On Wednesday, South Carolina representative Joe Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst was officially filed under the annals of Career-Killing Political Mistakes (which also houses Howard Dean’s scream, John Edwards’ mistress, and Larry Craig’s sex-soliciting loafers). Wilson’s Democratic challenger in the upcoming 2010 election, retired Marine Robert Miller, has already raised more than $400,000 in the aftermath.
Even though Wilson quickly apologized, his outburst is just another sad chapter in South Carolina’s illustrious history. The state has always suffered in obscurity as merely a drive-through on to Florida. It has no important cities (try to name two cities in South Carolina) and few famous South Carolinians. At least South Dakota has Tom Brokaw… South Carolina? The only recognizable name on a “famous people South Carolina” search was Vanna White. I’ll take an “F”, please.
It seems that South Carolina is always living in the shadows of big brother North Carolina, futiley swiping for our attention. In June, South Carolina’s governor Mark Sanford tried to upstage North Carolina’s John Edwards for the “Best Affair in the Carolinas” award. Sanford, who had claimed to be “hiking the Appalachian trail” during a mysterious disappearance, was instead hiking up skirts in Argentina. When he finally came back, Sanford admitted to the affair in a rambly, teary press conference reminiscent of Brett Favre’s (first) retirement speech. Soon after, the state newspaper published the governor’s Danielle Steel-esque correspondence with his Argentine lover: only in South Carolina would a guy write about his tractor in a love letter to the mistress.
And who can forget Miss Teen South Carolina in 2007? At least Caitlin Upton made us all aware of the importance of education in the United States. And it reminded us why South Carolina is not only the worse of the two Carolinas, but that the state university is also the worse of the two USCs.
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