With South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R) leaving a less than stellar legacy behind, the Republicans were already facing an uphill battle to retain the Governor’s seat in the Palmetto State, but Lt. Governor Andre Bauer (R) just made it even more unlikely:
Bauer said that poor parents of students who eat free or reduced-price meals in school cafeterias should be required to attend parent-teacher conferences, or the students should go without.
I don’t disagree that there should be responsibility and accountability built into these programs, but to withhold food from the children is crossing a line that I must disagree with. Whatever you do to the least of these …
If Bauer had stopped there, most of us would probably have never heard his remark, but he just had to keep talking:
“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed,” Bauer said, according to the Greenville News. “You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.”
So, let’s not feed the poor or the uneducated and let them die off? Building in responsibility to assistance programs is beneficial to everyone, but the type of cruelty and intolerance that Bauer displayed does nothing to help Christians or Conservatives.
Bauer is of course backpedaling on his blog, telling us what he “meant”. Unfortunately, what he said was most likely closer to what he actually believes and what is in his heart.
Perhaps a better choice for the Republicans in South Carolina is Nikki Haley, a fiscal and social conservative who appears to have her priorities in the right order.
For now, bye-bye Andre.
OneMom
Love, love, love your header! Oh my gosh that makes me homesick for the ocean!
“Because they breed,” Oh my Gosh! My mouth dropped open when I read that! I had to read it twice to make sure I hadn’t mis-read it!
I totally agree with you on this one! That is a despicable comment.
Wow…I am just stunned that anyone in this day and age would even think like this.
Hi Dominique – thanks for noticing the header! That’s a lighthouse on Lake Michigan, not too far from here.
Regarding Mr. Bauer … simply amazing, isn’t it? I had to read it more than once just to be certain as well.
You know, there are some people who just can’t open their mouth without saying something stupid. I honestly can not believe someone would be so ignorant as to make a comment like Bauer has made.
And he wants to run for Governor? I don’t think so.
Hi Larry -
Bauer has never been married, has no children and apparently has lived a life of abundance. This is a comment only during the primary season – what more bizarre comments could come from him if he wins the nomination or the Governor’s office. Perhaps this is why the state legislature in SC didn’t recall Governor Sanford, because then Bauer would have been Governor by default.
Oh. My. Did he really, actually say that into a microphone?!?! Good grief – what’s wrong with South Carolina Republicans (excepting Jim DeMint, of course)!
Hi Jamison -
You are so right about SC Republicans. DeMint (so far) seems to be doing a good job. The state could get rid of Graham if Strom Thurmond Jr. would run (I lived in SC for several years and this is an observation, not an endorsement). I only hope the people of SC do not give Bauer a “pass” on this statement and look to Nikki Haley as another option.
No worry here of the republicans loosing the governor’s seat. South Carolina is staunchly conservative and republican traditions run deepest here of all the states of the old south.
Hi David – The governor before Sanford was a democrat (Hodges). Also, although I am a conservative, just because someone wears the republican tag doesn’t make them a decent leader.