Charleston Currents – Andy Brack

BRACK: Anti-mask mandate will hurt South Carolina’s children

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The enormity of anti-science fervor in the Republican-controlled South Carolina legislature that will keep students, most unvaccinated, from wearing masks is mind-blowingly ignorant.

As a result, too many children will get or spread coronavirus — now worse than last year at this time because of a new, more contagious strain — and more will suffer. Children and more adults may die, thanks to the lame-brained GOP General Assembly’s lockstep denial of science.

by Andy Brack · 08/02/2021 · 2 comments · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Republicans should work to expand, not restrict, voting

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Red states like South Carolina face increasing pressure to fiddle with election laws. They should resist.

But expecting Republican leaders to dial back the rhetoric is hopeful at best, looney at worst. Why? Because of this: “These voter suppression efforts are based on a big lie that the election was stolen,” observed state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg. “Sadly, I have not heard one Republican elected official at the state or local level here, disavow the lie and admit that Joe Biden won the election fair and square.”

by Andy Brack · 07/19/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

Gov. Henry McMaster. Photo via Office of the Governor.

BRACK: Big pay hikes in Columbia leave a stench

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | South Carolina’s governor earns $106,078 a year, making him the 3,248th (*) highest paid state employee as of April.

* (Of course there’s a caveat in South Carolina. The S.C. Department of Administration’s salary search portal of the 23,328 state employees who earn more than $50,000 does not include people who work at several agencies, such as the legislature, the courts, Santee Cooper and the S.C. State Ports Authority. And we know some of those folks earn money by the bucket.)

by Andy Brack · 07/12/2021 · 2 comments · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Read the Declaration of Independence during holiday week

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher: Now that the fireworks and festivities from the Fourth of July are a new memory, how about taking a bolder, more reflective step to celebrate the true spirit of America? Find a quiet spot and seriously consider the 1,339 words of our country’s declaration against tyranny, our Declaration of Independence. Better yet: Sit down as a family and read it out loud together.

by Andy Brack · 07/05/2021 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Celebrate Carolina Day with gusto

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | All South Carolinians today should toast the courage and mettle of patriots from 245 years who vanquished the powerful British navy in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island and secured the first major colonial victory in the Revolutionary War.

by Andy Brack · 06/28/2021 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: State is awash in big spending

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | A righteous cynic might say the state of South Carolina is about to turn on a spigot of spending that would make a drunken sailor proud. But perhaps the state is finally starting to catch up on investments that it didn’t make for years in education, employee salaries and neglected infrastructure.

by Andy Brack · 06/21/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

NEW for 6/21: Reveling in Charleston; Big spending; Forum

IN THIS EDITION
FOCUS: Grad students revel in everything Charleston
COMMENTARY, Brack: State is awash in big spending
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: SCIWAY
NEWS BRIEFS: Charleston Forum to kick off 2021 series on June 22
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Take a walk in these shoes
CALENDAR: From Coffee with the Mayor to concerts

by Andy Brack · 06/21/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue

BRACK: Give special treatment to tailgaters

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Tailgaters deserve a special place in hell.

Not the folks who enjoy a beer and a brat in a parking lot party at a football game. But the selfish drivers who sneak into your rearview mirror and perch one car length off your bumper as you’re sailing down the interstate at 70 mph.

by Andy Brack · 06/14/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Why getting vaccinated is more important than ever

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The number of new South Carolina cases of people getting COVID-19 has dropped significantly with 122 new cases one recent day, 71 new cases the day before. Daily deaths across the state have dropped from the double digits to just a few. The percentage of positive tests is now below 5 percent, the magic number indicating the disease is being managed.

by Andy Brack · 06/07/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

A Confederate battle flag flew next to a monument on the Statehouse grounds in 2012, three years before the flag was removed. Via Wikipedia.

BRACK: Throw out the Heritage Act

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The guy from Long Island smoking a big cigar didn’t think historic statues and memorials should be removed. To do so would be a way for the present generation to try to whitewash the history of the past — to rid these tributes from the state’s collective conscience and keep people from remembering how things were.

by Andy Brack · 05/31/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views