Palmetto Bugout

It's been a while since South Carolina registered on our radar, but leave it to our friends in Columbia to give us something fun. Our last update from the state found gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley battling internecine innuendo about both her sexual proclivities and her ethnicity. The indomitable Haley prevailed, and succeeded nature boy Mark Sanford as the Governor.

The labor movement and traditional Democrats are, shall we say, somewhat less than vital in most of South Carolina. We've chronicled Alvin Greene's story here, perhaps the most feckless U.S. Senatorial candidate in the history of feck. I'm pleased to see, though, that the traditional bastions of the left are throwing off their normally mild-mannered approach to politics, and getting down to sticks and stones.

This video shows South Carolina AFL-CIO leader Donna Dewitt making an important and not-at-all batshit inappropriate statement about Ms. Haley at a retreat in Columbia, S.C. In the video, Ms. Dewitt whacks a pinata decorated with Haley's photo and the words, "Unions are not needed, wanted or welcome in South Carolina", a reference to language from the Governor's State of the State speech from earlier in the year.

In our exceedingly polarized and intemperate political clime, you may wonder why we consider Ms. Dewitt's actions so inappropriate. Look at the video, though, and it's fairly clear, and entirely embarrassing.

The pinata in question is a piece of shit.

I know times are tough for labor, but surely someone could have sprung for something a little higher quality. Instead of just taping a picture of Governor Haley to a cheap, store-bought pinata, couldn't a union seamstress been engaged to craft a real statement piece? This stunt smacks of desperation, but worse, it smacks of cheapness of thought and action. For shame, South Carolina AFL-CIO.

You could have at least asked Alvin Greene for help.