Charleston Currents #12.49 | Oct. 26, 2020
CRANES ON THE WAY. Two new ship-to-shore cranes are expected today at the S.C. Ports Authority’s new Leatherman terminal in North Charleston, followed by the three cranes pictured above on Nov. 3. The new cranes are among the tallest on the East Coast, according to a press release. They will have 169 feet of lift height above the wharf deck and an outreach of 228 feet, enabling them to work the biggest container ships calling on the East Coast. (Photo via S.C. Ports Authority.)
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TODAY’S FOCUS: Vigorous government action needed to curb spread of virus
COMMENTARY, Brack: Country shifting back toward center
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: SCIWAY
NEWS BRIEFS: New documentary highlights country’s growing divisive mood
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Golden dome
CALENDAR: Holiday lights are around the corner
Vigorous government action needed to curb spread of virus
By Fred Palm, contributing editor | Correct and effective state action to battle COVID-19 is required. Now. Otherwise, more lives and livelihoods across South Carolina will suffer as a third wave descends upon the state.
Gov. Henry McMaster’s Oct. 23 public relations visit to Myrtle Beach revealed a guy who is in over his head with no way out. That means we have no way out.
“We’re vigilant. We’re trying to do our best,” he said during the visit. “We’ve heard from a lot of people in a lot of different kind of businesses; we’re taking all of that into consideration. These restrictions, it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes it imposes great hardship; we’re aware of that. All of these decisions are made not quickly.”
McMaster’s biggest hedge for relative inaction was the under-the-bus defense: “AccelerateSC, which consists of leaders in business, medicine, academia and education from around the state. They are assisted by legislators that made these ‘excellent plans.’” In effect, McMaster shields and exonerates himself from the coming fiasco by cloaking himself with the expertise of others.
This dance does not work with COVID-19. What we need is real leadership.
The AccelerateSC COVID-19 response plan is lacking the clear-headedness to defeat COVID-19 spread. The participants were McMaster benefactors. They were not infectious disease experts having the final say for dealing with an aggressive virus that does not give a rat’s ass about lives and livelihoods. The test of time says that the plan did not work. Does not work now. Given the predictable rise in the spread of the disease, it will not work.
McMaster
McMaster simply is not at his best in the face of this challenge that is huge and must be sustained if it is to bear fruit. A hurricane season lasts four months. So far, we are eight months into the COVID-19 season. We do not know when the COVID-19 season ends.
“The economic hardships of COVID-19 have been widespread in our tourism businesses, universally shared by all segments of the hospitality industry. Hotels, restaurants, golf courses, retail and attractions, alike. It’s through the job loss and the subsequent loss of income for South Carolinians that the effects of COVID really hit home,” said Karen Riordan, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
The South Carolina hurricane playbook does not work with COVID-19.
Just what is the “limited government” response to this common enemy that takes lives and livelihoods through the exercise of personal freedom? There is none. We need to get ready now.
The COVID-19 spread now underway in the U.S. will cross into South Carolina. We have learned much more since the infection erupted with much more remaining to be learned. We need to use the lag in time before a third wave gets to the state as a gift of valuable time to act. If there are not effective actions by the state and local governments now to stop the spread, we too will succumb to this scourge just as the other states have gone under as hospitals burst at capacity seams.
Continued denial and half actions do not work to contain this virus. South Carolina needs to recognize and declare emergency condition responses to save the current economy that has returned so far. Continuing as we are will kill the current economic activity, sending us back to the shutdown period that had many too many holes (privileges, waivers and essentials) to bring the base infection base down enough to provide protection.
Needed now are front-and-center statewide and local actions, new and reimposed strategies going beyond the soft PR approach to mask-wearing. We cannot creep around this virus, equivocate this mask issue or make optional the proven public health tool of wearing a mask.
Exceptional times require effective and apolitical administrative actions scaled to the magnitude of the threat that we can plainly anticipate. This is the hour of our collective restart decision to stop the COVID-19 spread securing our lives and livelihoods. We cannot remain suspended and silent until Election Day.
Fred Palm of Edisto Island is a retired professor of oversight and investigations at the John Jay College School of Public Management and a former executive director of the Association of Inspectors General. He writes about the Common Good.
Country shifting back toward center
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The first referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency was in the 2018 midterm elections, which found him losing control of the U.S. House of Representatives. The second will be Nov. 3 when voters decide whether to continue with lackluster leadership marked by rants, raves, scandals and corruption.
Two years ago during five weeks of interviews in eight states, voters described an America with widening divisions to an Australian-led documentary film crew. The big takeaway, which can now be seen online for free in a five-episode production, was how unhappy Americans had become.
“People feel that they shouldn’t be feeling like that – that there should be a greater sense of oneness in their country and I think that has been a feature of America in times past,” observed Australian pundit Bruce Hawker in 2018. “Now they miss that (oneness) and I think it’s a discombobulating feeling for a lot of Americans. They really feel affected adversely about it. I think they’re also exhausted by the constant conflict, and that’s not a good thing. I suspect it’s going to keep going for the next two years.”
The enmity did get worse, exacerbated by three seasons of coronavirus plus a summer of racial tension and a fall onslaught of negative political ads that hasn’t let up.
“Now in 2020, it feels like the rift is even wider,” Hawker said this week at the rollout of the film. “I think the effects of the pandemic on people’s health and the economy have heightened tensions. The one concern that almost all the people we interviewed had in common was their desire to see less political division. However, we didn’t see much evidence of a willingness by anyone to make the necessary concessions. Time will tell how that division will be resolved.”
In recent weeks, Hawker’s team, which again included me, has been gathering more footage from Arizona, Minnesota and Pennsylvania to South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. A new film on the mood of the country leading to this year’s election is expected to be ready early next year.
“When we went to the U.S. in 2018, what we found were there were a lot of people who believed that he [President Trump] still deserved the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “They had worried about the way he tweeted, his attitudes towards women and even his attitude towards minorities. But they always had the word ‘but’ coming after their concerns — ‘but he’s a businessman’ or ‘but he wasn’t elected to be a politician’ or ‘but he’s getting the economy going.’
“Since then, of course, we’ve had a major upheaval in the American society, just as we’ve seen around the world. Their economy has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic and that has changed the political and social landscape significantly. For many people, including African Americans, the annoyance they had in 2018 about Trump and his racially-motivated statements has now become anger and fear in many people’s minds because they see him as potentially unleashing mobs against them.”
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat who is third in leadership in the U.S. House, said Americans are sick of Trump’s bombast and bluster. Now in 2020, it’s coming home to roost.
“People are looking for stability in their lives,” Clyburn said in an interview this week. “They’re tired of the COVID deaths. They’re tired of the illnesses. They’re tired of the insults. They’d love to see this country return to some degree of normalcy. And so I think what Joe Biden represents. And that’s why I came out so strongly for him.”
Clyburn said the 2020 election would shift the country toward the center, just as has happened time after time in its history.
“The movements in this country are like a pendulum on a clock. It goes left and then it goes right. And then it goes back left and goes back right. What we have to understand is that when it goes left and right, it always passes through the center. So this country camps out in the center twice as much as it does left or right.
“This is a battle to restore America’s goodness. The only way we are going to maintain America’s greatness is to restore America’s goodness.”
Andy Brack, editor and publisher of Charleston Currents served as director of A Hard Road: Travels in Trump’s America, which debuted this week. Episode Two focuses on South Carolina. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
SCIWAY
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost. Today we shine our spotlight on SCIWAY. Pronounced “sky-way,” SCIWAY is South Carolina’s Information Superhighway — the largest and most comprehensive directory of South Carolina information on the Internet. It includes thousands of links to other South Carolina Web sites, including Charleston Currents, as well as an amazing collection of maps, charts, articles, photos and other resources.
- To learn more about this extraordinary information hub that 7 million people visit a year, go to: http://www.SCIWAY.com.
New documentary highlights country’s divisive mood
Hawker, middle, interviews S.C. Democratic Party Chair Trav Robertson, left, in 2018 in Florence.
Staff reports | A new documentary released last week highlights the divisive political mood of South Carolina and the rest of the country in 2018 with a focus on the emerging political fissures that exploded in this pandemic year with national protests over civil rights and race.
The second episode of the film, A Hard Road: Travels in Trump’s America, features discussions of race, religion, President Trump and politics in South Carolina. Among those interviewed are current Republican congressional candidate Nancy Mace of Daniel Island, GOP state Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort, former Penn Center Executive Director Emory Campbell of Hilton Head Island, and authors Herb Frazier, Nathalie Dupree and Jack Bass, all of Charleston. Charleston City Paper and Charleston Currents publisher Andy Brack directed the five-part series, now available on YouTube.
Producer and correspondent Bruce Hawker, former chief political adviser to an Australian prime minister, led a documentary team that interviewed more than 130 people in seven states in the weeks leading up to the 2018 midterm elections. The film, which also includes episodes filmed in Arizona, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, focuses on the people, issues and culture of America that impacted the 2018 fight to control the U.S. House and Senate.
Hawker said the purpose of the documentary was to show how Trump’s presidency impacted the lives of everyday Americans.
“Traveling to such diverse parts of the United States as South Carolina, Minnesota and Arizona, we were struck by how diverse and complex American society really is,” Hawker said. “Issues like trade with China are critically important to Minnesota’s farm economy, but are barely part of the political discussions in South Carolina. The border with Mexico and associated issues dominated Arizona politics, but made little impression in northern states.”
He said a common theme across America in 2018 was how divided Americans were.
“Now in 2020, it feels like the rift is even wider,” Hawker said. “I think the effects of the pandemic on people’s health and the economy have heightened tensions. The one concern that almost all the people we interviewed had in common was their desire to see less political division. However, we didn’t see much evidence of a willingness by anyone to make the necessary concessions. Time will tell how that division will be resolved.”
In 2020, the team expected to travel across the country to follow-up on what it discovered in 2018. But the coronavirus pandemic changed plans. For the last two months, the team has been recording footage for a new film by blending interviews taken by independent videographers across the county with long-form interviews via videoconference. A new film is expected early next year.
- Learn more about the film at AHardRoad.com.
In other recent news:
Annual report. You can read the new 2020 Annual Report of the S.C. Ports Authority by clicking here. The agency says it “enters fiscal year 2021 with energy, optimism and resiliency as we welcome new business and complete significant infrastructure projects. Right partners. Right plans. Right time.”
ACA enrollment begins Nov. 1. Health insurers selling Affordable Care Act plans to individuals have lowered rates in some areas or issued only modest premium increases for 2021. Final rates have yet to be finalized. Sign up ends Dec. 15. Read more.
New law on turtles. Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill this week that bans the commercial trade of native turtles in South Carolina. Turtle and wildlife advocates praised the move as a “meaningful step to protect (the state’s) native turtles,” said Elise Bennett, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This law will raise the state out of a morass of turtle trafficking and make it a safe haven for wild turtles.” Read the law here.
S.C. could reject a record number of absentee ballots. Some voting rights groups in the state are warning that mixed messages around a witness requirement and a new bar on ballot curing could lead to disenfranchisement. The witness signature is required for mailed-in ballots, and ballot curing is the process of notifying voters of issues with ballots received without the proper signature. Read more.
Statehouse Report’s Lindsay Street contributed to this report. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
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Golden dome
Here’s an attractive dome buoyed by sunlight. What and where is it? Send to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Our Oct. 19 photo, “Shipping memorial,” showed a metal model of the SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The picture was taken along the riverwalk in Savannah along the Savannah River.
Congratulations to these two intrepid photo detectives for identifying it: George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; and Allan Peel of San Antonio. Nobody in Charleston guessed. Perhaps Charlestonians don’t visit Savannah.
Peel provided detail about the memorial: “The sculpture is located along the Savannah waterfront in the John P. Rousakis Riverfront Plaza at the corner of the historic River Street and Barnard Street in Savannah, Ga. Captained by Moses Rogers (1779-1821), this ship set sail from Savannah on May 22, 1819, and arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 20, 1819. The 98-foot, 320-ton hybrid vessel was built to operate as a side wheel steamship or a sailing ship with three masts. With 32-passenger berths and three saloons, it had an interior resembling a pleasure yacht. However, it had been dubbed the “steam coffin” and the owners had been unable to secure any passengers or freight for the trip to Liverpool, therefore it was an experimental voyage.
“The ship left Savannah on May 22, 1819 with 75 tons of coal and 25 cords of wood for fuel. It took 29 days and 11 hours to reach Liverpool but the steam engine was only employed for a total of 80 hours during the voyage. Considering that the total distance travelled (as the crow flies) was over 4,000 miles, this means that the ship was able to achieve an average speed of 5.7 mph (or 5.0 nautical mph), assuming a 24/7 sailing regiment.
“Despite the historic voyage, the Savannah failed to be a commercial success due to the great space that was taken up by the large steam-engine and its associated fuel, limiting the cargo-carrying capacity of this type of ship. In order to make ends meet, the owners of the ship had it converted to 100 percent sail shortly after its return trip from Europe in 1819. Just two years later, the SS Savannah met her fate in a devastating ship wreck off Long Island, N.Y., in 1821, coincidentally the same year that Rogers died from typhoid fever.”
- Send us a mystery: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send it along to editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Holiday lights are around the corner
State of the Ports: 11 a.m. Oct. 28, streamed event. You can join a live-streamed event as SC Ports Authority President and CEO Jim Newsome delivers his 12th State of the Port Address with updates on infrastructure, the new global supply chain, and strategic initiatives for the authority.
Safe Sounds at Firefly: Doors open 5 p.m; Show begins 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 31, Firefly Distillery, North Charleston. The distillery’s socially-distanced concerts are back with its fall Safe Sounds series. The next show is the Halloween Finale with Sol Driven Train with Sally & George. Tickets ($110 for four) can be purchased in advance at citypapertickets.com.
Holiday Festival of Lights: Nov. 13 to Dec. 31, James Island County Park. The annual event, now in its 31st year, will offer a dazzling array of displays and about 2 million lights. The festival will be open every evening nightly from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. through Dec. 31, 2020. You can take a heartwarming cruise along the three-mile display of glimmering lights with your closest companions. The driving tour features over 700 light displays, most of which were created in-house by park staff. Displays range from traditional holiday scenes to Lowcountry icons such as Rainbow Row and the Cooper River and Ravenel Bridges; to various themed sections that delight all ages like Sea Land, Dinosaur Land, Candy Land and Toy Land. For details or to register, visit HolidayFestivalofLights.com.
From Etchings to Pastels: Through Nov. 29, Lowcountry Image Gallery, The Charleston Museum. The museum has partnered with the Pastel Society of South Carolina to present new interpretations of etchings stemming from the Charleston Renaissance Movement about 100 years ago. Learn more.
Online offerings:
- Gibbes Museum. You can enjoy lots of local art offerings through the website and social media accounts of the Gibbes Museum. At 10 a.m. on weekdays, the museum posts virtual readings and workshops on Facebook. Find more online.
- Avian Conservation Center. Access videos and live streaming presentations online to learn about what’s going on at the Center for Birds of Prey.
- Around the world. You can visit 500 museums across the world online through this Google amalgamation of sites.
If you have any online events, drop us a line (editor@charlestoncurrents.com) and make sure to put “Online event” in the subject line. Similarly, if you’ve got cool ideas for stuff to do while in isolation at home, send them our way.
ORDER NOW: Copies are in Lowcountry-area bookstores now, but if you can’t swing by, you can order a copy online today.
As more people stay home to deal with the coronavirus crisis, people are looking for things to do. You can find some fun things to do online in our calendar section below, but let us also encourage you to FORWARD your issue of Charleston Currents to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. It’s got a great price, as you know: Free! We hope they’ll enjoy our coverage.
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