By Andy Brack
Maybe S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson, the MAGA-acolyte who wants to be governor so badly he can taste it, needs to go back to law school.
After hearing his so-called warning about June 14 plans for peaceful protests in a dozen places across the state, he appears to need a refresher on constitutional law, which specifically protects the right to assemble peaceably (First Amendment – right along with freedom of the press.)
Here’s what Wilson said as the media focused on unrest in California brought on by authoritarian immigration raids: “If you attack law enforcement, destroy public or private property, or endanger lives in our state, you will be arrested, charged, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Well, duh. Anyone who does anything like that should go to jail – including insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 – the very same insurrectionists who were pardoned by a man who seems to want to be a king, President Donald Trump.
But that’s not what’s going on with Wilson’s bombast. He has a completely different agenda. He craves the spotlight and wants to fuel fear in South Carolina as the country deals with citizens who are more and more disenchanted with the over-the-top zeal of federal immigration stormtroopers across the nation.
Wilson is trying to jump on Trump’s coattails to whip up a South Carolina political base for his gubernatorial run by appearing to be a strong man. Instead, he’s a straw man who is wrongly threatening people who want to exercise the freedom that patriots fought and died for to shrug off a tyrannical king.
Let’s be clear: Donald Trump is not a king. He was elected by 49.8% of American voters. Current polling shows a majority of Americans disapprove of his job performance on a range just the kind of issues that cause people to protest.
So the MAGA-enthused Wilson might also need to go back to law school. He might also learn from some former Republican presidents about the ideals of freedom and democracy.
President George W. Bush (2001-2009): “You can’t put democracy and freedom back into a box.”
President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993): “Freedom is not the same as independence. Americans will not support those who seek independence in order to replace a far-off tyranny with a local despotism. They will not aid those who promote a suicidal nationalism based upon ethnic hatred.”
President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989): “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well fought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don’t do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”
President Gerald Ford (1974-1977): “Remember that none of us are more than caretakers of this great country. Remember that the more freedom you give to others, the more you will have for yourself. Remember that without law there can be no liberty. And remember, as well, the rich treasures you brought from whence you came, and let us share your pride in them.”
President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961): “Freedom under law is like the air we breathe.”
Those five leaders were in a Republican Party that had honor. The current GOP in Washington seem like zealots mixed with lemmings.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.
