Comments on: Flying Oskar: SCGOP Candidates Are A Comedy Goldmine

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:46:58 +0000

Reid: You don’t like liberal types writing disparaging things about the local GOP? well get used to it, because I’m going to be here a while.

Trust me, if it were Democrats I’d write about it with way more interest, so I don’t get the “all lathered up” comment. I was pretty unenthusiastic about writing this piece to begin with because when you get right down to it, I don’t care about the SCGOP chair seat. As a devoted “lefty” though (and as one of the only vocal “lefties” here in Sparanburg), I did feel like I should at least give my 2 cents.

I probably won’t be writing much about the local Democratic Party because they’re barely even a presence in Spartanburg, so other than write a column about how irrelevant they are, I’m not sure where I can go with that. Incidentally if you search through my columns you’ll find one where I was quite critical of Rep. Harold Mitchell who is one of the only elected Democrats in Spartanburg.

By: Steve Shanafelt

Steve Shanafelt — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:38:06 +0000

What “scene”? There isn’t a “scene” in Spartanburg that I’m aware of, except for maybe at Ground Zero. Unless by “scene” you mean local blogs or something.

And what would you consider respectable? Tell me, and I’ll make an effort to increase that kind of coverage.

I don’t think anyone is lathered up. But surely you can see how this is fascinating stuff, regardless of your politics. You’ve got one candidate who can’t keep himself out of trouble and another who is openly in the pocket of a New York-based political puppet-master. It’d be just as interesting if they were Democrats, and we’d cover it just the same.

By: Reid

Reid — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:17:05 +0000

The lefties get all lathered up over the Sptbg GOP. The spark worships bars and “the scene” but rarely gives any respectable information.

By: Steve Shanafelt

Steve Shanafelt — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:48:04 +0000

Holly: Any particular reason you’re leaving the same cut-and-paste comment all over the Spark in every post where Beltram’s name is mentioned? It’s fine to defend your friend, but I do ask that you actually participate in the discussion rather than just re-post the same content over and over. It’s really bad form.

Also, please don’t bring up unrelated national politics on a thread strictly about local Republican politics. When Obama runs for S.C. GOP chair, post about him all you want. Until then, stick to the topic.

By: Holly

Holly — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:40:14 +0000

I have always found Beltramâ€™s â€œtell-us-how-you-really-feelâ€ style a nice break from the teleprompter-worshiping phonies who have invaded our government and the world of politics as a whole. I have worked diligently for many political campaigns and causes in my life but have always doubled the time spent on such endeavors when working with Beltram. I have found working beside Beltram not only encouraging but actually fun in lieu of the root canal-comparable political events Iâ€™ve attended without him. His decision to run has actually given me renewed interest in political activism.

All this trumped-up, “something-out-of-nothing” drama makes for great fodder for those sitting around sipping their Obama-approved Kool-aid. Drink it up kiddies!

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:15:41 +0000

You’re absolutely right west_sburg. I would’ve put it in, but if I’d gone through the whole list of Beltram’s corrupt dealings and boneheaded statements, I wouldn’t have had room in the piece for anything else.

By: west_sburg

west_sburg — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:29:02 +0000

Don’t forget about Beltram’s conflicts last year when he operated and sold his personal consulting services out of GOP HQ to candidates in local GOP primaries. Some of the services he was selling were supposed to be provided free to all candidates who paid a filing fee.
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20080418/NEWS/804180335
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20080419/NEWS/804190320
Jason Spencer has more on his blog.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:02:18 +0000

Thanks Sylvie. The Adam West thing was probably my favorite line out of the whole piece.

By: Sylvie

Sylvie — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:48:31 +0000

As always a purely entertaining read. I literally laughed out loud at the Adam West reference. He is certainly my favorite tv mayor.

I don’t know how the process of choosing a GOP lead is undertaken. It would be nice to see someone competent in the lead chair, but if not I kind of like the idea of the dynamic duo you suggested. At least it will keep state politics interesting, especially if you are writing about it Chris.

Dang, I’m still chuckling at the whole Adam West thing..funny stuff.

By: Steve Shanafelt

Steve Shanafelt — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:25:16 +0000

In regards to Beltram’s claim about the DeMint audio being doctored, I have to register my doubt. Having worked with audio in a variety of settings for interviews for many, many years, I didn’t hear anything in the audio that made it sound edited. Obviously, you’d need to look at the audio profile of the recording to know for sure, but I don’t hear anything that raises a red flag. In fact, the background noise levels seem fairly consistent, and if it had been edited, you’d be able to tell from that alone.