contenders

There's one presidential political fact that's abundantly clear: most voters today favor "none of the above." Fewer than half of all Americans believe President Obama is doing a good job, but the field of contenders for the Republican nomination isn't exactly drawing rave reviews. Those observers who enjoy a good political free-for-all are no doubt watching that GOP race with interest, as there's already a host of hopefuls, and others are eying the race. ...

Mainstream media

Like many others across this country, we were surprised -- maybe "shocked" would be a better word -- when Sen. John McCain named then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. McCain was already facing headwinds in the general election, and the choice of Palin gave him a quick boost in the polls. But as people found out more about the chief executive of the frozen state, they decided she didn't have the qualifications ...

Noted and passed - June 13, 2011

* Rightly or wrongly, presidents generally get the credit or the blame for economic conditions in the country, as most voters place responsibility on the chief executive rather than Congress. In that regard, President Obama faces headwinds in his re-election efforts. He also is up against an historical precedent that's surprising: if he wins another term in the White House in November of next year, it will be only ...

Haley v. State House

As we mentioned earlier this week, Gov. Nikki Haley has several solid proposals in her package to streamline state government. The S. C. Supreme Court has ruled that she doesn't have the authority -- it was hardly a clear-cut decision, coming in at 3-2 -- to call the Senate back into session, as she attempted to do, and it now appears that South Carolinians might be in for four more years of contention between the governor and the legislature.

John Edwards

We don't want to make it seem as if we're piling on someone when he's down, but frankly, we always thought John Edwards was a bit sleazy -- and we've said that before. Even prior to revelations about his affair and child with videographer Rielle Hunter, Edwards always seemed just a little too slick, a tad too holier-than-thou. He was, to sum it up in a word, smarmy.

Noted and passed -- June 6, 2011

• The attempt by Walt Disney Co. to trademark the term "Seal Team 6" following the killing of Osama bin Laden by a team of Navy Seals was a shameless money grab. Critics and comedians ridiculed Disney for its attempt and the company later said it was abandoning its effort "out of deference to the Navy." Whichever Disney executive advanced that bungled idea should be shown the door.

Candidate residency

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the ultra-left Ohio Congressman who has a penchant for running for president and not getting anywhere, is in danger of losing his congressional seat, which is based in the Cleveland area but might disappear when redistricting takes place later this year. So Kucinich is exploring the idea of running for Congress from Washington state, where his political views would align with many in that west-coast bastion of liberalism. Kucinich certainly wouldn't ...

Open primaries

South Carolina Republican officials don't like a ruling made by U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs allowing open voting in primaries, the system that's used in the state now and has been for decades. Under that plan, voters can choose which party's primary they want to participate in from year to year. But lawyers for the GOP are asking Childs to examine whether that might be unconstitutional. ...

Noted and passed

• We welcome newly hired Kershaw County Administrator Victor Carpenter, who comes to this area from Abbeville County; we hope Carpenter can lend some stability to a position that's had too much turnover in recent years. And while we're at it, let us offer a tip of the hat to Frank Broom, former Camden city manager, who served as interim county administrator and was able to ...

Entitlement spending

With spending deficits that can't be sustained without driving this country to financial ruin, lawmakers in Washington have lots of choices before them. So far they seem to be ignoring them. But their job isn't easy, and this week's New York House of Representatives race, in which a Democrat captured a seat in a traditionally Republican district, became a referendum on cutting Medicare benefits, and voters ...

Statuary to honor citizen, city

The city of Camden is blessed with a rich cultural heritage and an appreciation for the arts, so it comes as good news that a new statuary monument -- a tribute to one of Camden's long-time business and civic leaders -- is going to grace the new Town Green. This comes not long after the announcement that the Camden Archives grounds will be the site for statues of Bernard Baruch, a Camden native and ...

Noted and passed

• We had hope that the "Gang of Six," a bipartisan group of U. S. senators which was examining ways to cut the deficit by trying to overcome the political logjam in Washington, could make progress. But Sen. Tom Coburn's decision to leave the group -- he and other members have been vilified by the far left and right, depending on whose ox was getting gored -- reduces the chance of success. Meanwhile, elected ...

KershawHealth

Layoffs and employment cutbacks have become an unwanted but common occurrence since the economic downtown began about four years ago. Nobody likes them, and they have caused untold grief for millions of American families. But in some cases, they have been necessary for companies and governmental entities to survive, and that's the sad fact that appears to be true about the recent layoffs at KershawHealth.

Tribble sentence

In the last few years, the public has come to better appreciate the efforts and sacrifices made by law enforcement officers -- those who serve in small towns, large cities and rural areas across the country. That makes it difficult for everyone when an officer steps outside the bounds of acceptable conduct, as former Kershaw County Deputy Oddie Tribble did in beating a handcuffed prisoner in ...

Primaries

The S.C. Republican Party has withdrawn from a federal lawsuit that would close the GOP's primary only to members of the party. The state organization didn't do that because it opposes the suit but because it doesn't want to spend the money. But in reality, it should oppose the suit as a matter of sound policy; trying to accomplish closed primaries in a state in which voters don't even ...

The U.S. Open

IRS reform

People in this country -- no doubt many right here in Kershaw County -- are angry with the Internal Revenue Service and its heavy-handed methods. Of course, the IRS has never been popular, and probably wouldn't be if the agency did everything by the book. But its recent targeting of conservative groups has spotlighted the venom with which overzealous bureaucrats can operate. Adding to it are recent revelations about ...