On March 7th, 2024 during the State of The Union, a gold star father stood and yelled “thirteen marines” over and over. He was immediately arrested; he went without a struggle. I would like to share some of the facts so you fully understand this man’s heartbreak.

On the day the US pulled out of Afghanistan, American service members were station at the airport. The United States Military was making a hasty withdrawal, not even informing our allies. One of the service members at the airport was a sniper, positioned to protect his fellow soldiers. He observed a known terrorist entering the area. He knew the terrorist was carrying a bomb. He had the terrorist in his sights. He radioed for permission to take out the terrorist. The radio fell silent.

These are the times that try men’s souls. As we hurtle towards the 2024 presidential election, one thing is clear; the majority of American’s do not want a Trump-Biden rematch. When, where and how do we find a person we can unite behind? Nikki Haley fights on even thought she has no clear path to victory.

As an avid reader of the WSJ editorials and op-eds. I have seen a several columns assessing the grave
state of our pending presidential election. Both top candidates show glaring weakness on international
affairs and the unwillingness to stand up and defend our troops. Domestically they fare no better, one
with a 10% tariff plan and the other wasting trillions on climate fixes that won’t work. Both are in
mental decline.

The Dept. of Education’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 put forth by the Biden Administration is 90 billion dollars. Most of this money is used to fix the short comings of our education system, meaning trying to help students that have fallen behind. The poorer the neighborhood, the lower the reading and math scores are. How does the government deal with this? Specialized programs. The number of different programs is staggering and one can only guess at the number of administrators and the cost to manage these programs.

The Presidential race has been narrowed down to three candidates; Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley.  What criteria should one use in deciding who to support?  One important criterion that is often overlooked is leadership.  Using Wikipedia's definition of leadership, let’s see how the three candidates stack up.  I'll score each candidate on a scale of one to ten to see who be the best leader.

We have multiple openings available in congress this fall. The ideal candidate will have the following qualifications:

Must set the alarm to rise while its still dark, shower and dress, make the coffee, wake the kids, get them dressed, make them breakfast, make sure their homework is done and in their backpack, make them lunch, make sure they have their freshly laundered soccer uniform and cleats

Donald Trump is a bully, plain and simple. He goes after anyone that opposes him or stands up to him. Republican politicians much like their Democratic counterparts put their political career above all else. An example of how scared our republican representatives in congress are, look back to the search for Kevin McCarthy's replacement, one nominee was opposed by Trump and his name was immediately withdrawn. Tim Scott, the US senator from my home state was absolutely shameless in his endorsement of Trump but did what he had to forward his political career. Nikki Haley is the only one willing to stand up to Trump, we should be grateful that she has the chutzpah to do so.

My wife and I relocated to South Carolina 15 years ago and never looked back. Things still make sense here; shoplifting is a crime and the police are the good guys and the bad police are put in jail. The vast majority of South Carolinians were outraged at the brutality of Hamas and believe the world would be a better place without them. Students go to our colleges to learn, not to be radicalized. Every corner of South Carolina has its own unique beauty, from the beaches to the mountains. We take for granted our 310 days of sunshine every year, we shouldn't, it's a blessing.

Now South Carolina finds itself in the unique position of being the third stop in the primary elections.