Tag Archive

Flying Oskar: Making Spartanburg’s Democrats Relevant

By Christopher George

There are basically two types of political opinion writing as far as I can tell. There’s issue writing, where the writer tackles some sort of relevant issue, puts it in some kind of context for the reader, and argues for one side of the issue over the other. Then there’s what I... »

Flying Oskar: Problems of Ignorance and Apathy

By Christopher George

What’s the greatest challenge facing Spartanburg? Ask 100 people that question, and you’re likely to get 100 answers. Some would talk about development issues. Some would talk about education issues. Some would talk about spending priorities and taxes. Every issue under the sun in our little corner of South... »

Flying Oskar: Payday Lending and Spartanburg’s Shame

By Christopher George

Despite what you may have heard before, nobody hates saying “I told you so.” One of the few universal truths about people is that we all love being right. Some of us may love it more than others, but nobody hates it. Needless to say, I’ve never hated being right. In fact,... »

Flying Oskar: Stating The Obvious…Or Not

By Christopher George

There are weeks where I’m so anxious to write this column that I can barely contain my excitement (as lame as that sounds). Other weeks, I look at my Monday obligation to the local political blogosphere as a Sisyphean labor, the sort of maddening task that no person of sound mind would ever... »

Flying Oskar: Mark Sanford’s Attitude Adjustment

By Christopher George

The easiest thing to write about in the political world is hypocrisy. It’s an easy topic because usually, you don’t have to look very far for examples of it. It’s everywhere, especially in South Carolina. Every time you turn your head in our great state there’s a politician taking a principled... »

Flying Oskar: Sen. Bright Gives Us What We Deserve

By Christopher George

There’s an old saying—probably mis-attributed to the Chinese—that goes something like, “may you live in interesting times.” It’s meant to be a curse, because as any historian will tell you, the most interesting times are often the most tumultuous. I don’t remember anybody laying any ancient Chinese curse on me, but the... »

Flying Oskar: Thank You!

By Christopher George

“On Union Street, there’s an empty lot that used to be home to a welding supply company.” It’s not exactly William Faulkner I know, but that humble little line was the first sentence of the first “Flying Oskar” column I ever wrote for the Spark. That piece was posted on Monday, February... »

Flying Oskar: An Open Letter to Lt. Governor Andre Bauer

By Christopher George

Dear Lt. Governor Bauer, My name is Christopher George. I’m a resident of Spartanburg County, and I’m writing to you today to tell you how happy I was to read your recent statements regarding government assistance to the poor. I think it’s important that people understand your positions as clearly as possible, and... »

Flying Oskar: The Revolution Starts…In the Backyard

By Christopher George

Ah, locally sourced food. The very concept tickles the average new urbanite’s fancy in ways that are sometimes difficult to explain to the outside observer. I’ve personally witnessed people giddy at the sight of heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market, and have read endless blog posts and articles about the virtue of “slow... »

Flying Oskar: District 7 and Problems of Ignorance

By Christopher George

“An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic. Self-government is not possible unless the citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight.” -Thomas Jefferson I’ve had that quote, or some version of it, on my mind a lot this past week. I take some pride in the... »

Flying Oskar: Imagining Spartanburg’s Next Decade

By Christopher George

Lists are totally lame. Lists that try to predict the future have the interesting twist of being both lame and usually completely wrong. As a rule, I try to avoid both lists and predictions because despite evidence to the contrary, I am deathly afraid of being thought of as lame. Worse... »

Flying Oskar: A People’s History of Spartanburg

By Christopher George

It’s hard to say at exactly what point I gained a real sense of class consciousness. There are instances I could point to, things that I noticed as a child that certainly were moments of class awareness, but piecing it all together didn’t happen right away. I grew up on old family land that... »

Flying Oskar: Santorum Talks The Social Conservative Talk

By Christopher George

In the minds of some, there’s a war going on in America, a war between the righteous and the amoral. The people who believe in this vision of America hold an absolutist, dualistic world view that allows practically no room for interpretation or nuance. In the mind of these self-proclaimed “culture warriors”... »

Flying Oskar: Progressive In Spartanburg

By Christopher George

What does it mean to be progressive in Spartanburg? I wrestle with that question more often than anybody ever should. I wrestle with it because first you’d have to describe what a progressive in Spartanburg actually looks like, and there’s not really a clear answer for that. Reading over previous things... »

Flying Oskar: Spartanburg GOP Wants You (If You’re Conservative Enough)

By Christopher George

I don’t generally write about internal drama within Spartanburg’s political parties. The reasoning behind this decision is simple enough really. With few exceptions, I don’t really think much of what goes on at the local party level is very interesting. From what I can gather as an outsider with very few... »