Oh all right, it said "Dear Mr. Dantzler." But still. My wonderful predecessor who prefers to remain nameless once invited Tell Them to give a presentation to DL (and buy us beer and pizza-- Thanks!) on trying to explain to our legislators that their constituents do in fact support age-appropriate sex education. From that date, I have been a member of Tell Them, as I think have a lot of you. When the alleged governor went on "The View" to say that SC women don't care about contraception, I sent her an email disagreeing. I had to use Tell Them's boilerplate to keep from putting in "you idiot!" here and there.

That person wrote back. It's in many ways an odd letter. She mainly just repeats herself at greater length. But what's really odd is the bit in the middle where she says what the big issues are (jobs, education, small government) "... and I believe that the citizens of our state want a President focused on the same."

Huh? This is on State of SC letterhead. There's no "Paid for by Willard for Prez" language. Is this legal? I guess it slides by since she didn't name any names. Anyway, it just seemed peculiar to me. I'll bring the letter to the next meeting if anyone isn't interested (and doesn't already have one).

Meanwhile, in a big week for hypocrisy, Mr. Small Government claimed credit for the auto industry's turnaround (in spite of having written an editorial saying that Detroit should be let to go bankrupt) and that marriage has meant one man and one woman for 3,000 years (in spite of having a great-grandfather with 12 wives). He's gonna break that Etch-A-Sketch!

Here's some links:
Mitt: Protesters too young to understand economy: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/12/mitt-romney-bank-of-america-pro...
Mitt, you didn't save the auto industry: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/mitt-romneys-claim...
Global investors did Obama: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-11/obama-winning-investors-by-49-3...
Obamacare makes insurance cos. pay back a billion: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2012/04/27/health-plans-will-pay...

Things at Thirsty Fellow are quiet. I had never noticed a significant student presence, but with USC out, it's noticeably less crowded down there. So come out Tuesday and help make it loud! I'll be very glad to see you.
--John
What: Drinking Liberally
When: Tuesday, May 15, 7:15ish
Where: Thirsty Fellow, 621 Gadsden St.

Hey, the Socialists took back France! Vive la France! Hey, it could happen here... eventually. Hang in there!

Some links:
You just can't see me do it because my magic underwear makes me invisible!: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/to-understand-economic-struggles-...
You go, activist judges 1: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/federal-judge-stop...
You go, activist judges 2: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oklahoma-personhood...
Lindsey gets SCANA nuke permit; SCANA gives Lindsey cash: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/05/01/474499/lindsey-graham-love-...
There's also another Newt bankruptcy story, in connection to which I was going to suggest that he just change his name to Schadenfreude, but much to my surprise, I've grown tired of kicking him when he's down much faster than I'd thought. (It might still help him duck creditors, though.)

On a personal level, some time this month is my third anniversary in this august organization. Also, later this month comes my 12th 39th birthday. Or my 39th 12th birthday, I'm not sure. (Don't sweat the math; it adds up to 50, trust me.) When you see me, be kind and try to act disbelieving.

I know we're all missing the Republican primary fight. If you want something to watch in its stead, Tuesday, North Carolina votes on Amendment 1, about which I have a bad feeling. More cheerfully, Sen. Lugar of Indiana is likely to go down in flames to a teahadist primary challenger. Come out to Thirsty Fellow and we'll cheer for the good and boo the stupid. Or, ya know, talk about puppies and kittens. Come on out either way!
--John
What: Drinking Liberally
When: Tuesday, May 8, 7:15ish
Where: Thirsty Fellow, 621 Gadsden St.

Several of you wonderful people have been sending me notifications of upcoming events, but as I write these emails on Mondays, events have a way of happening already before I can pass on the information. At the same time, DL's Facebook page, while a wonderful place for me to do silly things with cat pictures, has been a little, uh, information-low. Eventually I figured out how to solve both problems, and now am posting events that you all apprise me of on FB. Our page is still: http://www.facebook.com/DrinkingLiberallyColumbiaSc and the new cat picture is pretty funny, too.

Here's some links, in case you missed them:
Even the GOP doesn't like the Tea Party: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/book-gop-freshman-class-turned-in...
Falwell U. students surprised to learn that Falwell Jr is also a hypocrite: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/20/libertys-choice-of-romney-leads...
Maybe Captain Clueless will tell THEM to borrow $20K from their parents, too: http://thinkprogress.org/special/2012/04/27/473096/romney-borrow-money-p...
Colbert cracks on Kochs: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/28/1087135/-PRICELESS-Colbert-Rips...

Last week, we had a nice turnout, but so did Thirsty Fellow, so we had to sit out on the deck. It's delightful out there, but hard on the servers, who were run off their feet. I think they were a few staffers short due to finals. This week, I'll see if I can get a reservation; failing that, at least finals are mostly over (I think). Hope you can make it out, and look forward to seeing you there!
--John
What: Drinking Liberally
When: Tuesday, April 31st, 2012, Oh all right, May 1st, 7:15ish
Where: Thirsty Fellow, 621 Gadsden St.

Oh wait, I guess there isn't gluten-free Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, is there? Ah well. In this case, the red neck is literal only; I found out walking around in the sun at Bull Island for 6 hours Friday that a hat doesn't really make a good substitute for sun block. But we had a tremendous time nevertheless. See the pictures on my Facebook page.

At DL-time this week is Occupy Indie Grits at 7:45 at the Nickelodeon. From the Facebook posting: "Occupy Columbia and Indie Grits Film Festival present a look at the Occupy Movement and the effect Independent Media had in helping launch the movement. There will be three video segments (including one focused on Occupy Columbia) with opportunities for discussion between each segment." If you're not coming to DL, please consider going to Occupy Indie Grits instead, and say hi to Bradley!

Nothing to do with DL but this Saturday 4/28 is the Olympia Neighborhood Festival. Now this is the fourth year I've lived in Olympia, and always thought this was a ho-hum festival. But one thing I didn't know was that they do free tours going down the quarry! Well, I thought it was cool anyway and thought I'd pass the word in case anybody else didn't know about this and was interested. I'm pretty sure they won't blow you up.:)

Some links:
Stem cells attack and destroy HIV (in mice): http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/16/researchers-develop-stem-cells-tha...
Isn't this how The Penguin got started? Wait, that was Spiderman: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/newt-gingrich-penguin-bite_n_14...
"What if I give everybody a dollar?" Romney's favorability weakest on record; Franklin Pierce breathes sigh of relief: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/romneys-favorability-is-we...
Another Republican commits voter fraud, but this one's about to be their nominee for President: http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/23/romney-voter-fraud-allegations-loom-as...

So come see us tomorrow night at Thirsty Fellow (or go see Bradley at the Nickelodeon). I won't be offended if you make fun of my sunburn. Or my Mitt Romney '80s bad guy haircut. Come on down!
--John
What: Drinking Liberally
When: Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 7:15ish
Where: Thirsty Fellow, 621 Gadsden St.

How can we go on?! No Rick! Newt bankrupt! (Bankrupt Newt would be a kickass band name, just by the by.) And the Republican nominee? A gazillionaire Mormon who sticks his foot in his mouth every time he talks! Oh, right. No problem, carry on. This is going to be fun!

Some links:
Crookki Jaley under ethics investigation again: http://www.wistv.com/story/17374808/ethic-commission-opens-porbe-into-ha...
Newt's check for Utah primary bounces (because you can't spell "schadenfreude" without "defrauds": http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53886982-90/utah-romney-gingrich-c...
Obama likely paid higher tax rates than Romney in '11; tough tax laws in Kenya I guess: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/us-usa-campaign-taxes-idUSBRE8...
Further good economic recovery news: http://www.courant.com/business/real-estate/hc-spring-home-buying-season...

I'm somewhat late with this, so I won't cast it into iambic pentameter while standing on my head and playing the violin like I normally do. (What? You didn't notice?!) Come out tomorrow night to Thirsty Fellow. We'll have fun. The food is good, the drinks are cold, the people are friendly and there's another baseball game down the street so the crowds will likely be in abeyance. And the mini-muffins will be apple-cinnamon-pecan. Come on out!
--John
What: Drinking Liberally
When: Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 7:15ish
Where: Thirsty Fellow, 621 Gadsden St.