DeMint moves on; readers weigh in

Good riddance
As Sen. Jim DeMint prepares to leave the Senate to become president of the Heritage Foundation, the rest of us are left to grieve.

His legacy as senator is perplexing.

His emails to constituents, for example, are called “Freedom Alerts.”

This is an interesting label considering he stands for limiting freedom: freedom of choice, freedom to enter into a same-sex union, and freedom to use tax dollars to help alleviate our national debt.

I’m certain he will take every opportunity to perfect his vision of our freedom as president of the Heritage Foundation.

He was a Senate stalwart for disestablishing our secular government, apparently unaware that the words God, Jesus and Christian (in any form) are not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution.

Finally, he has backed more losers than winners, supporting less qualified candidates for federal office (such as Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada) while shunning support for more moderate voices.

He might be a presidential candidate in 2016, but more damage is closer at hand.

Now our incompetent governor, Nikki Haley, has the responsibility to appoint a replacement to serve until the 2014 election.

While I think she is slightly smarter than former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, she might do even worse damage and appoint herself.

Good grief, and good riddance.

Skip Crane

Seabrook Island Road

Seabrook Island

An honorable man
Brian Hicks seems unable to avoid getting all snippy when writing about conservatives.

He was more so than usual when commenting on Sen. Jim DeMint having announced that he will resign from the Senate to head up the Heritage Foundation.

Get a grip, Brian.

Jim DeMint is a sincere, dedicated, principled Paleoconservative who has not been seduced and/or corrupted by Leviathan on the Potomac. Although Brian and those of his ilk seem to prefer that he had left his principles and honor at the outer limits of the Beltway, DeMint refused to do so.

He took an oath to protect and defend our nation’s Constitution and stuck by it even when his votes were not popular back home.

That is the mark of an honorable public servant and should be celebrated instead of demeaned.

Another much maligned political figure who refused to become part of the inside-the-Beltway crowd and suffered much for having done so is Jimmy Carter.

He said something that could describe the doings of Jim DeMint: “We must accommodate changing times but cling to unchanging principles.”

Jim DeMint is changing jobs, and all can expect him to cling to unchanging principles.

In his new position, he will be a powerful advocate of our Founding Fathers’ principles of limited government, free enterprise, personal responsibility and liberty.

Walter D. Carr

Ashley River Road

Charleston