Memories march on

Greenwood makes history with 1st veterans parade

November 12, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

A remarkable “first” took place in Greenwood Saturday morning, and it was enjoyed by many in the community.
The city held its first Veterans Day parade in Uptown Greenwood. Veterans from numerous wars marched up Montague Avenue, waving to the crowd and greeting old friends.
The parade was part of Veterans Day Celebration 2006. Following the parade, there was a ceremony near the flagpole on the square, with Lakelands residents who were prisoners of war being the keynote speakers.
Those in attendance welcomed the parade with open arms.
“They needed to do this, so I’m glad they finally decided to so it,” said James Lake, who served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, but did not march in the parade. “All of these men, from different wars, we all have something in common in that we served this country.”
Greenwood’s Cleveland Morton, also a Vietnam veteran, agreed with Lake.
“We share a common bond,” Morton said. “We’ve all fought for freedom.”
Morton said he enjoyed participating in the parade, saying it was a unique and special addition to the community.
For some, Saturday’s event touched multiple family members.
Albert Creswell, an 85-year-old World War II veteran, and his son Tommy Creswell, who fought in Vietnam, Desert Storm and the current war in Iraq, watched the parade with great anticipation.
“Tom Brokaw was right when he said my father’s generation was the ‘greatest generation,’” Tommy said, draping an arm around his dad. “And I can tell you that the men and women currently serving in Iraq, they are the next great generation.”
Albert Creswell said he doesn’t often reminisce about World War II.
“I’ve been trying to forget it,” Albert said with a smile. “But we couldn’t have had a more beautiful day for a parade.”
Indeed, it was an unseasonably warm day, with the sun cascading down on parade participants and onlookers. One of the onlookers, Sue Reynolds, brought a special keepsake to Saturday’s event.
“This is a flag from my dad’s merchant ship,” Reynolds said, displaying the red, white and blue flag once owned by her late father, Silas Moore. “He gave it to me just before he died. It’s one of my most prized possessions.”
As the parade ended, many in attendance made their way to the flagpole for the ceremony. One of the speakers, D.B. Callison, was a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II.
“I want to tell you, the men in the Army, Navy and Air Force today are unequaled,” Callison said. “I just wish I was young enough to be out there with them.”
Callison recounted his capture and escape during the war.
“I was shot down in enemy territory and was a P.O.W.,” Callison said. “I was able to escape, but only with the help of four Germans. They were good men, and I owe them an awful lot.”
Callison said his German-aided escape taught him a valuable lesson.
“It showed me that not everybody in the world is bad,” Callison said. “Everybody has the opportunity to do good.”

Chris Trainor covers area news for The Index-Journal. he can be reached at: ctrainor@indexjournal.com.

Sun, smiles and Santa himself

Warm weather can’t melt yuletide cheer for Holiday Open House

November 12, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

Nothing says “Christmas cheer” like 80-degree temperatures and sunshine beaming down.
At least that was the case in Uptown Greenwood Saturday as the 2006 Holiday Open House continued. The event began with a tree-lighting ceremony Friday night and will continue with carriage rides and shopping today.
The centerpiece of the open house Saturday was the appearance of Kriss Kringle himself. Santa Claus held court with children at the Greenwood County Museum from 9 a.m. until noon.
Children had an opportunity to meet the rotund gift-giver and tell him what they want for Christmas. There were cookies, cider and other refreshments on hand for kids and parents alike.
“We had great success having Santa here last year,” said museum employee Sunny Benlemlih. “It’s great to see the kids get a chance to talk with him and get a picture with him. I think this is a good addition to the holiday open house.”
Benlemlih said the museum enjoyed large crowds Friday and Saturday. She said patrons have enjoyed a new art exhibit on display in the facility and that the museum has appreciated the increase in foot traffic.
Many of the stores around the square had adorned their windows with garland lights and ribbons. However, perhaps no storefront display was more extravagant than the one at Uptown Bath and Kitchen. The store had both of its large windows decorated to the hilt, with one featuring a plasma-screen television built into a fireplace display.
The television, which is turned on its side so it would fit into the chimey, plays a video of a girl talking to Santa Claus.
“We filmed that vertically so it would play on the TV like that,” Uptown Bath and Kitchen’s Lynn Mathis said. “We’ve been working on those displays for hours every night. It’s good though, because the open house gives us a deadline to have all our displays and merchandise out. And we are stuffed to the gills with merchandise.”
Mathis said that, like the museum, her store had been buzzing on Friday and Saturday. Mathis said she thought the addition of Saturday’s Veterans Day parade brought even more prestige to the Holiday Open House.
“I think the parade was wonderful,” Mathis said. “It brings people into Uptown Greenwood for something very positive.”
Later in the evening, free horse-drawn carriage rides were offered, with riders queuing up well before the rides were set to begin at 6 p.m.

Chris Trainor covers area news for The Index-Journal. He can be reached at: ctrainor@indexjournal.com.

Nine arrested at teen party

Noise complaint leads to charges of pot possession

November 12, 2006

From staff reports

Nine people were arrested in Greenwood Friday night in connection with yet another teen party incident.
Eight of those arrested ­— including four juveniles — now face charges of marijuana possession, the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office reported.
According to the sheriff’s office: After receiving complaints from residents in the Centre Court subdivision late Friday, members of the sheriff’s office responded to a dispatch call at 204 St. Augustine Drive.
“The call began as a standard neighborhood nuisance complaint,” said Greenwood County Sheriff Dan Wideman. “But our deputies quickly determined that they were looking at something a little more serious than loud music.”
When they entered the residence, the sheriff’s office reported that deputies encountered 15-20 teens and noticed a very strong smell of marijuana. The deputies identified themselves as officers, and at that point the teens scattered and began to flee on foot toward adjacent homes. Four deputies pursued and captured six of the partygoers, the sheriff’s office says.
Deputies also report that another underage attendee was arrested when he returned to the party moments later and officers found him to be extremely intoxicated, and that another teen was arrested when his mother learned he had run from law enforcement and returned him to the scene.
The ninth reveler was arrested when a neighbor reported him sneaking around the scene after officers had left, the sheriff’s office says.
Those arrested and charged with marijuana possession were:
*Michael Leverette, 17, of 304 E. Sandy Run, Greenwood
*Steven Scott, 17, of 517 Salak Road, Greenwood
*Marquis Valentine, 18, of 718 Weldon Ave., Greenwood
*Robert Williamson, 17, of 202 Appache Drive, Greenwood.
Timothy Shinall, 20, of 216 Loblolly Circle, Greenwood, was also charged with public disorderly conduct. The names of the four minors arrested are being witheld.
Deputies say they seized a bag of marijuana and several items of drug paraphernalia including water-bongs, “stripped” cigars and improvised smoking pipes.
No parents were home at the time of the party, and deputies say they have no indication that any adults assisted the teens in acquiring the alcohol or marijuana. However, the investigation continues, and additional arrests are possible.
Friday’s incident was the latest in a string of alcohol and drug-related busts involving area teens that the sheriff’s office has taken part in. However, Wideman said this is not necessarily a burgeoning trend.
“You have to be careful when you analyze statistics like arrest rates,” Wideman said. “Although the numbers may appear to indicate that our teen drinking and drug problem has shot through the roof, it’s more likely that we’re just getting better at locating alcohol and drug abuse and intervening.”

The power of a picture: Veterans remember Iwo Jima

November 12, 2006

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal senior staff writer

Of the countless photographs taken during World War II, few are as moving and memorable as the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima.
The black-and-white photo depicts six Americans troops — five U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman — lifting the flag and pole into place atop a mound of debris on the tiny volcanic island in southern Japan.
Local Iwo Jima veterans said what people see in the photograph is more than a flag raising.
They see victory.
“It was such a beautiful thing. It became an icon for the Marine Corps from that time forward. ... It’s a symbol of their courage under any conditions,” said Greenwood resident Joe Dan Elliott, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran whose division landed at Iwo Jima in February 1945.
“It was the Marines being victorious.”
The flag raising is the focus of the Hollywood film “Flags of Our Fathers,” directed by Clint Eastwood.
“Flags of Our Fathers,” which has received critical acclaim, tells the story of the six men who raised the flag on Feb. 23, 1945, and the powerful reaction the photograph had back home. It is based on the book of the same name written by James Bradley, son of flag-raiser and U.S. Navy Corpsman John Bradley.
In the decades that followed the war, those six men became known as heroes because of, as the film puts it, the photo “that changed everything.”
Elliott and U.S. Marine Corps veterans Thomas Brooks and Eddie Moore Jr., also Greenwood residents, found themselves on Iwo Jima in February 1945 as members of separate divisions sent to capture the pivotal island for the Allied forces.
Iwo Jima, initially controlled by Japanese troops, was located between major combat areas for the U.S. and Allied forces, and the island’s air bases provided a place for American planes to land on long flights.
“The movie didn’t emphasize the idea of taking Iwo Jima was to give the air strips to flights flying from Saipan to Japan and give them protection,” said Moore, who recently viewed the film with Elliott, Brooks and a group of Lakelands Marine Corps League members at Greenwood Cinema 10 in Greenwood. “As a result of Iwo Jima, thousands of lives were saved.”

On the opposite side
Brooks said the movie gave a “pretty accurate” account of the battles that raged on Iwo Jima, though he said the film might lose some viewers who had not studied the history of those battles or read about the flag raising.
“If you are not familiar with those things, it would be hard for you,” he said.
Brooks signed up with the U.S. Marine Corps in June 1943, a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday, The Index-Journal reported in an earlier feature about the veteran. After training to operate an amphibious tractor, a tank-like vehicle used by the military to transport personnel and equipment, Brooks spent time on Saipan, an island in the Northern Mariana Islands that was home to fierce fighting in the later stages of World War II.
Brooks narrowly escaped harm on Saipan when Japanese troops passed over his foxhole — where he and another soldier were fast asleep — while looking for American weapons. Brooks said the Japanese troops must have seen them but assumed the men were dead.
He traveled to Iwo Jima for a 30-day stint in February 1945 to transport troops and supplies to and from the shore.
Because his division landed and invaded on the opposite side of the island, Brooks was unaware of the flag raising taking place only a few miles away, he said.

‘It didn’t look that big’
About the same time Brooks’ division was traveling to Iwo Jima, a ship carrying Moore’s division set sail out of Pearl Harbor, though Moore said their destination wasn’t known at first.
“We didn’t know where we were headed until we were at sea for about five days,” he said. “They had a briefing, and maps of the island (of Iwo Jima) were given to each of the Marines, and they explained where everyone was going in.”
On the trip over, Moore said he stayed on deck a majority of the time, watching as U.S. battleships fired upon the island, and as Marines and troops performed maneuvers in the water to go ashore. Part of Moore’s ship was transformed into a hospital unit to treat wounded Marines, he said, and at night, the ship would move out into the water and circle the island.
The ships were supposed to “zig-zag” with each other as they went around the island throughout the night, Moore said, but in the early morning hours of Feb. 23, 1945, one ship didn’t perform the maneuver as planned.
“(Another ship) rammed our ship,” Moore said, with a chuckle. “We didn’t know what had happened. All we heard was a tremendous noise and the lights went off and sirens went off. Everyone thought we were sinking until the captain said, ‘Don’t abandon ship!’”
When day broke that morning, Moore said, he received word his division was moving inland on Iwo Jima. It was the same day the flag was raised.
“That morning was when I first heard someone say something about the flag,” Moore said. “People were pointing at the flag, but it was about a mile away from where I was, so it didn’t look that big.”

‘I’m glad I went’
By the time the flag was raised, Elliott’s division had been on Iwo Jima for three days. In an earlier article for The Index-Journal, Elliott, who had volunteered with the Marines before his 18th birthday, said it wasn’t until his division invaded the island that he knew what war was.
“It was as horrible a sight as you can imagine. When we came ashore and I saw the dead soldiers, I saw what the war was about,” he said in the November 2004 article.
In fact, Elliott probably never should have gone to Iwo Jima. While stationed on Guam, he rubbed a blister on his foot that made it nearly impossible to walk, he said. The doctors said he wouldn’t be able to make the invasion scheduled for Iwo Jima, but Elliott talked his doctors out of that prognosis.
“I talked them into letting me go,” he said. “I didn’t realize what I was getting into. But I’m glad I went. I feel like more of a patriot because I did.”
One thing that has stayed with him about his time in Iwo Jima, he said, are the fields of bodies where soldiers were taken and covered with ponchos.
“The ponchos only came halfway between their knees and their shoes,” Elliott said. “When I was in foxholes, I’d look down and see my feet sticking out from my poncho, and I’d want to move them around. I didn’t want to lay still because I thought of the bodies.”
Elliott said his biggest concern was for his parents, to whom he lied in order to join the Marines. Because he was only 17 at the time, Elliott told his parents he received a letter from the military that promised the teenager would not go overseas until he turned 18.
But Elliott celebrated that milestone birthday while in a foxhole on Iwo Jima.
“We very seldom got to communicate with our family,” Elliott added. “When we could write home, we couldn’t tell what color the dirt was or what the trees looked like — we couldn’t describe anything.”

‘We were winning’
Though the flag was raised in late February, the fierce fighting on Iwo Jima continued until about mid-March, when the island was finally taken by American forces. But that brief moment in history is one that will forever be associated with victory in the Pacific, the veterans said.
“The Marines that raised it didn’t think it was significant,” Moore said, “but to everybody else, it was significant because it was a morale booster and it was good photography. The flag was raised to say we were winning, and there wasn’t any question in our minds that we weren’t going to take (Iwo Jima).”
And that good photography is still making its rounds through the American press and culture more than 60 years later, as “Flags of Our Fathers” plays out on movies screens across the nation.
Though Elliott, Moore and Brooks said the movie falls short of telling the entire story of the battle for Iwo Jima, each said they were glad the movie was made.
“I’m definitely happy to see a movie come out that brings people to realize the importance of World War II,” Elliott said. “It can help people make a judgment of what’s going on now in Iraq.”

Zora S. Brooks

Zora S. Brooks, 73, of 104 Sleepy Hollow Road, widow of Paul Brooks Sr., died November 9, 2006 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Greenwood County, she was the daughter of the late William and Cora Spencer. She was a member of Salem Baptist Church and Women’s Aide Society #85.
Surviving is a daughter, Josie Lee Edwards of Greenwood; six sons, Willie, Charlie, Melvin, John, and Howard Brooks, all of Greenwood and Paul Brooks Jr. of New York; two sisters, Charley Jean Spencer of Sarasota, Fla. and Sarah Jean Robinson of Philadelphia, Pa.; a brother, Henry Spencer of Tampa, Fla.; twenty one grandchildren; twenty three great-grandchildren; eleven great-great-grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Monday at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Coronaca with the Rev. Ulysses Parks officiating. Burial is in Evening Star Cemetery.
The body will be placed in the church at 1 p.m.
Pallbearers and flower bearers are friends of the family.
The family will receive friends at the home of her daughter, Josie Edwards, 108 Beaver Creek Lane, 5-8 p.m. Sunday. Parks Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Louise Christian

Louise Roberts Christian, 88, of 211 Old Wingert Road, widow of W.M. Christian Sr,. died Saturday, November 11, 2006 at NHC Healthcare.
Born in McCormick, she was the daughter of the late Willie and Mattie Roberts. She was a homemaker and a member of Troy ARP.
Surviving is a son, William Christian of Greenwood; two daughters, Linda Chambers of Augusta and Ginger Christian of Greenwood; a brother David Gable of Iva; two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Monday at Harley Funeral Home Chapel with the Reverend Wade Burton officiating. Burial is in Edgewood Cemetery.
Pallbearers are Eric Boyd, Eric Sabine, Joe Strawhorn, George Elrod, Frank Chambers and Leroy Cockrell.
The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Sunday from 7-9 p.m.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 1741, Greenwood, SC 29648 or to the Humane Society, PO Box 242, Greenwood SC 29648.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Roy Ferqueron

Roy Ferqueron, 64, of 2005 Airport Road, husband of Linda McKinney Ferqueron, died Saturday, Nov. 11, 2006, at Self Regional Medical Center.
Services will be announced by Harley Funeral Home & Crematory.

Willie Anthony ‘Amp’ Lanier

Willie Lanier, 42, of 117 Belle Oaks Drive, husband of Pamela Lark Lanier, died November 10, 2006 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Greenwood County, he was the son of Willie Evans and Bettie Lanier. He was a member of Bethlehem Church of God Holiness and was self employed as a carpet and maintenance technician. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Surviving is his wife of the home; his parents of Greenwood; seven brothers, Terry McCauley, Tyrone and Terry Evans, Jimmy and Michael Coats, all of Greenwood, Calvin Lanier of Cincinnati and Robert Bonds of Winston Salem, N.C.; two sisters, Temekia Wells of Greenwood and Deborah Ann Tillman of Greenville; his grandmother, Sallie Lanier of Greenwood; his mother-in-law, Betty Laster of Greenwood.
Funeral services are 1 p.m. Tuesday at United House of Prayer with Elder Carter T. Peek officiating. Burial is in Evening Star.
The family is at the home and at the home of his grandmother, 206 Sycamore Drive.
Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home is assisting the Lanier family.

Michael G. Moorhead

ANDERSON — Michael Guy Moorhead, 62, of 313 North St., widower of Jo Ann Meredith Moorhead, died Friday, Nov. 10, 2006, at his home.
Services will be announced by Sullivan-King Mortuary, Northeast Chapel.

William David Tucker

William David Tucker, 49, of 303 Siloam Church Road, died Friday, Nov. 10, 2006, at his home.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary, Inc.

Gloria Jean Williams

Gloria Jean Williams, of 128 New St., died November 9, 2006 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Greenwood County, she was the daughter of the late Paul and Zora Spencer Brooks Sr. She was a member of Salem Baptist Church.
Surviving is a daughter, Angela Sprowl and a son, James Williams of Greenwood; a sister, Josie Lee Edwards of Greenwood; six brothers, Willie, Charlie, Melvin, John, and Howard Brooks, all of Greenwood and Paul Brooks Jr of New York; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Monday at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Coronaca with the Rev. Ulysses Parks officiating. Burial is in Evening Star Cemetery.
Pallbearers and flower bearers are friends of the family.
The body will be placed in the church at 1 p.m.
The family will receive friends at 128 New St., 5-8 p.m. Sunday.
Parks Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Autumn Winn

SALUDA —Autumn Denise Winn, 16, of 760 Greenwood Hwy., died Saturday, November 11, 2006.
A native of Saluda County, she was the daughter of Russell Wayne and Terry May Winn. She was a junior at Saluda High School and was Vice President of the Student Body. She was a member of the Saluda High Science Club and served on the Yearbook Staff and Tiger TV. She was a member of Small Waters Bass Club and loved volunteering at Saluda Nursing Center. Miss Winn danced with Palmetto Dance Academy and enjoyed competing in beauty pageants. Among her accomplishments were Palmetto Christmas Angel, Miss Peach Blossom 2006, Miss Teen Spirit 2006, Miss Poultry Festival 2nd place, Teen Miss Agra Fest 2005 2nd runner up, Harvest Festival 1st runner up, Miss Saluda County 2005, Miss Saluda County Festival 2005 and Miss Tiger Sophomore 2005 runner up. She was a member of Emory United Methodist Church.
Surviving are her father and mother, Russell Wayne and Terry May Winn, two brothers, Justin Wayne Winn and Cole Nicholas Winn both of the home, paternal grandfather, Donald H. Winn of Saluda, maternal grandmother, Dean Miles of Greenwood and a special friend, Joey Cromer of Saluda.
She was preceded in death by her paternal grandmother, Winnie Cockrell Winn and her maternal grandfather, Otho D. May, Jr.
The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m., Sunday evening at Ramey Funeral Home.
Funeral services are 3:30 p.m., Monday, November 13, 2006 at Emory United Methodist Church with Rev. Joyce Murphy officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Emory United Methodist Church c/o 3139 Spann Rd., Leesville, SC 29070, Saluda Nursing Center, P.O. Box 398, Saluda, SC 29138 or to Autumn Winn Scholarship Fund, 760 Greenwood Hwy., Saluda, SC 29138.

Like father ... like son

Homecoming bittersweet for former Ware Shoals native

November 12, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

WARE SHOALS — For many people, returning to their hometown for a high school football game can be a whimsical trip down memory lane.
However, for one Ware Shoals native, the experience was a little more nerve racking.
Paul Anderson was a standout football, basketball and track athlete at Ware Shoals in the late 1970s. Friday night, he returned to Riegel Stadium, but it wasn’t a recreational trip.
Anderson’s son, Parker, is a junior football player at Chesterfield.
The Rams, led by former Cambridge Academy coach Steve Taneyhill, defeated Ware Shoals, 37-28, Friday in the second round of the Class A, Division I playoffs.
As Paul Anderson sat in the bleachers cheering on Parker, his wife, Karen Anderson, roamed the sidelines taking pictures for the Rams.
“It’s an emotional thing for him,” said Karen of Paul’s return to his old stomping grounds.
“With Parker being able to come to Ware Shoals and play on the same field as Paul did, it’s really exciting.”
Paul Anderson said, as far as Friday night’s game was concerned, his allegiance stayed in the family.
“I’m behind Parker and Chesterfield 100 percent,” Paul said. “But it’s tough. I have so many memories at Ware Shoals.”
The elder Anderson graduated from Ware Shoals in 1978.
He was a teammate of several distinguished Hornet football alumni, including Beaufort head coach Mike Wells, Columbia coach Kemper Amick and Jerry Butler, who rose to statewide football fame when, playing for Clemson, he made “The Catch” against South Carolina in 1977.
After leaving Ware Shoals, Anderson played played four years of football for The Citadel. He went on to coach football at the high school level for 16 years, also spending time as the strength coordinator at East Carolina University for several years.
He is now the principal at Plain View Elementary in Cheraw County. He said it wasn’t unusual for student-athletes to play as many sports as possible during his time in Ware Shoals.
“There was no offseason training,” Paul said. “We went from football to basketball and right into track. We didn’t have many boys, so we all played everything.”
Parker said it meant a lot for him to play on the same field his dad once did.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Parker said. “To be on this field, where my dad played football and baseball, it’s unbelievable. And to win here makes it even more special.”
Paul Anderson said Friday night’s game wasn’t the first time Parker had seen the charming confines of Riegel Stadium.
“Whenever we pass through Ware Shoals, I point things out to Parker, showing him where I came from,” Paul said. “I’ve taken him to the school before. Considering the size of the school, Ware Shoals has great facilities. I told Parker that there aren’t many baseball or football teams in Class A that have a place like Riegel Stadium.”
Parker is well aware of his father’s ties to the Hornets.
“We’ve moved so many times,” Paul said. “And during all that we always pull out the old yearbooks and Parker reads about our old teams. He knows we have solid connections to Ware Shoals.”
Karen Anderson said it was a little easier for her to stomach watching her son play against her husband’s alma mater.
“When I’m down there taking pictures, I get emotionally detached,” Karen said. “Paul gets a little more nervous.”
Paul said he has been extremely pleased with the way Chesterfield has played since Taneyhill took over in 2005.
“Coach Taneyhill has done a tremendous job,” Paul said. “These boys go where he tells them on the field. You’re likely to see 20 or more offensive formations in a game.”

Chris Trainor covers area sports and news for The Index-Journal. He can be reached at: ctrainor@indexjournal.com.

GOP taken to school ...
... did it learn lesson?

November 12, 2006

Republicans across the nation have just been taken to school ..... and don’t leave out some in South Carolina, either. They failed miserably. The way many of them performed in recent years it wasn’t difficult to see it coming.
To say they made a mess out of handling success would be an understatement of giant proportions. In fact, that old adage could have been coined for many Republicans of the 21st Century.
There were, to be sure, a number of weighty issues that demanded the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of Job. Unfortunately, various factions of the Republican Party demonstrated neither. They just bickered. Or worse.

THE INTERNECINE QUARRELING over some of those issues never allowed for any chance of resolving conflicts that could have led to unified approaches leading up to the elections.
Instead, too often the warring factions appeared more like cannibalistic monsters on a rampage determined to devour each other. And, of course, that they did.
There have been numerous and scholarly critiques of what went wrong for the Republicans and why they lost both Houses of Congress. They have dealt with most of the hard-core issues, like the war in Iraq, spending, etc. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham lays out a very good plan on the opposite page today for getting his party back on track. It’s recommended reading.

EVERY ANALYST HAS HAD A lot to contribute to the whys and wherefores on the downfall of the Grand Old Party in 2006 ..... except one thing. That’s how they cut each other’s political throat.
They had it all going for them. But, as noted earlier, they just couldn’t handle success. They did so much fighting among themselves they opened a lot of doors for Democrats even before election day.
Republicans were indeed taken to school last Tuesday. Yes, they failed. They can learn from defeat, however ..... if they can overcome pride and stubbornness. People do, and they go on to rebound. Republicans won’t, though, unless they can agree on some formula that will keep them from committing political suicide while their opponents applaud.
The way some have gouged and slashed through the party, that’s would be a surprise.